How old do trees live, and I want to know if trees can die of age?

Question

How old do trees live, and I want to know if trees can die of age?

Answer 1

And yes, trees can die of old age. (among a host of other reasons).

Answer 2

This is very variable; decades, centuries and even, in a few cases, thousands of years.  One bristlecone pine  in California claims to be over 4,700 years old.

Answer 3

Trees live to different ages depending on their species so varies over a broad range: about 70 years to over 1000 years. Trees can die from fires, diseases, wind damage, and drought, but old age is not usually the direct cause. It is a contributing factor as some trees weaken with age allowing diseses to kill them a younger tree might have survived.

Trees can become hollow in the old heart wood allowing animals to nest or shelter there but also weakening the tree. The trunk may split in a storm and die then. Age was a factor but the storm killed it.

Small trees that grow into a cleared area quickly like Aspens the tropical Pourouma bicolor, or Jack Pines can be short-lived. They get shaded out and die. Long-lived trees like Sugar Maple, Basswood, Beech, Northern Red Oak, & White Oak are more shade tolerant as seedlings so eventually out grow the shade intolerant trees and replace them.

Sugar Maple lives 200-300 years

Red Maple - 125-150

Quaking Aspen - 60-90

Jack Pine - 80-100

Northern Red Oak - 200-300

http://mff.dsisd.net/Environment/TreePhy...

Pourouma bicolor (Cecropiaceae) - 50 year

Pouteria manaosensis (Sapotaceae) - 300-900

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob...

Hemlock 250- 300

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3072173

Borneo Ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri) - more than 1000

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/dis...

Desert Ironwood (Olneya tesota) 1000-1500

http://www.delange.org/IronwoodTree/Iron...

http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/ifn...