That title is rather clickbaity for a "science" magazine. Crucially, the tree prominently featured in the large picture is not 10,000 years old and only its root system originates from that period:
> Today Old Tjikko’s tree trunk is only five metres high. Although the spruce may have had many such trunks over the millennia, the tree's root system has survived all these years. No part of today’s living tree is as old as 9 500 years, but genetically, the tree is exactly the same individual as when it began to germinate.
Indeed if we allow equating the plant to the age and extent of its root system (genetically the same organism, although no part of the present plant is as old), I already found this other tree root system named "Pando" in Utah, USA, that is estimated to be up to 14,000 years old - making the Swedish spruce's claim to world's oldest dubious:
The cool thing about it and what does give it the 10k year feel is that it grows in a spot that was only low enough for trees to grow 10k years ago because the mountain has risen 100 meters since, and it couldn’t start growing there now.
Sort of. The article also says that spruce trees slowly migrate via spreading their root systems. So this tree "system" probably originated lower along the tree line and migrated up over the centuries.
The article has conflicting information on this point.
It says that its trunk is about 5,000 y.o. as counted through growth rings. I would think most people would understand this to be the proper age of a "tree".
yes, one tree with multiple trunks. Many trees will drop their leaves annually, then recreate new leaves next spring. Turns out the spruce can do this with its entire trunk. I found it fascinating and enlightening, and learned something new.
For anyone in areas with Aspen trees, they are a single organism since they spread via roots. That is why you see groves of Aspen trees that seem to be sharply delineated, it's all one tree.
Biology is just fascinating/scary like this, but knowing this makes the experience of standing in an aspen grove during the height of summer even more powerful. It's all one connected organism thst has spread so far that you can't see anything else of the mountain while standing in the middle of the grove.
From the URL I provided as source (Wikipedia)? On the "oldest trees" Wiki page it also says that there had been previous aging resulting with much older estimates, but these were invalidated by newer results with lower estimates.
> Today Old Tjikko’s tree trunk is only five metres high. Although the spruce may have had many such trunks over the millennia, the tree's root system has survived all these years. No part of today’s living tree is as old as 9 500 years, but genetically, the tree is exactly the same individual as when it began to germinate.
Indeed if we allow equating the plant to the age and extent of its root system (genetically the same organism, although no part of the present plant is as old), I already found this other tree root system named "Pando" in Utah, USA, that is estimated to be up to 14,000 years old - making the Swedish spruce's claim to world's oldest dubious:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)
Pando is also thought to be the largest and heaviest known single organism, covering 43 hectares and weighing 6,000 tons.