October Warm Fuzzy: The Wood Wide Web

Donna and I just celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary in Canmore And Vancouver Island in Canada. As we took a boat cruise on Lake Minnewanka we saw a grove of trees and were told the whole grove covering acres and what looked like 1000 trees was actually just one tree. We stood several times among gorgeous trees, listening to their leaves rustle in the wind, and imagined quietly that they were communicating in some way.  Perhaps in whispers, or hushed voices?   It turns out that trees do, in fact, talk. Just not in the way you might think.

The story of this discovery begins in the natural beauty of British Columbia’s forests, where Suzanne Simard grew up. 

When she was a child, she witnessed her pet dog fall into the mucky pit of a worn outhouse and, as her grandfather dug deep into the forest floor to save the animal, little Suzanne noticed the complex layers of roots that ran like highways beneath their feet. 

Later in life as a university student, she studied this intricate network and came to discover that forests are not composed of individual trees, but rather they are a complex system that behaves much like a single organism. 

Trees, she realized, communicate with each other through webs of fungal networks centered around what she calls “mother trees.” 

She became a biologist and developed theories about how trees communicate with other trees. She used radioactive carbon to measure the flow and sharing of carbon between individual trees and species and discovered that birch and Douglas fir share carbon. Birch trees receive extra carbon from Douglas firs when the birch trees lose their leaves, and birch trees supply carbon to Douglas fir trees that are in the shade.  

She found that there was more carbon sent to baby firs that came from that specific mother tree, rather than random baby firs not related to that specific fir tree. It was also found the mother trees change their root structure to make room for baby trees.

In a single forest, a mother tree may be connected to hundreds of other trees

“The great thing about forests,” says Simard, “is that as complex systems, they have an enormous capacity to self-heal.”

The idea was controversial.  She was ridiculed.  

But her vindication came in the form of compelling evidence delivered in a TED talk, a short documentary, and now her ideas are spurring action to better protect the world’s forests and to combat global warming.

We know that we as neighbors here in Northwest Georgia are connected also. The roots in our communities run deep and we help each other.  Donna and I have made great friends volunteering at the Cherokee Association of Realtors, Unity Church, The Holly Springs Optimist Club, Troop 3000, and at other local events.  If you ever need help with a real estate-related question, feel free to ask us.  We’ll give you professional information and counsel so you can make great decisions about buying, selling, or renting.

Donna and I just celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary in Canmore And Vancouver Island in Canada. As we took a boat cruise on Lake Minnewanka we saw a grove of trees and were told the whole grove covering acres and what looked like 1000 trees was actually just one tree. We stood several times among gorgeous trees, listening to their leaves rustle in the wind, and imagined quietly that they were communicating in some way.  Perhaps in whispers, or hushed voices?   It turns out that trees do, in fact, talk. Just not in the way you might think.

The story of this discovery begins in the natural beauty of British Columbia’s forests, where Suzanne Simard grew up. 

When she was a child, she witnessed her pet dog fall into the mucky pit of a worn outhouse and, as her grandfather dug deep into the forest floor to save the animal, little Suzanne noticed the complex layers of roots that ran like highways beneath their feet. 

Later in life as a university student, she studied this intricate network and came to discover that forests are not composed of individual trees, but rather they are a complex system that behaves much like a single organism. 

Trees, she realized, communicate with each other through webs of fungal networks centered around what she calls “mother trees.” 

She became a biologist and developed theories about how trees communicate with other trees. She used radioactive carbon to measure the flow and sharing of carbon between individual trees and species and discovered that birch and Douglas fir share carbon. Birch trees receive extra carbon from Douglas firs when the birch trees lose their leaves, and birch trees supply carbon to Douglas fir trees that are in the shade.  

She found that there was more carbon sent to baby firs that came from that specific mother tree, rather than random baby firs not related to that specific fir tree. It was also found the mother trees change their root structure to make room for baby trees.

In a single forest, a mother tree may be connected to hundreds of other trees

“The great thing about forests,” says Simard, “is that as complex systems, they have an enormous capacity to self-heal.”

The idea was controversial.  She was ridiculed.  

But her vindication came in the form of compelling evidence delivered in a TED talk, a short documentary, and now her ideas are spurring action to better protect the world’s forests and to combat global warming.

We know that we as neighbors here in Northwest Georgia are connected also. The roots in our communities run deep and we help each other.  Donna and I have made great friends volunteering at the Cherokee Association of Realtors, Unity Church, The Holly Springs Optimist Club, Troop 3000, and at other local events.  If you ever need help with a real estate-related question, feel free to ask us.  We’ll give you professional information and counsel so you can make great decisions about buying, selling, or renting.