About tree collaboration, not competition

 „A forest is not a mere collection of individual trees competing for light and nutrients, but rather a sentient, interacting community. At the center of a healthy forest stands a Mother Tree: an old-growth matriarch that acts as a hub of nutrients shared by trees of different ages and species linked together via a vast underground fungal network.

Sustainable forestry wasn’t as simple as replanting trees after others were cut; the puzzle of which to harvest and which to retain had massive implications on a forest’s ability to recover and remain healthy.

A status quo assumed cultivating fast-growing, single species plantations was the most cost-effective and profitable way to log. It was easier for foresters to think on a small scale and prioritize fast returns, pointing the way to the monoculture approach. But over time without the protection that only a community can provide, trees would be vulnerable to threats such as the mountain pine beetle, a potential catastrophe for the industry that could wipe out any short-term gains.  

The policy silverbacks ridiculed ideas about trees cooperating rather than competing.

We stumble onto some of the Indigenous ideals: Diversity matters.

Peter Wohlleben’s “The Hidden Life of Trees” promoted many of the same concepts as Simard does here. However, Wohlleben was met with considerable criticism from the scientific community for drawing conclusions beyond what the data showed. His facts were blended with supposition. Simard doesn’t make the same mistake. Her arguments are supported by rigorous, decades-long research following the movement of radioactive carbon compounds.  

Simard can confidently write that “the trees were connected, cooperating” by pointing to charts of two-way carbon flow between paper birch and Douglas fir, then explaining the significance of these elemental transfers. Birch can provide fir with enough carbon to actually make seeds and reproduce, and the amount transferred depends on access to light. That is, a birch doles out resources based on need, not as a single, one-size-fits-all fire hose stream. The more shade a birch casts over a fir, the more carbon is transferred to it to help it survive. Later, once the fir outgrows the birch and shades it, the energy flow is reversed.

Protecting the Mother Trees is of pinnacle importance. “Elders that survived climate changes in the past ought to be kept around because they can spread their seed into the disturbed areas and pass their genes and energy and resilience into the future.””