We have all been up to Mt. Lemmon before, but this experience was the best. We took a phenomenal hike around the meadow loop trail and learned a lot about microorganisms and the dominant trees up here. We learned about Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and Quaking aspen. These awesome trees envelop the mountain. Also on the trail we saw the awesome “Great Grandfather tree”. This extremely old and beautiful tree has nodules all over its base. We learned how fungi have a beneficial relationship with the tree’s roots and how some bacteria can create nodules by digesting root exudates and turning them into hormones. The tree can then utilize the hormones and grow around the bacteria encapsulating it.
Microbes are cool yo-also they keep trees happy and healthy.
-Barky bark aka The Bark Beetles