I had to take down  a 50 year old sliver maple last fall, cos it was diseased and there was no treatment.  It was sad.

But the stump supports some other forms of life.  Moss and lichens grow around the sides, and this orange fungus has  been growing for about a week.  There was some other fungus too that has since turned black.  And it keeps sending out a couple little leaves of its own, last little attempts at reviving itself.

And under some roots, a chipmunk has taken advantage of an easy way to make a new tunnel.  They sit on the stump and use it as a look out vantage point.  And one root has a way to get under it. They  can also get down in there from the carved out damaged center of the stump.  Chipmunks have an extensive transportation system under the back yard, and this gives them one more place to go to get away from predators, and even the occasional big black cat who goes  out on her leash and tries to get one of them!

The magic of the earth includes one life form assisting another in so many ways.