Eco Note

Utah’s mule deer are threatening the largest and possibly the oldest living organism on the planet. The Pando clone is a forest of over 47,000 quaking aspens that share a single root system and are genetically identical. The colony emerged about 80,000 years ago from a single seed. But foresters say the forest is “tired” and aging because its young sprouts are being munched on by the deer, which have grown in numbers since the area’s native wolves disappeared.