There a fascinating article in Discover Magazine, December 2019, on how trees communicate. Researchers have gone into the redwood forests in California. A redwood starts as a seed that is only 1/8 of an inch across and grows more than 30 stories high and weights around 6000 tons. Under the trees in the soil is a complex network of fungal strands which allow elder trees to communicate with sapling trees.
The older trees will send through this fungal network the carbon that the saplings need to grow. They’ll prompt the young saplings to activate useful genes that, for example, might heighten the saplings resistance to drought.
The trees are actually able to tell which saplings are their relatives. This might trigger the elder tree to scale back their own root structure to give these saplings more room to grow. An elder tree that is sick or dying will even send extra doses of its own carbon to the young relatives and even simulate defense mechanisms in the saplings.
These saplings that are well connected to their relatives will survive at a rate 3 to 4 times that of a less connected sapling. So…when you walk in a forest there may be a lot more going on than you ever thought.
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The older trees will send through this fungal network the carbon that the saplings need to grow. They’ll prompt the young saplings to activate useful genes that, for example, might heighten the saplings resistance to drought.
The trees are actually able to tell which saplings are their relatives. This might trigger the elder tree to scale back their own root structure to give these saplings more room to grow. An elder tree that is sick or dying will even send extra doses of its own carbon to the young relatives and even simulate defense mechanisms in the saplings.
These saplings that are well connected to their relatives will survive at a rate 3 to 4 times that of a less connected sapling. So…when you walk in a forest there may be a lot more going on than you ever thought.
SPECIAL BONUS - A Powerful Video About How One Person Can Make a Difference
A friend recently sent me this link to this video. He said it was "This is a must watch video."
After watching it, I agreed 1000%! So...I invite you to watch this powerful video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_nFuJAF5F0.
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