Nature & Environment

World's tallest tropical tree discovered

By T.K. Randall
November 15, 2016 ·  6 comments

Borneo is home to some of the world's tallest trees. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 T. R. Shankar Raman The record-breaking tree eclipses the previous record of 293.6ft and is so large that it is the equivalent of six sperm whales stacked on top of one another head to tail.

The discovery was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the surrounding forest also contained the next 49 tallest trees - breaking 50 world records all at the same time.

"I've been doing this for a solid 20 years now, and I have to say, this was one of the most moving experiences in my career," said ecologist Gregory Asner of Stanford University. "This tallest tropical tree, and the 49 runners-up, are truly phenomenal expressions of the power of nature."The trees were identified in Borneo's Danum Valley reserve using the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, an aircraft equipped with a laser-based measuring system known as LiDAR.

"The crazy thing is that our tallest tree is immediately flanked to each side by a tree of the same species of Shorea, almost as tall!" said Asner.

"So, there are three trees, like brothers, standing above the rest of the canopy. I almost cried as we circled the tree maybe 10 times before the pilot said we had to go back."

Source: Science Alert | Comments (6)

Tags: Tree, Borneo