:huey-lewis: a classic:
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.
Fungus/disease and climate change are the other issues facing Pando, the former being devastating to older trees.
I have camped inside Pando and it was very cool, I love aspens. I hope it's able to stick around for another few thousand years
Devastating in particular because it’s a clonal colony so the fungus devours and there is no capability for immunity to evolve 😔
cool, great, a (possibly) 14,000 year old organism and we're just gonna fuckin kill it, aren't we
Gallows humor
Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones.
The members of the band Quaking Aspen Clones must be devistated.
I know it means that a bunch of smaller things are eating it, but all I'm imagining is this giant monstrosity that cannot be described as an organism chowing down 106 acres of forest
