Aspen are special trees in
the Southwest. Throughout the summer the mountains will have a green blanket
over them. A close look will show a slight variation in green in the aspen
stands. But then in the fall, the hillsides burst with the yellow and gold
colors of the leaves. A few aspen even have a pinkish leaf.They commonly occur interspersed in the mixed conifers. Aspen are short-lived trees, about 80-100 years, and the conifers live for hundreds of years. So the aspen trees serve as nurses for the conifer, providing the shade needed for the conifers to start. Slowly the conifers overtop the aspen and take over the sand. Without intervention, the aspen stand will die. Most typically the intervention is in the form of natural fires which open up the stands and the aspen take off.
Aspen do grow from seeds but most typically they sucker off their roots. Aspen trees in a stand are attached to the same root system. If the trees in an aspen clone are cut or burned, the roots will send up numerous new shoots and a new grove of aspen will start.