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FOREST'S SECRETS

Are forest fires good? How can destruction from these proportions be good?

Can trees talk?

The idea of talking trees has been fascinating the human mind for ages. Appearing as wise and powerful creatures in countless books and movies they easily take over our imagination. Sadly this dream seems way too far to be true.

But no matter how it sounds trees can talk. Even though we cannot hear them, they have a secret language. They use a special network lying below the ground to connect them and help them transport resources and information.

In a forest, the oldest trees are usually the tallest.  These trees are known as hub trees. They are the tallest around, so they receive more light for photosynthesis than others. This means that they can produce more nutrients than they need.

During photosynthesis, trees produce nutrients in their leaves which then travel down the branches and the trunk and finally reach the roots.

But sometimes trees produce more sugars than they need, so they send them to other trees and thus help them grow besides the fact they have less sunlight.

But trees cannot transport any kind of resources or information by themselves. To achieve that trees need the help of fungi which live attached to their roots. In every forest, a beautiful symbiosis is formed between the roots and the mycelium formed by the different species of fungi. Trees provide precious nutrients for the fungi which they cannot get underground while they give the tree nitrogen compounds which fungi absorb better than the roots.

The network which fungi create is called mycorrhizal network. The word comes from the greek mýkēs and rhiza which means fungus root.

To many aspects, the mycorrhizal network is for trees what the web is for humans. One tree can be connected to tens of others by dozens of different fungi species. Different fungus species can transport different resources and information.

This complex network can transport carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, water, defense compounds, allelochemicals, and hormones. A mother tree can also nurture its seedlings. Trees take care of their seedlings as humans do for their children. They send them sugars and pass their knowledge using the complex fungi network. A tree can also identify the species of others using it.

Professor Suzzane Simard is the explorer standing behind these incredible findings like the mycorrhizal network, the transporting of sugars and information and many more.

This complex system which forests have developed is more than impressive. Sadly people are destroying these fragile ecosystems. By cutting a hub tree dozens of important connections are lost and immature seedlings are left without help. Cutting enough hub trees in a forest can leave it in danger.

Even bigger treat is the way we regrow forests with one or two species.  This way we are limiting the diversity and making the forests vulnerable. When only one species is presented one single insect species or illness can erase the whole forest.

Maybe the best way to regrow a forest is to leave it. They have immense regenerating capacity and we just have to leave them alone.