All Trees have Souls
World’s oldest forest found in New York state
The 385-million-year-old fossils show that trees evolved modern features millions of years earlier than previously estimated.
The world’s oldest forest fossils were located in an abandoned quarry near Cairo, New York.
Research of site specimens suggests that the forebearers to modern plants evolved much earlier than expected.
The findings help scientists better understand how trees advanced life’s evolutionary trajectory to land during a critical period.
Beginning 416 million years ago, this period of the Paleozoic era blazed the trail toward manufacturing a surface habitable to life.
New plant species evolved that could survive on dry land. The fresh-faced forests drew carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, beginning a process that would drastically refashion the planet’s climate. Insects and arachnids proliferated, while early tetrapods flirted with land’s safety in the newly-formed wetlands – allowing many animal ancestors to escape the mass extinction event soon to devastate the Earth’s oceans.
Flash forward to 2019, researchers in an abandoned quarry near Cairo, New York, have discovered a 385-million-year-old Devonian forest, the world’s oldest to date. Their findings, published in Current Biology, are helping scientists better understand the enigmatic origins of terrestrial life.
Today, this ancient arboretum exists in the form of fossilized root systems. Slices of prehistoric botany spread horizontally across the ground, with the quarry acting like a giant, stone microscope slide. Some roots measure 15 centimeters in diameter and form 11-meter-wide radial patterns.
“The Cairo site is very special,” paleobotanist Christopher Berry, a team member at Cardiff University, told Science. “You are walking through the roots of ancient trees. Standing on the quarry surface, we can reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination.”
After analysing the root systems, the researchers suggest the presence of three different groups of extinct plants: Eospermatopteris, Archaeopteris, and a currently obscure specimen.
Eospermatopteris was a palm tree-like plant well-represented in the Devonian fossil record. These trees had lofty trunks that crowned into “branchlets”—effectively frond-like groupings of stalks that were photosynthetic yet predated broad, flat leaves. They reproduced by spores and sported a rudimentary root system with a limited range.
Considered an intermediate between land plants and the ancestors to modern ferns and horsetails, Eospermatopteris is plentiful at another fossil forest located nearby, at a quarry near Gilboa, New York. The Gilboa site was the previous record holder for the oldest fossil forest.
But the other two root systems are unique to the Cairo site. Archaeopteris shares several characteristics with modern seed plants. These characteristics, many assembled in tandem for the first time in the fossil record, include an upright habit, laminate leaves, endogenous root production, and more contemporary vascular systems.
Archaeopteris’s appearance at the Cairo site means the genus took root roughly 20 million years earlier than previous estimates. The discovery helps clarify the enigmatic evolution of trees and forests during the Devonian period, as well as the indelible ripple effect they had on Earth’s ecology, geochemical cycles, and atmospheric makeup.
As for the third specimen, it is represented by a single obscure root system. The researchers postulate it may belong to the class Lycopsida, a.k.a. “scale trees.” These trees dominated the Late Carboniferous coal swamps, and the oldest fossils date back to the Late Devonian. However, like Archaeopteris, its presence at the Cairo site may push current estimates deeper into prehistory.
“Our findings are perhaps suggestive that these plants were already in the forest, but perhaps in a different environment, earlier than generally believed. Yet we only have a footprint, and we await additional fossil evidence for confirmation,” William Stein, the study’s first author and an emeritus professor of biological science at Binghamton University, said in a statement.
He added, “It seems to me, worldwide, many of these kinds of environments are preserved in fossil soils. And I’d like to know what happened historically, not just in the Catskills, but everywhere.”
When and how trees began evolving modern root and vascular systems, as well as their upright habit, remain a mystery. But Archaeopteris’s elongated rooting systems appear identical to trees that would become numerous in the Carboniferous period’s vast swamp forests.
As trees evolved these root systems, they began pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turning it into carbonate ions in groundwater. These ions then flowed into the oceans where they were locked away in limestone, preventing them from re-entering the atmosphere. This development added a new wrinkle to Earth’s substance turnovers.
Originally, carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere constituted more than 95 percent. Soon after the introduction of vascular plants and forests, these levels began dropping to modern levels. By the Carboniferous, oxygen levels reached an all-time high of 35 percent. Today, they remain at a respectable, and livable, 21 percent. Thanks to vascular plants.
Vascular plants have modified other geological cycles on a planet-wide scale, too. These include deposition and erosion, the physical characteristics of soil, and the cycle of freshwater and various elements.
As Stein noted – The effects were of first order magnitude, in terms of changes in ecosystems, what happens on the Earth’s surface and oceans, in global atmosphere, CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere, and global climate. So many dramatic changes occurred at that time as a result of those original forests that basically, the world has never been the same since.
Today, Devonian plants and their Carboniferous progeny are again altering the Earth’s climate, but in a way that is making the world less hospitable to life.
After being buried for millions of years, the remains of these giant plants transformed under the heat and pressure to create the large reserves of coal that drove the Industrial Revolution. In fact, the name “Carboniferous” references to the rich coal deposits found in this geologic layer and literally means “coal-bearing.”
As we continue to burn these ancient fossil fuels, we release the carbon dioxide they trapped back into the atmosphere, where they heat up our planet by way of an enhanced “greenhouse effect.” Ironically, it seems powering our planet with these plants’ remains is undoing the hard work the world’s first forests endeavoured.
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/worlds-oldest-forest?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
A Tree as a Friend.
Hugging a Tree
If you are feeling anxious, sad, or drained, try hugging a tree and allow her vast amount of grounding energy to assist you.
Trees are among the world’s greatest givers. Their slow and gentle life cycles provide the world with clean air, their roots filter water, and their majestically spreading branches provide shade. Full of vibrant, natural energy, trees can also give us the gifts of peace and nurturance. Hugging or sitting with your spine against the trunk of any tree can ground your body and inspire a profound closeness with nature as the energy of the tree connects to you. Making physical contact with a tree can help you relax, alleviate stress, sleep more deeply, and hold on to more positive energy. Trees can absorb great amounts of energy and have the ability to soak up harmful energy from deep within you. If you are feeling anxious, sad, drained, or tense, then try hugging a tree.
Go to the woods, a garden, or a park, and find a tree that you would like to hug. Stand next to the tree and close your eyes. Relax your senses while breathing in the scent of leaves and bark. Listen to the creaking of the branches. When you feel settled, open your eyes, keeping them unfocused, and walk around its trunk. Feel the unique energy of the tree as your auras meet each other. Ask the tree for permission to touch it. If you feel the tree saying yes to you, begin breathing in its energy. Put your arms around the trunk and press your face to its bark. Embrace the tree for as long as you wish, feeling the roughness of its wood and the strength of its years. Relax into that strength and let the tree support you. You may even be able to physically feel a cyclical flow of energy taking place between your body and the tree.
You can sit with your back pressed to the tree for the same effect if you feel more comfortable doing so. Likewise, if you are seeking greater comfort, you may want to wrap your legs and arms around the tree, either at the base or by straddling a branch. Remember to thank the tree because by hugging your tree you are drinking from the well of natural copious energy cultivated by the tree’s many years on this earth.
Post by Maryanne Savino
When We Walk…….
Quorum Sensing by Dr Zach Bush
There is a network of information that streams through life within and around us.
Trees are one of the most beautiful examples of this network, incredibly able to thrive in dying soil. They do so by communicating not only with one another, but with the other species around them that are able to produce the nutrients they need.
This magic happens through the phenomenon of quorum sensing.
When quorum sensing is reached, a threshold of a population is passed and hyper intelligence becomes the norm. In this true synergistic development, an entire population becomes greater than any sum of its parts.
Which leads me to wonder: What would happen when we start quorum sensing as mammals? What would happen if humans would communicate more clearly through our thought processes?
Through quorum sensing, I believe we could all see that we are not each unique in consciousness.
To reach this level, we’re going to have to quiet our human minds long enough to listen to the nature that we are within. If we continue to let our distracting thoughts prevail, we’ll continue believing we are the ultimate beings who deserve to control life around us.
But if we can humble ourselves long enough to simply listen, we could open our minds to the possibility that we could quorum sense — not only with the macro life around us, but the micro life within us.
How acutely can we tune into the greater intelligence of Mother Earth?
How deep can our roots communicate with one another?
How can we create a new energetic flow within ourselves?
I’m encouraged to find out.
If we could maintain a humble listening status as a species, where we stop telling the world what we see and start listening to what she sees, we’ll have the space to view ourselves differently in this web of intelligence. Through quorum sensing, we’ll get to become a hyper-conscious, hyper-intelligent player and co-creator within our greater environment.
The rest of this episode with The Happy Pear is ready for you to experience: https://thehappypear.ie/podcast/episode-9-zach-bush-md/
The Green Man fb page
Tree Imagination, Digital Art by Tara Turner
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/tara-turner
National Trust – ‘Plant a Tree’
Plant a tree today and you’ll be helping to support our aim of planting 20 million trees by 2030.
You can plant a tree for yourself, as a gift to someone special or in memory of a loved one. Whichever you choose, you’ll help nature to thrive so that future generations can enjoy spending time in the shade of these beautiful giants. Donate £5 or more and you’ll also receive a digital certificate by email, which you can keep for yourself or send to someone else
125 years ago we set out to open up the natural world so everyone could explore vibrant green spaces like parks, woodlands and countryside walks. The coronavirus crisis has made us all realise just how important this need is and that we cannot take nature for granted. Trees breathe life into our world, and it’s vital we plan for the future of woodlands to tackle climate change.
How to plant a tree
Choose an amount from the options below and make your donation.
Once you’ve donated to plant a tree, you’ll receive a confirmation email straight away.
Within five working days, you’ll receive a second email with your certificate attached.
How much does it cost to plant a tree?
Our suggested minimum donation amount is £5 as this is what it costs us to plant one new sapling. No matter what the size of your gift, your donation to our plant a tree fund will help create beautiful green spaces for people and wildlife to thrive.
£5 will plant a tree sapling. £50 will plant 10 tree saplings, £250 will plant 500 square metres of woodland, £500 will plant 1,000 square metres of woodland, £2,500 will plant a football pitch {½ hectare} of woidland.
Dedicate a Tree
Why not dedicate your tree to someone special? It could be a unique wedding gift, a way to make someone’s birthday that bit more special, or a lasting way to remember a loved one. All you need to do is select the dedication option when making your donation, and you’ll be able to celebrate the people in your life while also giving back to nature.
At the moment, you won’t be able to ‘tag’ a specific tree, or choose a location for a tree to be planted. However, we have an ambition to plant 20 million trees by 2030, and your donation today can directly help create a living memorial that benefits nature for everyone, for ever.
Our work so far
We’re planting
14,500 saplings
this winter thanks to your donations
These are a mix of
14 species of tree
including oak, beech and crab apple
Your tree could remove
1 tonne of carbon
from our air over 40 years
How you’re helping us make a difference
Our ambition to plant and establish 20 million trees by 2030 is progressing at pace thanks to your support. After you helped us raise almost £500,000 through Plant a tree, we’ve been able to plant thousands of young saplings across the UK. We’ve also identified sites for a further 1.5 million trees to be planted during the next two years.
Why plant a tree
The coronavirus crisis has thrown our need for nature sharply into focus, bringing a stronger need to work together to overcome the climate crisis. Your support will make a difference. Give today and we’ll plant a tree as part of our plan to plant 20 million trees by 2030.
When you plant a tree, this contributes to reducing emissions, as these hardy plants work hard to lock up carbon. These new trees will also open up new habitats for wildlife such as the red squirrel, the hazel dormouse, the greater spotted woodpecker and other birds like the song thrush and the red kite.
You’ll help these historical, beautiful and natural places to thrive for ever, and many more people like you will be able to create new memories with their friends and family in leafy green spaces.
People need nature now more than ever. And working together is the only way we can reverse the decline in wildlife and the challenges we face due to climate change.
More than 18,000 hectares of woodland – an area equivalent to one and a half times the size of Manchester or 42 Sherwood Forests – will be strategically established across the nation to lock up 300,000 tonnes of carbon – equivalent to the electricity output of 370,000 homes a year.
Plant a tree FAQs
1. What’s the plant a tree scheme?
In 2020, we launched our ambition to plant 20 million trees by 2030. The plant a tree scheme provides the opportunity for our closest supporters to help us deliver this ten-year ambition by donating to our tree planting fund. Donations can be made with a dedication in memory or in celebration of a loved one.
2. Why are you raising money to plant trees?
The National Trust has always been here for the benefit of everyone. As Europe’s biggest conservation charity, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to fight climate change, which poses the biggest threat to the places, nature and collections we care for.
People need nature now more than ever. And working together is the only way we can reverse the decline in wildlife and the challenges we face due to climate change.
More than 18,000 hectares of woodland – an area equivalent to one and a half times the size of Manchester or 42 Sherwood Forests – will be strategically established across the nation to lock up 300,000 tonnes of carbon – equivalent to the electricity output of 370,000 homes a year.
3. Why is there a £5 minimum suggested donation?
Our suggested minimum donation amount is £5 as this is what it costs us to plant one new sapling. No matter what the size of your gift, your donation to our plant a tree fund will help create beautiful green spaces for people and wildlife to thrive. As the certificate references that you have planted a tree we do not offer this for donations of less than £5.
4. Why can’t I choose a tree planting location?
All donations go into our tree planting fund and we plant trees according to the areas in most need as identified by our woodland experts and regional countryside teams. Trees are planted throughout winter and our planning process means we may not know until the summer where the trees will be planted each year. We aim to regularly update our communications on tree planting locations that have been made possible with your support. Please get in touch by emailing us at giving@nationaltrust.org.uk if you’d like to know more.
5. Why can’t I ‘tag’ a tree?
Your donation to our tree planting fund brings us closer to our ambition of planting 20 million trees by 2030. Due to the scale of tree planting required we’re not able to match dedications to specific trees or to ‘tag’ trees with memorial plaques, which is why we have created the digital certificate that can be shared with your loved ones.
6. When will I receive my certificate?
We aim to send all certificates within five working days of your donation being made. While we hope your certificate will be created and sent within a shorter timeframe, during busy periods our team may need a little longer to ensure they give each certificate the time and attention they deserve. Please bear with us whilst we work through them.
7. What information will be included in my certificate?
Your certificate will include the unique details relating to your dedication and the number of trees you will have planted, whether in memory or in celebration. You can see a sample certificate below. Please note, as the certificate references that you have planted a tree we do not offer this for donations of less than £5, and we will not prepare or send certificates containing content deemed to be inappropriate or offensive
8. What can I do if I want to change the information on my certificate?
We understand the donation process doesn’t provide the opportunity to preview your certificate before you make your donation, and we’re happy to edit your certificate as required. If you would like to make any changes to your certificate please get in touch with us by emailing us at giving@nationaltrust.org.uk.
9. How do I know if my dedication has been completed successfully?
The last stage of the dedication process is making your donation, which is triggered once you have entered your personal and payment details and clicked ‘Yes, I confirm my payment’. If your donation has been successful there will be a message at the top of the page saying ‘Thank you’. You should also receive a confirmation email within 20 minutes of completing your dedication, and your certificate will be sent in a separate email within three working days. If you don’t think your donation has been successful, please get in touch by calling 0344 800 1895.
10. I’ve changed my mind. Can I get a refund?
We do not process refunds on donations, but we will work hard to ensure you have all the information you need before making a dedication. Donations will only be refunded in very limited circumstances, in accordance with the Institute of Fundraising guidelines.
11. I’d like to make a complaint about your ‘no-refund’ procedure – how do I do that?
You can make a complaint via our Supporter Service Centre, either over the phone by calling 0344 800 1895, or by emailing us at giving@nationaltrust.org.uk. Find out more about the National Trust’s complaints procedure.
12. Why haven’t I received my confirmation email?
You should receive your confirmation email within 20 minutes of donating. If after this time you haven’t received the email please check your junk folder. If you’re still having difficulty, please get in touch by calling 0344 800 1895
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Tree Weaver 