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Nov 2024
5m 3s

The Largest Organism on Earth

Perplexity
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Deep in Utah's Fishlake National Forest lies Pando, the world's largest known living organism - a remarkable quaking aspen that appears to be a forest of 47,000 individual trees but is actually a single interconnected being. This 106-acre giant, weighing approximately 6,600 tons and surviving for an estimated 14,000 years, reproduces through a unique process called suckering, where new stems sprout directly from its vast underground network. However, this ancient marvel faces unprecedented threats from overgrazing by exploding deer and elk populations, climate change, and human development, causing it to fragment into three distinct sections. Conservation initiatives, including strategic fencing projects and wildlife management programs, are racing to protect this remarkable organism, whose preservation represents not just saving a single entity, but protecting a complex ecosystem that supports hundreds of dependent species and provides crucial insights into forest resilience and adaptation.

From Perplexity's Discover Feed:

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/the-largest-organism-on-earth-Sa.0WXWnQWablpRZlObH_g

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