Scientists say deer are slowly eating the world's largest organism, Pando, a giant aspen that grows in Utah, USA. Wolves and cougars used to hold back deer population growth, Science Alert reports, but now the number of these predators has declined significantly..

At first glance, it may seem that these are individual trees, covered with white bark and small leaves that tremble at the slightest breath of wind.. But in fact, Pando is made up of 47,000 genetically identical trunks that emerge from an interconnected root system..

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And this single organism weighs about 6,000 metric tons, being the largest on Earth.. According to scientists, the age of Pando is measured in thousands of years, the maximum value is estimated at 14 thousand years.. But the age of most plants in the system is about 130 years old.. Its longevity and remoteness mean that an entire ecosystem of 68 species of plants and many animals has evolved and lives in its shadow..

Despite the fact that Pando is protected by the US National Forest Service, it may not disappear due to logging, but for other reasons.. One of them is that deer eat the youngest trees in the system..

As already mentioned, there are more of them due to a decrease in the number of wolves and cougars.. Deer also congregate in Pando's shadows, as its conservation status means they cannot be overtaken by hunters..

As the old trees die or fall, the light reaches the forest floor, which stimulates the growth of new stem clones, but when these animals eat the tops of the newly formed stems, they die.. That is, few young shoots appear in the Pando system..

The exception is one site that was fenced off several decades ago to remove dying trees.. Deer and elk do not penetrate here, so there is a rapid growth of new clones, which scientists call the "

Old Pando stems are also affected by at least three diseases: bark canker, leaf spot, and fungal disease.. The system has been resisting them for a long time, but it is not known what its reaction will be in the absence of new shoots..

Another threat to Pando is climate change. The system arose after the end of the last ice age and since then has existed in a relatively stable climate..

It certainly lives in an alpine region surrounded by desert, which means it is no stranger to warm temperatures or drought.. But climate change threatens the tree's size and lifespan, as well as the entire ecosystem it lives in..