Dead Trees Hide a Complex World Crucial to Forest Ecology and Climate
scientificamerican.com·3w·
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Mark Harmon crouches low next to log number 219: a moss-covered western hemlock tree trunk, five meters long, lying dead on the ground in the lush green woods. It’s marked by a thin aluminum tag. The forest ecologist leans in close, his unruly white beard nearly brushing against the decomposing cylinder. Dark, flaky patches on the dull, reddish-brown wood closer to the ground show where fungi have infiltrated the cellulose within. Farther down the trunk, multicolored fungal conks protrude like hard shelves barely big enough for a mouse. A shiny black beetle scurries along the ground, then out of sight under the log. Harmon presses gently on 219 with three fingertips. It’s so spongy that he is reluctant to roll back a chunk of it to reveal what lies underneath. “Oh, I don’t want to …

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