James, This small tree should not be considered a failure by any means. Consider for each tree that lives to 146 years old, there likely were thousands of seeds that never sprouted, hundreds of sprouts and sapling that died or were out competed in their first few years of life. This tree is a survivor and in terms of survival percentage it is remarkably successful. Is it producing cones and seeds? If so then it is a succeeding in passing on its genetic legacy to the next generation. That is the major goal the species as a whole.
Ed http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ http://primalforests.ning.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957
