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Where adjacent trees had been removed by natural death or foresters' thinning, in known years, the trees under study had responded, as shown in growth rings, by quickly extending their roots as well as their branches. Roots were found to vary surprisingly in age. And some of the younger ones were among the longest. "The many-aged nature of the roots," wrote Mr. Stout, ". . . suggests that throughout the life of a root system there is a continuous process in which the old roots die off and new roots emerge. If this is the case, then there would be, coming from the stump and major laterals, waves of new roots that would occupy and reoccupy the soil." |
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