The author of this excellent book, using the findings and evidence gathered by numerous pieces of research, makes the case that the forest is a social network and that trees in a forest operate like a human family. Trees live in close connection to their offspring, communicate with them through ‘the wood wide web’, support them while they grow, share nutrients with those trees which are sick or struggling to survive and finally warn each other of impending dangers.
The ‘wood wide web’ is a mycelial underground network of fungal species, which connect the trees with the soil and each other through a busy cooperative communication system in the tree roots, where carbon and nutrients are exchanged. Through this web, trees provide for the needs of other trees and help them survive.
Trees in the forest have a greater chance of both surviving and thriving than lone trees. This is because of the presence of the ‘wood wide web’ and all the benefits it provides by creating a microclimate suitable for tree growth and sustenance.
One of the ways that trees help each other in the forest is when a tree is under attack by a leaf eating insect. In this situation, the tree releases a chemical into the air, which signals to other trees in the vicinity that a threat is at hand. As the chemical drifts through the air and reaches other trees, they ‘smell’ it and are warned of the danger. These trees, in turn, begin producing toxic chemicals, which deter insects from eating the now poisonous leaves. In addition, the tree under attack sends out another chemical signal that attracts predators that feed on that particular leaf eating insect. In this way, the trees look after each other and ensure each other’s survival.
Apart from the fact that trees are one of our greatest sources of oxygen, which we need to breathe and therefore survive, it would seem that we can also gain insights about how we can improve the way we live in our human societies by emulating the way that trees cooperate and care for each other in a communal environment. Far from being ‘survival of the fittest’, it would seem that in the natural world there is much cooperation and caring happening. An example from the book is how trees sometimes nourish the stump of a felled tree for centuries after it was cut down by feeding it sugars and nutrients, thereby keeping it alive.
The book is informed by multiple scientific studies over many years and ends by making a plea to the reader to rethink their views about forests as lumber factories and to recognise that forests are complex habitats for thousands of species and that the survival of the forests is essential for both our and other species continuing existence on the planet. We have only just started to understand the capabilities of trees and, as studies continue into what goes on in ‘the wood wide web, we may discover that trees, although not sentient in the animal sense, have their own form of sentience which, although different, is not inferior to ours.