Document Type
Newsletter
Volume
7
Issue
2
Editor
Paul Rogers
Publisher
Western Aspen Alliance
Publication Date
5-2016
First Page
1
Last Page
4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
"Aspen is not a tree, it's a root system" (Anonymous)
Annie DesRochers
While trying to verify if the decline of aspen stands in western Canada was due to diseased root systems, we carried out large-scale excavations that allowed us to discover something of utmost importance for these forests: old parental roots were present in the majority of tree root systems, confirming their sucker-origin, and these roots still connected trees with each other through stand maturity. Moreover, trees that were not originally connected through their parental root had formed root grafts with each other, further increasing the level of interconnection between trees. We also noticed that these connecting roots were quite large and must have represented a large energy demand on the trees for their maintenance. One might guess that if they constituted too large of an energy sink, trees could simply shed them, but their large woody nature and central position make them a foundation of their root system, not easily abandoned.
Recommended Citation
Western Aspen Alliance, "Tremblings, May 2016" (2016). Tremblings. Paper 28.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/tremblings/28