活過時(shí)間的非克隆樹——2624歲，還在

There's a specific stand of bald cypress trees along the Black River in North Carolina that are some of the oldest trees in the country. Locally known as the Three Sisters Swamp, there are several trees in the group known to be more than 1,000 years old.

在北卡羅萊納州的黑河沿岸有一片特別的禿柏樹林，它們是美國最古老的樹木。當(dāng)?shù)厝朔Q之位“三姐妹沼澤”，在這片樹林中，有幾棵樹已知樹齡超過1000年。

But researchers recently discovered a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the swamp that's at least 2,624 years old. According to their study, published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, the discovery revealed bald cypress as "the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth."

但研究人員最近在沼澤中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種至少有2624年歷史的禿柏(Taxodium distichum)。根據(jù)他們發(fā)表在《環(huán)境研究通訊》雜志上的研究，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)揭示出柏樹是“已知最古老的濕地樹種，是北美洲東部現(xiàn)存最古老的樹種，也是地球上已知的第五個(gè)最古老的非克隆樹種地球上已知第五古老的非克隆樹種”。

(Non-clonal trees mean the trunk is the same age as the roots. Clonal trees originate from the same ancestor and often live for tens of thousands of years.)

(非克隆樹的意思是樹干與根的年齡相同。克隆樹來自同一個(gè)祖先，經(jīng)常存活數(shù)萬年。)

According to the researchers, only individual trees of Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) at 2,675 years, giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) at 3,266 years, alerce (Fitzroya cuppressoides) at 3,622 years, and Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) at 5,066 years old are known to live longer than the Black River bald cypress.

據(jù)研究人員稱，只有2675年的刺柏、3266年的巨型紅杉、3622年的艾力士和5066年的大盆地剛毛松比黑河禿柏壽命長。

How old is old?

2624年是什么概念?

To understand how old this tree really is, Smithsonian explains it was alive "when Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens in Babylon, when the Normans invaded England, and when Shakespeare first set quill to paper."

為了讓人更形象的了解，史密森尼打比方說，“當(dāng)尼布甲尼撒二世在巴比倫建造空中花園時(shí)，諾曼人入侵英國時(shí)，以及莎士比亞第一次用羽毛筆寫字時(shí)，它還活著。”

Lead author David W. Stahle, a University of Arkansas scientist, says, "It was like walking back into the Cretaceous. It was essentially a virgin forest, an uncut old-growth forest of 1,000 to over 2,000-year-old trees cheek to jowl across this flooded land."

該研究的主要作者、阿肯色大學(xué)的科學(xué)家David W. Stahle說：“這就像回到了白堊紀(jì)。它本質(zhì)上是一片原始森林，是一片未經(jīng)砍伐的原始森林，有1000到2000年的樹齡，在這片被淹沒的土地上密密麻麻地生長著。”

Although the bald cypress trees are in a protected area owned by The Nature Conservancy, they are still imperiled by continued logging and water pollution, as well as sea level rise.

盡管這些光禿禿的柏樹在自然保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)的保護(hù)區(qū)內(nèi)，但仍然受到持續(xù)砍伐、水污染和海平面上升的威脅。

The researchers conclude: "To counter these threats, the discovery of the oldest known living trees in eastern North America, which are in fact some of the oldest living trees on earth, provides powerful incentive for private, state, and federal conservation of this remarkable waterway."

研究人員得出結(jié)論：“為了應(yīng)對(duì)這些威脅，發(fā)現(xiàn)北美東部最古老的已知非克隆樹木，實(shí)際上是地球上最古老的活落羽杉，為科學(xué)家個(gè)人，以及州和聯(lián)邦環(huán)境保護(hù)者們提供了強(qiáng)大的動(dòng)力。”