This poplar forest is very old and huge. It is located in Utah and covers more than 40 hectares and weighs about six thousand tons. What appears to be a panorama of hundreds of individual trees it is actually a group of genetically identical stems with a large common root system. Therefore, it is only one living organism and not many independent organisms.

What’s going on with the Pando forest?

Scientists say that this giant, whose life span spans thousands of years, has begun to disintegrate. Paul Rogers, professor of ecology, who completed a comprehensive assessment of Pando five years ago, found that animals are damaging this forest, limiting the growth of new trees and shortening the lifespan of this huge plant. Big trees age and die, and new poplar sprouts cannot withstand the onslaught of the greedy deer.

In response to the threat, environmentalists erected a fence around an area to prevent animals from grazing and to see if this could save the forest. Rogers recently returned to evaluate this strategy and check on Pando’s overall health. He published his findings in the journal “Conservation Science and Practice.”

What did the experiment show?

According to the research, Pando takes several different ecological paths depending on how its segments are managed.

• About 16 percent of the fenced forest has actually been saved. Young shoots go through the first stages of their life and continue to grow. However, the negative impact of the past is still felt: old and dying trees still prevail over young trees.
• Unfenced areas (about 50 percent) continue to be concentrated areas of deer and cattle, which consume most of the young sprouts.
• At the same time, it’s not clear from the study’s description what happens to the other 34 percent of the forest.
• Vulnerable areas undergo environmental changes in various directions. Mature poplar stems die without replacement, opening the top layer and always allowing more sunlight to reach the ground. This changes the plant composition on the surface.
• However, the lives of countless other species depend on the presence of trees. Aspen forests support high levels of biodiversity, from blackbirds to foxgloves. Long-term lack of new uptake in Aspen ecosystems can have cascading effects on hundreds of species.
• This effectively cuts down a previously uniform forest.

what’s next

The arguments of scientists about the prospects of fencing seem very strange. While claiming that they have managed to protect an area of ​​the forest, they do not want to extend the fence to a larger area, citing “aesthetic and philosophical issues”.

I think if we try to save the organism with fences alone, we will find that we are trying to create something like a zoo in the wild. While the fencing strategy is well-intentioned, we will eventually need to address the underlying issues of the large numbers of stray deer and cattle in this landscape.
says Rogers.

At this time, it is unclear how scientists and officials will act next. There is a possibility that it will not be possible to save this unique forest.