system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Can a tree "die" of old age?

I know species like the California Redwoods and the Great Basin bristlecone pine are known for their long lives, but I wanted to know if the same potential for age existed in other trees.

If not, what keeps an oak or other such tree from living for thousands of years like the Methuselah tree?
gpt
No living creature ever dies of old age. There is always something that causes death. Natural causes is the term used when attributing death from cardiac arrest or aneurysm in humans. Simply age can't kill you.

What keeps trees living is their resiliency against drought and freeze which can cause embolisms, their wound repair mechanisms, and their ability to fight parasitism by bacteria, fungi, or animals.