Three Secrets About Life of Trees

Forests are fascinating and should be visited often by anyone willing to get to know Nature. Complementing those visits with scientific knowledge is a prerequisite to capture its depth, and we can only advise you to read the thought book of Peter Wohlleben, “The Hidden Life of Trees.” We share in this article 3 learnings from this book.

Forests are not Trees but Ecosystems.

 Forests are ecosystems composed of trees, wildlife, soil, air and water:

• Wildlife is interconnected with trees, and they need each other to live,
• Air not only brings vital elements to trees – carbon and oxygen – but also trees emit in the air olfactive signals that insects or other trees are able to intercept and interpret,
• Water is a condition of life for trees and wildlife, and trees play a role in the water lifecycle,
• Soil is also necessary for the existence of forests because trees need to be rooted, and soil brings nutritive elements to trees.

Healthy forests prevent soil erosion and are even essential to soil formation. Soils are fascinating ecosystems hosting insects, worms, and mushroom, which work altogether to decompose organic matter (leaf, timber, animals’ dejection…) into humus, which provides back vital functions to trees.

Mushrooms are tree companions, and they cooperate: mushrooms will wrap around roots and exchange information and nutrients in return for sugar. Mushrooms form a vast wood web network essential to the trees’ life and communication with others.

Trees Communicate with the External Environment

Trees are living entities with their own language. They communicate by emitting olfactive, visual, electric, and perhaps even sound signals in the air or through their root system in the soil, with the collaboration of mushrooms.

Trees communicate to defend against predators. They are even able to jointly prepare a targeted answer: whenever bitten by an insect or animal, trees recognize the saliva and consequently emit specific odors to inform other trees around. The latter will receive chemical signals, and suddenly, the tree tribe will produce repulsive substances to prepare for defense.

Trees also communicate to alert others about drought risks. In case there is a lack of water in the soil, trees would use sounds and the vast “wood web system” to notify farther trees, alerting them to slow down their water consumption.

Visual and olfactive signals to insect pollinators are a third example of the trees’ ability to communicate with the external world. The colors and forms of flowers, combined with specific odors, attract insects that would get nectar in exchange for the pollination service rendered.

Trees Are Social and Community-Oriented

Trees cannot live alone. Much like humans, belonging to a community makes their life easier. Trees need other trees, water, and wildlife to be healthy, robust, and live longer. The entire ecosystem is in danger if there are weak species in a forest.

While some species compete, companion plants develop mutual benefits and show solidarity with one another: weak trees are always supported by the tribe.

If some trees have access to more water and nutrients than, with the help of mushrooms, more vigorous trees would share generously with those who are poorly off.

Children trees grow next to their parents. On average, trees become adults after 80 years and have only one child: they bear seeds in their flowers or their fruits. However, only one seed is fertilized, and animals eat all the other seeds or become humus.

Throughout their life, trees are known to have strong family bonds: using their roots, the parent tree feeds the child tree, and when the latter is all grown up, it supports, in turn, the parent tree.

Parent trees educate children. Trees are inherently slow and take their time to grow, and parents impose this education measure on children. Children trees can’t be taller because they receive only 3% of the light because of their small size. However, this measure forces them to develop resilience against winds and wildlife attacks so they live longer.

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