North American forest : It contains what seem to be around 47,000 individual trees, but the Pando grove of central Utah is in fact one giant living organism—a clonal colony of quaking aspen. All of its trees are genetically identical, and all began as ramets, or suckers, growing from and sharing a single root system.
Some scientists, however, believe that the figure could be closer to 1 million. Recently, Pando’s survival has been threatened because deer and moose eat its ramets. Parts of the forest are now fenced off so that new suckers grow undisturbed.Ancient roots Aspen clonal colonies are common in North America. What makes Pando—Latin for “I spread”—special is its size: it sprawls over 108 acres (44 hectares), with an estimated weight of 6,615 tons (6,000 tonnes). Pando’s accepted age is also unusual. Although individual trunks live around 100–150 years, the clonal root system is thought to be at least 80,000 years old.
Pacific Northwest
Rain Forest Coastal temperate rain forests are a very rare forest type. Today, they are believed to cover just 116,700 square miles (302,200 square km)—less than 0.2 percent of Earth’s land area. The Pacific Northwest measures annual rainfall in feet, and 8–14ft (2.5–4.2m) is not unusual. Constantly decaying cedar, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and coast redwood needles and deciduous leaves create rich soil that supports hundreds of moss, fern, and invertebrate species, while rivers, lakes, and streams are home to salmon and trout, which in turn attract bears and bald eagles.Oceans, mountains, and high rainfall are features of these forests, and the largest intact areas stretch from northern California to Canada and the Gulf of Alaska .