Ep. 568 - The Importance of Old Trees
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Understanding forest health requires looking across scales and gradients. How individual trees respond to stresses can tell us a lot about how forests will respond to stresses over the long term. These are the kinds of ideas that motivate Dr. Sara Germain in her quest to understand the life and death of trees such as the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and its neighbors. Join us for a fascinating look at what it takes to study trees and the forests they comprise in the Rocky Mountains. This episode was produced in part by Kim, Tanya, Neil, Matthew, April, Dana, Lilith, Sanza, Eva, Yellowroot, Wisewren, Nadia, Heidi, Blake, Josh, Laure, R.J., Carly, Lucia, Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants. |
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| 0:21.5 | It explores a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage to growing native |
| 0:26.1 | plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much more. It's a heck of a lot of fun. |
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| 0:36.7 | at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? |
| 0:58.7 | You've obviously heard the saying, you've got to see the forest for the trees. And work like we're discussing today really emphasizes really seeing both and the importance of scaling in between |
| 1:03.7 | them. Forests are amazing ecosystems and understanding how they've changed in the past and how |
| 1:08.9 | they're going to continue to change in the future is so important. Joining us to talk about this is Dr. Sarah Germain, who is asking really cool |
| 1:15.9 | questions about tree health and forest dynamics in the Rocky Mountains. She was particularly |
| 1:20.9 | fond of the white bark pine, and her insights into what's going on with its ecology and the |
| 1:25.6 | way it interacts with all of the other organisms in the forest is going to blow your mind. So let's just jump right into it. Without |
| 1:31.6 | further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Sarah Germain, welcome to the podcast. It is so great to have you here. |
| 1:54.3 | For those that aren't familiar with your work, let's start off with an introduction. |
| 1:57.9 | Thank you so much for having me. I am a professor at the University of Wyoming, |
| 2:02.6 | and I primarily am a field ecologist, specializing in temperate forest dynamics. So I think a lot |
| 2:09.0 | about forest health and drivers of forest change from insects of bungee all the way up to |
| 2:14.5 | warming climate and the protective effects of biodiversity. |
| 2:18.7 | And my favorite way to study trees is to return to the same forests every single year, get |
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