poplar This is perhaps the biggest living beings in the world, a group of Trembling, is seriously at risk. The so-called Pando in Fishlake National Forest in Utah (USA) according to the researchers, data from the 47,000 trees of identical genetic material, which are connected underground by roots. “Pando has probably been around for Thousands of years, exactly, we are not able to determine the age – but now he is collapsing before our eyes,” said scientist Paul Rogers of Utah State University. The main reason for mule deer and other herbivores, the tree shoots to eat.
Together with his colleagues McAvoy Darren looked at Rogers, according to his own information for the first time, the entire colony of American aspen tree, which is according to the researchers, 5.9 million kilograms of “suspected largest known organism in the world”.
their findings, the researchers published in the journal “Plos one”. The “forest from tree” waxes on 43 acres. “Pando” is Latin and means “I spread”.
The Aspen trees as well, such as black locust transverse growing roots that form at certain intervals a new sprout, which grows into a tree. The poplar saplings are deer good forage for grazing animals, elk, or mule.
many years ago, animals would have eaten almost all the young tree shoots, reports Rogers. The obvious idea is to simply draw a fence around the trees, but failed. At the perimeter of the smaller piece in the year 2013 it had been initially promising results. As the researchers moved the fence a larger area, could not be stopped, the Eating – as the new study shows. “After a significant investment in the protection of the iconic Pando clone we are very disappointed with the result,” said Rogers. “Specially-foot table, deer seem to find a way through weak spots in the fence or jump over the eight foot (2.4 m) high fence.”
From this knowledge arises a clear message, says Rogers: “We can’t manage wild animals and forests independent of each other.” Herbivores increased, if there were no wolves, and other predators. In addition, hunters often had a high number. It had to happen, animals will be reduced or fences to be improved.
In the research is controversial, whether Pando is actually the largest and heaviest living things on earth. “Even if it is a clone, so I’m skeptical that all the trees hang together,” said the botanist Stefan Dressler from the Senckenberg research Institute in Frankfurt/Main. “How will you prove, that a part is separated?”
Such trees could help in the case of drought each other, but generally speaking, each tree was individually capable of. Also, don’t be also not sure that there is somewhere a larger such a Tree network.
of course, but herbivores are a threat to the rung, said Dressler. In Germany, too, there would be too dense animal stocking no rejuvenation in the forest, when hunters and foresters would not help.
