Tree rings and the aging of trees: A controversy in 19th century America
Briand, Christopher H, Brazer, Susan E, and Harter-Dennis, Jeannine M
Briand, Christopher H. ; Salisbury Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Salisbury, MD 21801 USA
62 (2) : 51-65 2006
During the late 19th Century there was considerable debate in the United States among members of the legal profession, the general public and even some scientists about the validity of using tree rings to determine tree age. In an earlier boundary dispute case in Maryland (1830) the Honorable Theodorick Bland rejected the use of tree rings to establish the date when a purported witness tree was marked with an identifying blaze. Bland did not believe that there was enough scientific evidence or legal precedent to support this idea. A review of the current scientific literature of the time, however, indicates that most scientists, especially in Europe, accepted that tree rings could be used to determine age. In the United States, however, this idea was debated, particularly in the late 19th Century, in both the popular press and scientific publications. The main argument of opponents such as A. L. Child was that the number of tree rings was often wildly in excess of the known age of the tree. These inconsistencies were likely because of the inexperience of the observer, mistaking earlywood and latewood for separate rings, and the presence of a small number of false rings, sometimes called secondary rings. The great ages reported for the giant sequoias may have also raised doubts among the public. Among scientists, however, the relationship between ring number and tree age and between ring width and climate became widely accepted. Several cases heard in both Federal and State Courts as well as Bernhard E. Fernow's Age of Trees and Time of Blazing Determined by Annual Rings laid to rest any doubt of the relationship between tree rings and age in temperate forests, i.e. one ring equals one year's growth, and showed that the date when a witness tree was blazed could be easily determined from a cross-section of the trunk.
March 12, 2007 in Academics | Permalink
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Comments
I believe it is true how a tree ring/cross section of the trunk can show when there was a fire, etc.
Posted by: Luis Parente | Feb 11, 2008 11:12:13 AM
very interesting.. I've often wondered about the validity of the tree ring age system.
Posted by: Lynn | Feb 13, 2009 4:32:50 PM
Funny....we homeschool and were just on a field trip in the Georgia woods. We counted the tree rings of several different types of trees. As we learned about the forest succession in the area, it was interesting to know that the tree ring system worked since we also knew the lands history and when those trees appeared.
....very interesting!
Posted by: Katie | Mar 7, 2009 8:38:31 AM
You can also tell about thhe weather conditions, such as draught from "Tree Rings" if I am not mistaken.
Posted by: Carla Griffin | Mar 7, 2009 5:00:01 PM
I've always wondered if the tree rings could really tell the age of the tree. Some trees are known to be 40 to 50 years in age have and when cut have been found to have the same number of rings as that of another tree of the same botanical name which is less than 25 years of age (both being planted from seed). This makes you wonder about the validity of using the rings to determine the age of a tree unless some other plant feature needs to be taken into consideration when calculating the tree's age.
Posted by: Harvey G | Mar 8, 2009 12:39:42 PM
Wow, amazing information. We home school here as well, and were just studying this topic.
Hope to read more on this subject!
Thank you for sharing this.
Posted by: Tam | Mar 16, 2009 6:47:12 PM
This is what I remember from Ag school as being the easiest way to deterime age. There are false rings & other oddites that MAY cause slight differences & not be 100% accuracate. But it's easier than digging up roots & measuring circumference & length.
Posted by: Rod | Mar 16, 2009 8:16:51 PM
I homeschool as well and we are about to do this theme. I found this article very interesting and I appreciate you sharing this. I will use this in our theme. Once again, Thank you.
Posted by: SUE | Mar 26, 2009 10:34:10 AM
The thing is, trees don't know years. They dont keep a calendar inside of them to know when to grow a ring, so personally think that they are accurate, just not as accurate as people would think.
Posted by: Miguel Garcia | Apr 7, 2009 10:04:19 AM
I never new there was a debate on the tree ring theory. I have always believed it to be true since that is what I grew up being told. Interesting.
Posted by: Helen | Apr 8, 2009 6:31:45 PM
that is very interesting i never knew you could tell the age of a tree by it's rings.
Posted by: Ashley | Apr 30, 2009 10:06:24 AM
how interesting to tell age by rings
Posted by: Bev | May 7, 2009 10:01:15 AM
It is hard to believe that a tree can keep time precisely according to the Gregorian Calendar of 365.24 days. It can, I would assume, be able to tell us the climate and other external forces during a particular time.
Posted by: Scott | Jul 13, 2009 2:02:02 PM
Have there been studies to see if unusual weather could create false year rings? What about Indian Summers and such?
Posted by: Jon S. | Jul 19, 2009 5:21:46 PM
Scientists are using tree rings to chart the rainfall and climate history from areas that were not monitored in the past.
Posted by: Thor H. | Aug 25, 2009 12:54:58 PM
Like some others here I had no idea it was considered controversial at one point. I never assumed it to be fully accurate but always felt it was and is relatively safe to gauge the tree's age roughly by.
Posted by: BlueSkies | Aug 26, 2009 8:50:37 AM
interesting
Posted by: jasmyn | Nov 23, 2009 4:06:35 PM
Interesting. I never realized that counting the rings was a controversial issue. As with most anything, it just depends on how and who deciphers the information.
Posted by: Jon Speicher | Nov 27, 2009 8:49:34 AM
I've always wondered about the aging of trees through the rings theory. This is a very interesting read.
Posted by: Hazel | Nov 29, 2009 4:42:40 AM
Once I started reading one academic article I just could not stop from reading the rest. These are very interesting. I started talking to my son about it. He also wants to read it now. Thanks
Posted by: Laurie | Nov 29, 2009 4:46:33 PM
Once I started reading one academic article I just could not stop from reading the rest. These are very interesting. I started talking to my son about it. He also wants to read it now. Thanks
Posted by: Laurie | Nov 29, 2009 4:46:33 PM
would this then be relative to determine the age of each limb?
Posted by: Tracy | Nov 30, 2009 6:04:38 AM
very interesting....
Posted by: darlene hoopii | Nov 30, 2009 12:49:02 PM
I'd love to be able to interpret tree rings, it sounds fascinating!
Posted by: Bethany | Dec 1, 2009 4:16:03 PM
this is a very interesting article! Thank you.
Posted by: sandra edelmaier | Dec 7, 2009 4:48:12 AM
