New research: World’s largest life-form is dying, deer are to blame

New research from a forest ecologist at Utah State University suggests the world’s largest known organism is being consumed and dying faster than previously thought. But the solution the researcher proposes — sharpshooters — will not be coming to fruition anytime soon.

“This system is failing, and it is clearly pointing a finger back at us,” said Paul Rogers, a forest ecologist and the director of the Western Aspen Alliance. “All of us humans are causing this to go downhill.”

Rogers studied the Pando clone, a 106-acre aspen stand in the Fishlake National Forest near Richfield, Utah. With approximately 47,000 stems from one root system, Pando — Latin for “I spread” — is considered to be the world’s largest living organism, but Rogers suggested that may not be the case for long.

“Most, if not the whole thing, could collapse in a decade or two,” he said.

Because of houses, campgrounds and roads in the middle of the Pando clone, Rogers said, mule deer began to seek refuge in the hunting-free area. There, the deer would gnaw at Pando’s “suckers” before the baby aspens have time to grow larger.

The deer “know they won’t get shot,” Rogers said. “They start raising new generations that become acclimated to the taste of Pando.”

Taking the deer out of the area, however, isn’t as easy as finding a few good hunters.

There is not and will never be any hunting or shooting within Pando’s breadth according to Teresa Griffin, a wildlife manager for the Southern District of Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources.

Rogers suggests that while civilian hunters are not the right choice, professional sharpshooters from the division could easily kill the deer and send the message that Pando is not on the menu.

“We have too many animals for that ecosystem now,” Rogers said. “They are in and among those houses so you need someone who is a professional to kill them.”

Government officials disagree.

“It would be problematic to allow that,” said John Zapell, the public information officer for Fishlake National Forest.

Griffin, as well as the division habitat manager for the Southern district Gary Bezzant, said calling in sharpshooters is not an option.

“It is not the lead option or even the second and third option right now,” Bezzant said.

The forest service and wildlife resources agree better fencing is the solution.

“We can definitely get the improvement that we have been looking for with just maintaining the fence better than it has been,” Bezzant said.

Pando is bisected by Utah State Route 25, and both sides of the clone have fences around major sections. In the southern section, Zapell said, there have been promising signs of regeneration due to another of Rogers’ research projects including burning and cutting sections of Pando to trigger regeneration.

However, “The north side is not doing well,” Rogers said. “They used this 25-year-old fence to save money.”

According to the report, the lower boundary of the northern fence was built in 1992 while the rest was erected in 2014. Even with new fences, Bezzant said, it is imperative that they are continually monitored to prevent breaches.

“Fencing hasn’t been done well,” Bezzant said. “In just a 45-minute walk, I have seen many things that could be improved to keep the deer from getting in.”

Zapell said there is no forest service employee in charge of the fences, but whenever someone is in the area, they tend to check the fence line or report any disrepair.

“Our recreation folks or range people will go up and run the fence line,” he said. “It is pretty hard to do much else.”

Casual monitoring is not enough, Rogers said, as one felled tree can open up the stand to the deer and ruin years of growth.

“You have to have someone constantly monitoring,” he said. “Trees fall quite commonly.”

Rogers said saving Pando could give clues about how to save aspen forests across the West, but Bezzant and Griffin disagree.

“They are trying to solve the problem on a postage stamp level,” Bezzant said. “It’s got significance but the questions that they’re asking don’t answer larger-scale environmental questions.”

By managing both wildlife and forests at the same time, Rogers said, especially by starting in a single-genotype forest like Pando, a trend of “mega-conservation” can provide answers to such questions.

“We created this issue; it is incumbent on us to fix it,” he said.

—carter.moore@aggiemail.usu.edu

@carterthegrreat