Posted on 11/24/2021 12:42:33 PM PST by Red Badger
Aerial outline of Pando. (Lance Oditt/Friends of Pando)
RICHARD ELTON WALTON, THE CONVERSATION24 NOVEMBER 2021 In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years.
Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones.
Although it looks like a woodland of individual trees with striking white bark and small leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, Pando (Latin for "I spread") is actually 47,000 genetically identical stems that arise from an interconnected root network.
This single genetic individual weighs around 6 million metric tons. By mass, it is the largest single organism on Earth.
Aspen trees do tend to form clonal stands elsewhere, but what makes Pando interesting is its enormous size. Most clonal aspen stands in North America are much smaller, with those in western US averaging just 3 acres.
Pando has been around for thousands of years, potentially up to 14,000 years, despite most stems only living for about 130 years. Its longevity and remoteness mean a whole ecosystem of 68 plant species and many animals have evolved and been supported under its shade.
This entire ecosystem relies on the aspen remaining healthy and upright. But, although Pando is protected by the US National Forest Service and is not in danger of being cut down, it is in danger of disappearing due to several other factors.
Deer are eating the youngest 'trees' Overgrazing by deer and elk is one of the biggest worries. Wolves and cougars once kept their numbers in check, but herds are now much larger because of the loss of these predators.
Deer and elk also tend to congregate in Pando as the protection the woodland receives means they are not in danger of being hunted there.
Deer eating Pando shoots. (Lance Oditt/Friends of Pando)
As older trees die or fall down, light reaches the woodland floor which stimulates new clonal stems to start growing, but when these animals eat the tops off newly forming stems, they die. This means in large portions of Pando there is little new growth.
The exception is one area that was fenced off a few decades ago to remove dying trees. This fenced-off area has excluded elk and deer and has seen successful regeneration of new clonal stems, with dense growth referred to as the "bamboo garden".
Diseases and climate change Older stems in Pando are also being affected by at least three diseases: sooty bark canker, leaf spot and conk fungal disease.
While plant diseases have developed and thrived in aspen stands for millennia, it is unknown what the long-term effect on the ecosystem may be, given that there is a lack of new growth and an ever-growing list of other pressures on the clonal giant.
The fastest-growing threat is that of climate change. Pando arose after the last ice age had passed and has dealt with a largely stable climate ever since.
Pando Stems Resembling Trees
Pando has survived disease, hunting, and colonization. (Lance Oditt/Friends of Pando)
To be sure, it inhabits an alpine region surrounded by desert, meaning it is no stranger to warm temperatures or drought. But climate change threatens the size and lifespan of the tree, as well as the whole ecosystem it hosts.
Although no scientific studies have focused specifically on Pando, aspen stands have been struggling with climate change-related pressures, such as reduced water supply and warmer weather earlier in the year, making it harder for trees to form new leaves, which have led to declines in coverage.
With more competition for ever-dwindling water resources (the nearby Fish Lake is just out of reach of the tree's root system), temperatures expected to continue soaring to record highs in summer, and the threat of more intense wildfires, Pando will certainly struggle to adjust to these fast-changing conditions while maintaining its size.
The next 14,000 years Yet Pando is resilient and has already survived rapid environmental changes, especially when European settlers began inhabiting the area in the 19th century or after the rise of 20th-century recreational activities. It has dealt with disease, wildfire, and grazing before and remains the world's largest scientifically documented organism.
Despite every cause for concern, there is hope as scientists are helping us unlock the secrets to Pando's resilience, while conservation groups and the US forest service are working to protect this tree and its associated ecosystem. And a new group called the Friends of Pando aims to make the tree accessible to virtually everyone through 360 video recordings.
Last summer, when I was visiting my family in Utah, I took the chance to visit Pando. I spent two amazing days walking under towering mature stems swaying and "quaking" in the gentle breeze, between the thick new growth in the "bamboo garden", and even into charming meadows that puncture portions of the otherwise-enclosed center.
I marveled at the wildflowers and other plants thriving under the dappled shade canopy, and I was able to take delight in spotting pollinating insects, birds, fox, beaver, and deer, all using some part of the ecosystem created by Pando.
It's these moments that remind us that we have plants, animals, and ecosystems worth protecting. In Pando, we get the rare chance to protect all three. Richard Elton Walton, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Biology, Newcastle University.
That’s good, because otherwise it would grow so enormous that there would be no room left for anything else ...
As a young single guy many decades ago, my buds and I reckoned the sizes of such items using the Paul Bunyan measuring system, which is the axe handle. If memory serves, that particular item you mentioned looks approximately 4.5 axe handles wide. At 32 inches per axe handle, the width of that ponderous.... Aaah, er, mmm, you do the math. I think the song lyric, “Baby got back” is pertinent.
This is why I love FR!
How deep the irony that even the government inadvertently admits their record of poor forest management is interfering with the aspen reproduction system.
"More recent observations, however, have shown seedling establishment of new aspen clones is a regular occurrence and can be abundant on sites exposed by wildfire. These findings are summarized in the U.S. Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System:"Kay documented post-fire quaking aspen seedling establishment following 1986 and 1988 fires in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, respectively. He found seedlings were concentrated in kettles and other topographic depressions, seeps, springs, lake margins, and burnt-out riparian zones. A few seedlings were widely scattered throughout the burns. In Grand Teton National Park, establishment was greatest (950–2,700 seedlings/ha) in 1989, a wet year, but hundreds to thousands of seedlings established each year despite drought conditions in 1986–1988 and 1990–1991. Seedlings surviving past one season occurred almost exclusively on severely burned surfaces."
If true that Pando has been around for thousands of years, it has been through much more severe climate changes than anything in the last 150 years. It’s been through several warmings and coolings and the Little IceAge just for good measure.
I’m trying to figure out how much a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones weighs, compared with 2,385 acres of fungi – including all the underground stuff of each.
Math is hard.
I think that Earth itself is one enormous organism.
There’s no way that one part or aspect exists optimally without the others.
And Earth couldn’t exist without the order of the solar system, and ultimately of the Universe.
(Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.)
Pando survived 14,000 years, all by itself, until the US Government stepped it to protect it...
LOL! Thanks Red Badger.
I was just about to post that.
:)
Great X-Files episode on it, too.
Chris Christie?
He should have had his mouth stapled along with his stomach.................
Neither is re-introducing enough cougars/mountain lions and wolves to keep the deer and elk within a healthy balance of prey and predator-that and seasonal deer hunting would bring the ecosystem there into the balance it had before people who had no idea how the natural world works started screwing with it-the fed needs to stay away-far away-and let the game wardens and plant biologists manage the area...
I would tend to prefer adding a hunting season to adding predators that might like to snack on little kids who are camping with their families.
I just hope a leave-it-to-nature and just keep it in balance approach is used in the Pando area-it looks like a beautiful natural area...
You need both the hunting season and the natural predators-we’ve had both in this state for a natural balance for at least 35-40 years, when mountain lions were brought back to areas where they had been hunted out and the deer and other prey animal population was overbred, too large for the food supply and the deer were sickly and dying-things are better balanced now, and black bears have been re-introduced, too...
I don’t know what state you live in, or if you live in a city or rural area-I live in a rural area, and have lived in rural areas most of my life-including some time in another state-where there are mountains, mountain lions and lots of bears-my hubby and I took our cub camping in Big Bend, the mountains of NM, the Guadalupe mts, etc-all wild areas-closest we ever came to being threatened by a predator when camping was when a bear got into our Suburban one night because our cub had left an open package of Oreos in there-if you keep your kids in sight, and don’t let them wander into the woods alone, they will be fine. They are in more danger of being bitten by a rattler than they are of being taken by a mountain lion or bear, or even a pack of coyotes...
There is plenty of natural prey for the large predators here that are easier to obtain than well-guarded kids-living in the country means living with the wild animals-not killing them off-there have not been any mountain lion or bear attacks here on adults or kids-last wild animal predator attack on a human was feral hogs attacking a hunter-and it was not fatal to the hunter-just to the hog...
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