rigpa8
We're Watching You
Aspens are shade-intolerant, and they compete with one another, growing upwards for optimum sun exposure. Because they grow in close proximity, their lower branches eventually become shaded. The aspens then cut off the flow of sap to these lower branches, causing them to atrophy and fall off, leaving a dark eye where each self-pruned branch used to be. This allows the trees to expend their limited energy on the more productive, sunlit upper branches.
A stand or group of aspen trees is considered a singular organism with the main life force underground in the extensive root system.
Photo taken in Flat Tops Wilderness, Feb 6, 2022
We're Watching You
Aspens are shade-intolerant, and they compete with one another, growing upwards for optimum sun exposure. Because they grow in close proximity, their lower branches eventually become shaded. The aspens then cut off the flow of sap to these lower branches, causing them to atrophy and fall off, leaving a dark eye where each self-pruned branch used to be. This allows the trees to expend their limited energy on the more productive, sunlit upper branches.
A stand or group of aspen trees is considered a singular organism with the main life force underground in the extensive root system.
Photo taken in Flat Tops Wilderness, Feb 6, 2022