Initial Investigation With regard to a thickening of edge, aspen trees are remarkable organisms that respond to a layered system through specific connections and separations. While the roots are interconnected between trees to perform one function, the forest canopy works on the opposite end to provide necessary conditions for the roots to function. The aspen forest as a whole acts as horizontal surfaces that relate and depend on one another with the trunks acting as separating members holding the two important layers at bay. While the roots literally provide growth and development, the canopy allows for light, heat, and energy to be absorbed into the forest. As the cycle continues, the porous canopy allows light to reach the seedlings below, which grow and provide a canopy for their young to grow as well. Trees are constantly dying and being reborn through their clones so the forest sys-
tem is in a constant flux of growth and development at all times. Aspen forests grow through implementing clonal colonization.1 An aspen’s roots grow predominately laterally (only about two or three feet deep), reaching up to one hundred feet away from the base of the trunk. A root sucker will shoot off of one of the roots and begin to grow upwards. From this, a new seedling will grow and develop into a tree. As such, one tree may provide the grounds for many to grow (see Figure 12). By growing this way, the plant is able to obtain necessary nutrients without even having to develop its own root system to retain nutrients. As the tree matures, the porous canopy above allows bountiful light to reach the ground level, also providing an abundance of necessary light for these plants to grow. The above ground
Figure 11 Figure 11: aspen trees
Clonal Colony: a group of genetically identical individuals (e. g., plants, fungi, or bacteria) that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively (not sexually) from a single ancestor 1
1st generation 2nd generation 3rd generation 4th generation
Figure 12: time lapse generative growth of an aspen forest through clonal colonies
Figure 12
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