gthumbus,
At U Ark, Fayetteville, you have a bunch of "dendrochronologists"... heck of a braintrust. There ARE old-growth trees in ARK, but they're few and far between. Most of the Ozarks is coppice. Still can be old, but most likely decades, not centuries.
That said, in a 100 year old white oak, on a rocky soil, you can have 20 rings to the inch... pretty stable stuff.
