For thousands of years, the windswept Falkland Islands have been known for their barren landscapes, home to little more than shrubs and low-lying vegetation. However, a recent discovery deep beneath the island’s surface has startled scientists, challenging everything they thought they knew about the region’s natural history.
During a research trip in 2020, Dr. Zoë Thomas, a physical geography lecturer at the University of Southampton, received an unusual message: ancient tree trunks had been unearthed from a construction site near the Falklands’ capital, Stanley. This came as a shock to Thomas and her colleagues, as the islands, located in the remote South Atlantic, are famous for their lack of trees.
“Everyone knows the Falklands are treeless. It’s one of its defining features,” said Dr. Thomas, who led the new study on the discovery. “So when we heard about the tree remains, we immediately knew something extraordinary had been found.”
The discovery, made in a layer of peat nearly 20 feet (6 meters) underground, provided scientists with pristinely preserved tree trunks and branches—remnants of a long-lost temperate rainforest that once covered the islands. The researchers, who have published their findings in the journal Antarctic Science, estimate that the forest existed between 15 million and 30 million years ago, a stark contrast to the Falklands’ current environment.
A Window into a Forgotten Past
Eager to learn more, Thomas and her team transported the tree remnants to laboratories for further analysis. The wood was too ancient for radiocarbon dating, which only works for samples up to 50,000 years old, so they turned to an unlikely source of information: microscopic pollen and spores trapped within the peat.
“Fossilized pollen is an excellent time marker,” explained Michael Donovan, paleobotany expert at Chicago’s Field Museum, who was not involved in the study. By examining the pollen samples, the team determined that the forest flourished millions of years ago, during a period when the Falklands were wetter and warmer than they are today.
The trees are thought to have belonged to species similar to those found in Patagonia today, including early relatives of beech and conifers. The landscape back then would have been cooler than today’s tropical rainforests but still supported a diverse array of plant life.
“We found close relatives to trees that now thrive in southern Patagonia,” Thomas revealed. “It suggests the Falklands once had a climate far more suited to forests.”
Why Did the Trees Disappear?
Despite flourishing at the same latitude as forests in South America, trees disappeared from the Falklands long ago, though the exact reasons remain unclear. Dr. Thomas and her team hypothesize that the island’s notorious winds and acidic, peat-rich soils may have made it increasingly difficult for forests to survive.
Yet, these same features make the Falklands an important site for studying broader climate patterns. The prevailing westerly winds, which sweep across the Southern Hemisphere and influence Antarctic ice and atmospheric conditions, pass directly over the Falklands. Understanding how these winds have changed over time could be key to predicting future climate shifts.
“The Falklands’ location near Antarctica means they offer a unique window into past and present climate dynamics,” said Dr. Thomas. Her research, initially focused on climate changes over the past 20,000 years, now suggests that the islands could provide insights far deeper into Earth’s past.
Climate Change Concerns for the Future
While the fossilized forest offers a tantalizing glimpse into the Falklands’ ancient past, the outlook for its future environment is less promising. Dr. Thomas warns that current climate projections suggest the region will become warmer but drier, putting the already sensitive peatlands at risk of erosion.
Despite these changes, it’s unlikely the Falklands will ever return to their former forested glory. “The conditions necessary for tree growth just aren’t there anymore, and with the peatlands under threat, there are growing concerns about how climate change will impact this fragile ecosystem,” said Dr. Thomas.
This remarkable discovery of an ancient forest, hidden for millions of years beneath the Falklands’ soil, underscores the ever-changing nature of our planet’s ecosystems and offers a striking reminder of the climate challenges that lie ahead.
