Nature & Environment
Scandinavian trees 'survived last Ice Age'
By
T.K. RandallMarch 5, 2012 ·
10 comments
Image Credit: CC 2.5 Stefan Wernli
New research has challenged the idea that Scandinavian conifer trees all died in the last Ice Age.
Up until now it was thought that the harsh conditions of the Ice Age had killed off all the trees in the region and that the current generation of trees had descended from those that moved north after the ice had retreated. As it turns out however some of the trees did survive the Ice Age, most likely in small isolated pockets on mountain peaks, shorelines and islands.
Modern trees in Scandinavia were thought to descend from species that migrated north when the ice melted 9,000 years ago. But research suggests some conifers survived on mountain peaks that protruded from the enormous ice sheet, on islands and in coastal areas.
Source:
BBC News |
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