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When walking into a forest, we are all driven to observe the high canopy involving us and get fascinated with the trees' diversity.
But what about the UNDERGROUND world?
Trees have a social network that allows them to communicate with each other by sharing and changing chemical and electrical signals along symbiotic webs.
Does this remind you of something? That's right, our neurons!
Trees' allies are fungi, and together they create what is known as the Wood Wide Web.
Fungi branching capacity expand these symbiotic webs and allow distant trees to communicate with each other.
This web has many purposes for trees such as warning neighbors about insect attacks and drought and sharing nutrients and food supplies. For instance, younger trees that live in the shadow of larger and older ones are less prone to sunlight exposure, so they have less opportunity to photosynthesize their own sugars, relying on their 'mother' and other neighbors' supplying.
Fungi-tree symbiosis offers advantages for both sides. On one hand, fungi can't produce sugars by themselves so, they absorb some from the trees while the rest travel through the network established. On the other hand, fungi can more easily collect nutrients from the soil and provide them to tree roots.
Curiosities:
Trees can recognise if any sort of information is comming from a tree of the same species or not;
Overall, fungi benefit less from this relationship;
Each specie has its own unique fungi set that interacts with them.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as this underground world is not yet totally understandable to us.
Next time you are outdoors, walking by trees remember that they are 'talking' to each other and what may impact one of them is bound to impact others!
References
The Hidden Life Of Trees, What They Feel, How They Communicate-Discoveries From A Secret World - by PeterWohlleben
How trees secretly talk to each other - BBC News - YouTube
This Underground Economy Exists in a Secret Fungi Kingdom - Seeker - YouTube
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