Tree talk

a post from Bea

This weekend we decided to plant a cedar tree near where we removed the large, leaning oak that threatened our house. But when we dug into the soil to plant our tree, we found an interesting world of roots, decaying leaves, rocks, and white fungi. Some of these things we expected (hello, rocky Chatham soil), but what were those mushrooms doing down there? We watched a few cool videos like this one to find out more:

Bea explains:

Down, down, down, under the tree trunk, you might think there’s just tree roots and dirt but there’s actually these little fungi called mycelium. And they have thin threads that go all over the forest. Sometimes each root can have its own individual fungi.

And so, if something happens like the tree is attacked or is in a drought, the tree tells the fungi and the fungi tells all the trees in the forest. The trees, who will not leave a teammate behind, begin getting resources and start sending them to the fungi and through the fungi to help the tree. They send resources, and some plants send messages about using venom and bug spray to stay safe. And then sometimes, if one tree, a little sapling, has complete shade and can’t get sunlight, it will get the fungi to send a message to the neighboring tree. “Hey, could I get a little help here? I can’t get any sunlight.” The other tree is like, “Sure! No problem.” It collects light, makes sugar through photosynthesis, and then the fungi sends it to the sapling. The sapling uses the sugar to grow taller.

It doesn’t surprise me that trees talk to each other. I knew all along that trees had a way of communicating and did a lot of teamwork. Trees couldn’t survive without each other. They’re a lot like humans, and humans depend on teamwork too.

Here are a couple more cool videos:

And two podcast episodes, from “But Why” and “Brains On!,” also about tree communication.

What are you listening to or watching or reading these days? On Sunday we started re-listening to the Ramona Quimby books (narrated by the awesome Stockard Channing) while we made these muffins.