The highlights of the secret life of trees
This is a first: A book about trees has been on bestseller lists for more than 25 weeks. Not only may this be a first, but that such a book even made it onto these lists.
The book is The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries from A Secret World. Written in German by scientist, forester and tree lover Peter Wohlleben (Greystone Publishing), it has been translated beautifully into English. This book provides an eye-popping education about the social life of trees and a scientific explanation for their existence and evolution. It holds readers’ interest throughout, in turns captivating them with remarkable details and making them laugh. Here are the highlights: 1. Trees talk to one another. OK, they don’t talk the same way we do, but they communicate through a symbiotic relationship with soilborne fungi through their roots that, “act as intermediaries to guarantee quick dissemination of news. These fungi operate like fibre-optic Internet cables.”
And what do they communicate? Weather conditions, insect infestations and human intervention. Wohlleben calls it the “wood wide web.”
2. Social network. Trees love each other. At least, they look out for each other. At the root zone, “there is a lively exchange going on down there. Whoever has an abundance of sugar hands some over; whoever is running short gets help.” Trees perform best (and are happiest) when they grow together, like in a forest. Contrary to what we are inclined to think about the “survival of the fittest,” trees “Would shake their heads (at the idea of ‘survival of the fittest’) — or rather, their crowns. Their well-being depends on their community and when the supposedly feeble trees disappear, the others lose, as well.”
3. Interdependence on wild life. Trees do not exist in isolation of the natural world around them. They rely on birds to carry their seeds to new jurisdictions and insects to nurture the soil at their roots. In the case of European oaks and beeches, during years of heavy seed set, wild boars rely on these trees to fatten them up and multiply while spreading seeds everywhere. Wohlleben does a masterful job of explaining how wind, sun, rain and even severe weather events, including fire, play important roles in the development of a healthy forest.
4. Street kids. Wohlleben calls urban trees the “street kids” of the forest. They live a hard life, without the benefits of a tree community and other wildlife to support them, as in a forest environment. The greatest limiting factor in the life of a city tree is soil. Or the lack of it. One mystery he solves is why trees often produce roots that seek out sewers and drainpipes. It was commonly thought they were looking for moisture. Not so, according to the author. Based on a study by Ruhr-University Bochum, “what was attracting tree roots to underground pipes was loose soil that had not been fully compacted after construction.”
In other words, urban trees go out of their way to avoid soil compacted by traffic and construction machines. When that is not possible, they die prematurely or simply never perform at their optimum.
Urban trees suffer a variety of maladies brought on by city heat during evening hours in the summer and a lack of access to water due to barriers such as road salt, dog pee, paved roads, concrete sidewalks and pests that favour the urban environment, such as aphids and scales.
One caveat to being a street kid: Often specimens of the same species are planted within proximity to each other, which allows them to communicate quite freely. “Whatever these street kids talk to each other about through their scentmail and whether the tone of these messages is as rough as their lives — the street gangs are keeping this information strictly to themselves.” Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, Order of Canada recipient, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new bestseller, The New Canadian Garden, published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.