Talking Trees
Wouldn’t it be mind-blowing if trees could talk?
They do in movies. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy picks an apple from a tree. The tree startles Dorothy with the words, “What do you think you’re doing?” To which she replies, “Did you just talk to me?” The scene ends with the tree saying, “My bark is worse than my bite.”
Grandmother Willow is another tree of a screen writer’s imagination in the movie Pocahontas. The movie’s heroine seeks out advice from her grandmother about her love life, and the willow is all too happy to oblige.
What if I told you trees really could talk?
Well, not in the way we imagine, but they do communicate with each other. Scientists in Germany and Canada have been documenting this process over the past twenty years. It seems that these forest creatures use a system of fungal threads underneath the soil called the World Wood Web. It all begins with a mother tree, one that is older and taller than its neighbors. This hub tree, by virtue of its size, has the most access to sunlight and, therefore, produces the most sugars. Fungi absorb this sugar and, in turn, provide the tree with extra nutrient.
The process doesn’t end there. Nearby saplings are also fed from the mother tree and the fungi. Trees both give and take nutrients in a reciprocal trading system. It has been found that one hub tree can be involved in a network with up to 47 of its neighbors.
Trees can also warn each other of danger.
Take the acacia tree for example. Their leaves are a favorite fodder for giraffes who can over-graze and destroy a tree. When this occurs, the acacia can sense danger and releases a foul-smelling toxic odor that travels to the leaves and will send a hungry giraffe in search of other feeding grounds. This odor is so strong that it will alert other trees and they, in turn, will also release the same toxin. The giraffe will travel on to other areas to feed.
Why is this important?
Before modern forest management, trees often existed as mixed species. Now days, trees are often thinned and the hub trees are removed. This takes away the ability of the mother trees to give and take nutrients from its surrounding trees. Other times, forests are clear cut and all the trees of an area are removed. When this happens, the logged hillsides are frequently replanted with one species. However, in Germany when birth trees were removed from fir tree forests, the firs trees began do develop diseases. They needed the nutrients the birch provided.
In Europe, as well as the United States, scientists are encouraging the planting of more mixed species forests. It seems living in a diverse population benefits all the trees.
Might there be a lesson here for the human population as well?
Think about it. If trees do better with neighbors of different sizes and species, might we benefit from living in communities like this as well? The young can learn from the older population and vice-versa. We can learn from those of different cultures as well. Finally, I want to put a plug in for having older friends. There is an African proverb that states, “A person who does not make friends with the elderly is like a tree without roots.”
Remember, the mother tree. She has the most to offer in terms of supporting her community.