Scientists shared the haunting sounds of Utah’s ‘Trembling Giant’ – the Pando aspen forest made up of a tree with 47,000 ‘clones’ growing from a single root system.
The eerie rumbling (here) is millions of leaves rustling in the wind during a thunderstorm, which vibrated the tree to the ground, where microphones captured the noise.
Pando is believed to be the largest, most dense organism ever found at nearly 13 million pounds, and its clones cover more than 106 acres.
The 80,000-year-old forest originated from a single seed and spread by sending up new shoots from the expanding root system, creating genetically identical stems.
Scientists shared the haunting sounds of Utah ‘s ‘Trembling Giant’ – the Pando aspen forest made up of a tree with 47,000 ‘clones’ growing from a single root system.
Pando is located in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, and research has suggested that it has been regenerating for 9,000 years, making it one of the oldest organisms on Earth.
The sounds of this living thing were captured by sound artist Jeff Rice and Lance Oditt, founder of Friends of Pando, who placed a hydrophone inside a hallow branch at the tree’s base and maneuvered it down to the roots – about 90 feet below the surface.
‘Hydrophones don’t just need water to work,’ said Rice.
‘They can pick up vibrations from surfaces like roots as well, and when I put on my headphones, I was instantly surprised.
‘Something was happening. There was a faint sound.’
Rice wanted to capture the sounds of Pando during a thunderstorm, and when he put his headphones on, he heard a haunting rumbling come through.
‘What you’re hearing, I think, is the sound of millions of leaves in the forest, vibrating the tree and passing down through the branches, down into the earth,’ Rice said during a March presentation when he first shared the audio.
Pando is believed to be the largest, most dense organism ever found at nearly 13 million pounds, and its clones cover more than 106 acres
The sounds of this living thing were captured by sound artist Jeff Rice and Lance Oditt, founder of Friends of Pando, who placed a hydrophone inside a hallow branch at the tree’s base and maneuvered it down to the roots – about 90 feet below the surface
The hydrophone also registered with a low thump when they banged lightly on a branch 90 feet away. Rice compared this to the classic tin can telephone.
‘It’s similar to two cans connected by a string,’ he said. ‘Except there are 47,000 cans connected by a huge root system.’
While Pando is a marvel of the world, a study in 2018 found it is slowly dying due to relentless human interference – scientists warn that it is unlikely to exist in as little as 50 years.
Co-author Paul Rogers from Utah State University’s Wildland Resources Department said: ‘While Pando has likely existed for thousands of years – we have no method of firmly fixing its’ age – it is now collapsing on our watch.
‘One clear lesson emerges here: we cannot independently manage wildlife and forests.’
This decline has happened because humans have expanded into the forest and cut down areas without giving them time to recover.
Grazing deer have also put pressure on the park, and a long-standing drought has further added to its demise.