Fall aspen trees near Guardsman Pass, Utah, USA
© Danita Delimont/Shutterstoc
The golden season. Autumn equinox
The autumn equinox marks a turning point in the Northern Hemisphere. Occurring each September, it is the moment when the sun crosses the equator heading south, and day and night are nearly equal in length. After this celestial balance, daylight gradually shrinks as the journey toward winter begins.
Near Guardsman Pass in Utah, the change is written across the mountainsides in gold. Many of the aspens coloring the American West are quaking aspens, the most widely distributed native tree species in North America. What appears to be a forest of individuals is often something else entirely: many aspens grow in connected colonies, with trunks emerging from a shared root network and carrying the same genetic code as their neighbors.
Even as their leaves turn yellow and fall, much of the organism remains alive below ground. Aspens can persist through winter via their root systems, quietly preparing for future growth. The autumn equinox may signal summer's end, but in these remarkable groves, life never truly pauses.
Related Images
Lake Dobson in Mount Field National Park of Tasmania
Wildflowers in bloom at Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona
For International Beaver Day, a beaver swimming in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Circular agricultural fields in Morgan County, Colorado
Almond orchards in bloom, Sacramento Valley, California
Blossoming cherry trees at a tea plantation in Longyan, China
Leopard snoozing in a tree in Namibia for National Napping Day
An old farm in the Shetland Islands, Scotland
Bing Today Images
