New Mexico drought claims life of 600-year-old tree
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Mexico remains in a drought; this photo was taken near Rio Rancho on Aug. 27. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Yoda is no more. The rugged little Douglas fir had survived more than 600 years in a remote part of New Mexico, but the Albuquerque Journal reports that it died amid the state's current drought.
"We had a moment of silence to pay our respects," wrote a researcher who made the discovery last month on the lava flows near Grants. Yoda was short (7 feet) and gnarly as far as Douglas firs go, but a previous analysis of its rings showed that it had been alive since at least 1406.
The Journal points out that New Mexico has been in a drought for 15 years now, and the hot, dry weather is taking a toll on trees of all kinds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Researchers say that Yoda had survived many a dry spell over its lifetime, including an especially brutal one that lasted 25 years in the 16th century.
A separate post by the Journal's John Fleck notes that Yoda was not the oldest tree in its area by a long shot—a nearby Douglas fir is 1,275 years old.
(Let's hope it can hang on: The Southwest might be in for a dreaded "megadrought.")
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