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Colorado scientist searches for the world’s southernmost tree

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9min 37sec
southernmost tree
Courtesy Brian Buma
Brian Buma, an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Colorado Denver, set off to find the world’s southernmost tree. It is on Hornos Island off the southern tip of South America. Known as a Magellan’s Beech tree, it’s actually a Nothofagus.

"Tree Line” is familiar to people in Colorado. That's the altitude that trees won't grow above in the mountains. There are also global tree lines. As you near the North and South poles, trees yield to extreme conditions.  We now know precisely where that is in the Southern hemisphere because scientists have identified the world's southernmost tree. Brian Buma trekked to that tree. He’s an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Colorado Denver.