Suppose you plant a tree in a place where the conditions stay ideal forever, i.e. nutients doesn’t decrease, amount of sunlight is always perfect etc. will it eventually reach the end of its lifespan or will it grow forever?
In: Biology
Not sure anyone can answer that definitely. There is a 5000 year old tree in the middle east.
The upper age of some species has not been measured, and might in theory be indefinite. It’s tough to be sure. Clonal colonies like Pando can keep going as long as new clones are made to replace ones that die. But even among individuals, there are some trees and bushes believed to be thousands of years old. It’s not clear if an upper limit even exists.
Most species of trees have a life expectancy. Pick a species and Google its lifespan. Some are 50 to 60 years and then there’s the Alaskan red cedar that can go as old as 3,500 years. They’re all different.
No. Even if an organism doesn’t suffer genetic death like most things on earth something will eventually come along and kill it – that is why everything developed the ability to reproduce.
If you put something into a magical fantasy land then anything can happen because it’s magical fantasy land. If you want to create a place that is always perfect for growing a tree it can grow forever if you want.
If you are asking if trees have a set amount of time before their DNA just gives out on them like a person or other mammal, then some do and some do not. There are also some plants that have that will pretty much keep growing indefinitely but parts of them die off regularly, just never the whole thing at once.
Latest Answers