File:Aspen Trees Fall Colors Web-of-Roots Connected Wiki commons.jpg: Difference between revisions

<addthis />

• Aspen -- http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/worlds-7-most-amazing-trees/quaking-aspen-pando

The Aspen trees beauty is most noted in the fall for the golden colors. What is less noted is the amazing root system connecting the trees, a remarkable example of interconnected communication, adaptation strategy, survival and growth.

Pando, or the Trembling Giant, is a remarkable massive colony of a single quaking aspen trees spread over more than 100 acres in Utah. Every tree in the area shoots from a single organism, and they share a giant underground root system. It's estimated that Pando collectively weighs 6,615 tons, making it the heaviest living organism on the planet.

~

• From Wikipedia:

... some claim Pando's age is close to 1 million years.

Its current 80,000 year designation is based on a complex set of factors including the history of its local environment such as: the evidence indicating that there are few if any naturally occurring new aspens in most of the western United States since a climate shift took place 10,000 years ago and eliminated favorable soil conditions for seedlings...

~

• From Discover:

http://discovermagazine.com/1993/oct/thetremblinggian285

The quaking aspen, one of this country's most beautiful trees, also makes up the world's most massive organism... (1993)

Pando reached such vast dimensions by a kind of growth, common to plants, known as vegetative reproduction. A plant sends out horizontal stems or roots, either above ground or below depending on the species, that travel some distance before taking root themselves and growing into new, connected plants.

Wherever they grow, quaking aspens like unstable habitats...

If an aspen grove does not regularly experience fire or some other disturbance, its days are numbered. Conifers will invade its borders and begin to shade out the stems. Aspens can’t tolerate low levels of light, and they will eventually start to die as the conifers dominate the grove. One consequence of fire suppression by humans in North America has been a drastic reduction in the extent of aspen forests.

The quaking aspen gained its name because of the way the tree’s leaves tremble in even the slightest breeze.

~

• From GP360 Siterunner / SJS: In the 1990's our company, Schmidt-Cannon Int'l chose to grow into a multi-company services provider and, after deciding to rename ourselves, we chose Aspen Marketing Services to reflect our 'interconnectedness' -- our strength and viability working together became the reason for our new name...

The natural world of the Aspen grove was our model....

And our CEO moved to Evergreen, Colorado ;-

Here's to Neil and Joe and Aspen dreams.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○