385-million-year-old trees discovered

Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The world’s oldest forest, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth’s first complex forests shaped our planet’s atmosphere.

Located near Cairo, New York, in Greene County, these weren’t merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.

The Cairo forest discovery

385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.

The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.

Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the New York State Museum, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.

Revolutionary age and preservation

The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: “You are walking through the roots of ancient trees.”

This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in Current Biology in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.

Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature’s time capsule.

Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree

The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.

William Stein from Binghamton University describes the roots as “strikingly modern, essentially what you’d see outside in my yard right now.” These weren’t simple root systems you’d expect from ancient plants.

Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.

Climate-changing impact

These trees fundamentally changed Earth’s environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered “weathering,” chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.

Ancient forest ecosystem

The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.

All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth’s first complex forest canopy.

Scientific significance

Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the “oldest forest” title. Cairo’s trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.

Patricia Gensel, a University of North Carolina paleobotanist, notes: “The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn’t evolve so early.”

The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today’s forests.

Modern preservation efforts

In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.

Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.

Lessons for today’s climate

Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth’s climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.

Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests’ critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth’s most effective carbon capture systems.

These prehistoric trees changed Earth’s atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees’ incredible power to transform our planet’s environment.

The next time you walk through a forest, remember you’re experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn’t just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.

The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.

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