conifer survived ice age

12 years ago

Thought you guys might find this interesting:

""Our results demonstrate that not all the Scandinavian conifer trees have the same recent ancestors, as we once believed. There were groups of spruce and pine that survived the harsh climate in small ice-free pockets, or in refuges, as we call them, for tens of thousands of years, and then were able to spread once the ice retreated. Other spruce and pine trees have their origins in the southern and eastern ice-free areas of Europe. Therefore, one can now refer to 'original' and later naturally 'introduced' Scandinavian conifer species," says Professor Eske Willerslev, Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen."

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""The essence of our studies is that they challenge conventional scientific notions of the spreading of trees, biodiversity and survival in harsh environments from a global perspective; especially with regards to climate change or other changes and interventions in nature. I also believe that our results will have economic significance. We now know that there are two types of naturally occurring spruce in Scandinavia. These two trees have very different histories and therefore it can be expected that they have differing qualities -- for example in their hardness and the like. Previously, we thought that the differences between naturally occurring spruce in Scandinavia were due to simple individual variations. Now we would like to determine if these differences relate to one or another type of spruce by the use of a simple DNA tests. This will mean a great deal to tree plantation owners and others who would like to grow spruce with particular qualities," explains Inger Greve Alsos."

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