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Quaking Aspen

All articles tagged with #quaking aspen

science28 days ago•13 min saved

Pando: Utah’s 14,000-year-old ‘forest of one’ fights to regrow amid deer pressure

Pando is a single male quaking aspen clone spanning 106 acres in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, consisting of about 47,000 genetically identical stems and a shared root system weighing around 13 million pounds. Its age is uncertain but the root system may be up to 14,000 years old, making it one of the oldest and heaviest organisms on land. The grove is the visible expression of one organism, renewed by roots rather than seeds. Its regeneration now hinges on young shoots surviving browsing by mule deer (and cattle); where fences protect them, recruitment improves, but unprotected areas struggle. Management efforts (fencing, cutting, burning, shrub removal) aim to reduce browsing and allow new stems to mature; without lowering grazing pressure, the clone risks remaining a hollow age structure under its old canopy, rather than becoming a forest again.

via Space Daily|

#clonal-colony #deer-browsing #pando

science1 month ago•5 min saved

The Trembling Giant Speaks: Sounds from Pando, the World’s Largest Living Organism

Researchers captured sounds from Pando, a colossal quaking aspen clone spanning about 100 acres in Utah and weighing around 6,000 tons, possibly 12,000 years old. A hydrophone inside a hollow at a branch’s base picked up vibrations in the tree and its root system, especially during storms, suggesting wind-driven sounds travel through the interconnected network. The project blends art and science to map Pando’s roots and monitor ecosystem health, while researchers warn the ancient organism is deteriorating due to human activity and environmental pressures.

via ScienceAlert|

#biodiversity #hydrophone #pando

environment2 years ago•3 min saved

Eerie Recordings Capture World's Largest Living Organism's Haunting Sounds

Recordings of Pando, the world's largest living organism, have captured the haunting sounds of a million leaves vibrating through its roots. Pando, a forest made up of a single male quaking aspen tree with 47,000 stems, has been growing for possibly 12,000 years. Sound artist Jeff Rice placed a hydrophone inside the tree's roots and captured the vibrations, revealing the potential for using sound to study Pando's hydraulic system. The recordings also highlight the interconnectedness of Pando's root system. However, concerns remain about the deterioration of this ancient tree due to human activities, emphasizing the need to appreciate and understand its secrets while it still exists.

via ScienceAlert|

#environment #environmental-conservation #pando

environment3 years ago•3 min saved

Eerie Recordings of World's Largest Living Thing Unveiled.

Sound artist Jeff Rice has recorded the sounds of Pando, the world's largest living organism, using a hydrophone placed inside a hollow at the base of a branch and threaded down to the tree's roots. The recordings captured the eerie low rumbling of millions of leaves in the forest, vibrating the tree and passing down through the branches, down into the earth. Pando, a forest made of a single tree with 47,000 stems sprouting from a shared root system over 100 acres of Utah, is deteriorating due to human activities, leaving researchers concerned that Pando's days and all the forest life it supports are numbered.

via ScienceAlert|

#ecosystem #environment #pando