VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Pinus longaeva | Great Basin Bristlecone Pine 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
The wood of Great Basin bristlecone is moderately soft, dense, and
highly resinous.  It has been used for fuel and mine props [29,39].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Great Basin bristlecone seeds provide are critical food supply for
Clark's nutcrackers, which cache them.  Small mammals and birds may
benefit from these seed caches.  In central and southern Utah, the
limber pine and Great Basin bristlecone series provides important winter
range for large mammals, which browse on mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus
spp.), wild rose (Rosa woodsii), and gooseberry (Ribes cereum).  These
sites receive intense pressure for forage, even in years of low snowpack
[9].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
Great Basin bristlecone pine provides some cover for bird and small animal 
species.


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Great Basin bristlecone growth on gentle to steep slopes is rated as
good.  Its potential for erosion control and its establishment
requirements in Utah are medium.  In Utah, its potential for short-term
revegetation is low and for long-term revegetation is medium [10].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Believed to be the world's oldest living organisms, Great Basin
bristlecone pines are of considerable value.  Bailey [3] generated
interest in them with the estimation of a 5,100- to 5,200-year-old tree
on the Snake Range of east-central Nevada.  This tree was cut by Currey
in 1964 and had an actual ring count of 4,900 [9].

Chronologies from Great Basin bristlecone pines provide the most
accessible long-term data of any species regarding biogeographic and
environmental histories of sites [10].  Studies of bristlecone pines have
contributed to several fields of science:  dendrochronology,
climatology, geology, and archaelogy.

In the dry, subalpine environment of the Great Basin, the dense,
resinous, decay-resistant wood of bristlecones contributes to the
ability of dead trees to stand for hundreds of years and fallen wood to
persist for thousands [4].  This wood provides a cross-reference for
radiocarbon dating.  Living trees, standing snags, and fallen trees
provide overlapping tree-ring chronologies that date back 9,000 years.
These ring-width chronologies are used as paleoclimatic indicators to
determine past limits of tree growth [19].

Variation in tree-ring widths at upper treeline is an important
indicator of past climatic variations, especially temperature
fluctuations.  Data from these chronologies show that there has been a
net retreat of bristlecone treeline in the western United States over
the last several thousand years [2,17,19,20,21,22,23,25].  In addition,
the dates of major volcanic eruptions correlate with frost rings of
bristlecone pines [23].

Foliage from bristlecone pines has been identified from ancient woodrat
middens on Clark Mountain in the Mohave Desert of California.  The dated
middens are below the present elevational range of bristlecones and are
evidence of climatic change [32].

The Great Basin bristlecone is also of value for its natural aesthetics,
as well as for soil building and stabilization in a harsh environment.
The value of bristlecone pines to science and recreation is evidenced by
the establishment of Great Basin National Park in Nevada, which includes
the former Wheeler Peak Scenic Area.  Other areas recognized for
bristlecone groves include the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Botanical
Area of Inyo National Forest in California and several Research Natural
Areas [23].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Pinus longaeva | Great Basin Bristlecone Pine