Can You Hear the Trees Talking?. Peter Wohlleben

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Can You Hear the Trees Talking? - Peter Wohlleben


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close together and help each other

      Some stumps can stay alive for hundreds of years

      like

      this.

      They may

      be

      the grandparents

      of the

      younger

      trees around them.

      It's likely that old trees and stumps can remember

      things that happened long ago. They've experienced

      a lot that they can pass on to their younger family

      members. They may have learned, for instance, how

      to share the water in the soil during

      a

      dry summer so

      that no trees will die of thirst.

      Sometimes two related trees like each other so

      much that they can no longer live separately. They

      grow with their roots so tightly interwoven that they

      become like a single tree. Their crowns face away

      from each other

      so

      they don't get

      in

      each other's way.

      With conifers, pairs that seem to be closely linked

      might not actually

      be.

      Conifers grow thinner branches

      in the direction of their neighbors, which makes it look

      as though

      they're being considerate of

      each

      other, even

      though they may not be friends underground.

      *

      Tree families only work this way if we don't disturb

      them.

      When trees are cut down, the ones that are

      left lose their relatives.

      Imagine three trees standing in a row. They're all

      connected underground and can talk to each other

      through their roots. If the middle tree is cut down,

      that connection is broken. And even though the two

      remaining trees are not that far apart, they can no

      longer send messages—or sugar—to each other

      through their roots.

      That's why it's always best to leave old trees alone.

      WITH

      DECIDUOUS

      TREES

      YOU

      CAN RECOGNIZE

      real part-

      ners by their branches. Two trees standing side by

      side will turn their thick crown branches away from

      each other. This happens rarely, though, so you may

      have to

      search

      for a while. If you find a pair of trees

      like this, take a photo or sketch the two crowns. For

      comparison, you can draw or photograph two trees

      that are not friendly. And because true tree partners

      are so

      rare,

      you can share pictures with your friends

      to

      see

      who has spotted the most.

      Old Tree Stump

      HOW

      CAN YOU RECOGNIZE AN OLO tree stump?

      A fresh slump has hard wood in the middle, and

      often it is still light-colored. With

      an old

      stump, the

      wood is already dark and rotten, and it breaks up

      easily

      when you

      touch

      it.

      If

      an old

      stump

      is still

      alive,

      the bark around the outside edge will be tightly

      attached.

      If the bark on the outside is falling off, it

      means the tree is dead.

      These two trees are growing together,

      connected by their roots.

      If you come from a big family, you probably have lots of other relatives besides

      your parents.

      You

      might have siblings, cousins, aunts and

      uncles,

      and grand-

      parents, too. But how do the trees in the forest know who is related to whom?

      WHEN

      IT

      COMES

      TO

      TREES,

      THAT'S much harder to figure

      out

      than

      it

      is

      for

      humans.

      After

      all,

      we

      can ask

      questions

      and get

      answers.

      And sometimes family members look

      so much alike that we know even without asking that

      people are related.

      Trees recognize each other differently. They

      communicate with each other through their roots

      below the ground. Trees can feel more through the

      tips of their roots than we can with our

      fingers.

      They

      can even make decisions with them! A root tip Is

      almost like

      a

      small brain.

      If

      a

      tree's roots meet those of

      a

      neighboring tree,

      they can check whether they belong to the same

      species, If so, then those trees


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