EarthSong (eBook)

Two

THE ART OF TREE HUGGING; A FLORA LOVE STORY

Everybody needs beauty

as well as bread,

Places to play in and pray in,

where Nature may heal

And give strength

to body and soul alike

– John Muir

I grew up in Miami, Florida and in my backyard lived a huge ficus tree, the kind of tree whose aerial roots grew out from the trunk and lower branches and hung all the way down to the ground. I loved that tree immensely.

I was an avid reader all through elementary school and my favorite thing to do after school was to grab a pillow and a book and climb the tree. The old ficus provided a perfect canopy to hide out in (my “green room”, I called it) and it also had a big sturdy branch that was perfect to lay my pillow on. I would plop my pillow and myself down on that branch, leaning against the trunk of the tree and I was home. Immediately I’d get lost in whatever story I was reading and often stayed there all afternoon. Eventually my mom (who knew just where to find me) would yell out the back door that it was dinnertime and I’d have to come in. I’d grab my pillow and my book, kiss the tree goodbye and shimmy back down the trunk.

I absolutely treasured those times reading in my tree and realize now how they shaped my Soul. It was the beginning of a lifelong connection to the trees of the Earth and would lead me to teach that connection to others. That beautiful Florida Ficus Tree paved the way…

The Wood Wide Web

Trees are social beings, communicating with one another. They also talk to us as well and we only need to tune in to receive the vast wisdom they have to share.

These days, even the scientific community agrees that trees communicate with one another. They call it “The Wood Wide Web”. This web is created through a symbiotic association of trees with the below ground fungi that colonize their roots. Through this association, the trees are able to share resources and relay stress signals, all through “the fungal information super highway”. It’s the social network for trees and fungi.

So how does this work you ask? It begins with the Hub – or Mother Trees – of the forest. These trees are the oldest and tallest trees and have a vast root system connecting them to hundreds of other trees via a network of fungi. Being the tallest trees in the forest, they have greater access to sunlight and through the process of photosynthesis, they produce more sugar than they need. The network of latticed fungi that grows among their roots need this tree sugar and they send out their threads of mycelium (a mass of branching thread-like hyphae, or filaments) in order to explore the soil. These threads absorb water and nutrients for the tree in exchange for the sugar the trees have produced. All carried out through the mycelium network.

Because the tree roots are all connected, even through great distance, they are able to use the network in a variety of ways. Some trees will use it to send warning signals to other trees about environmental changes. The Mother (or Hub) Trees will use it to search for and support their kin. Older trees often use it to transfer nutrients to younger neighboring trees before they die. And there are also trees who use it to sabotage unwelcome plants by sending toxic chemicals through the fungal network.

The word “mycorrhiza” (mycos means fungus and rhiza means root) describes the mutually beneficial relationship between the trees and the fungi living among them. This process is truly a miracle of Nature.

The greatest benefit provided by this network is how the trees share nutrients with one to the other. For example, Mother Trees will share their excess carbon and nitrogen with the understory seedlings and in a more arid climate, they provide water for these newly germinated seedlings as well. This motherly support increases their chance of survival and as our forests become more stressed through a changing climate, the role the Mother Trees play with the preservation of the seedlings is monumental. They are key to keeping our forests healthy and regenerated for years to come.

The trees in the forest will also support other species, not just their own kin. When a Birch Tree leafs out in the spring and begins to shade a Douglas-Fir Tree, the Birch will deliver more carbon to the Fir, particularly during the summer months. In exchange for this service, when the Birch Tree loses its leaves in the fall, the Douglas-Fir will share its excess sugars through the winter months until the Birch Tree leafs out again.

It was once believed that the trees in the forest were in competition with one another, but we have learned that they actually operate in a state of cooperation, one tree connected to and supporting another. In the past for example, we might have cut down the Birch Tree, thinking that its shade was harming the Douglas-Fir. We now know that they are in a symbiotic relationship with one another and if we choose to remove the Birch Tree, it could bring harm to the Douglas-Fir by stimulating an infection of root disease in the Fir. We are learning that everything in Nature is connected to everything else. Especially in the forest.

Suzanne Simard, an ecologist with over 30 years of research in the forests of British Columbia, has shared much of the wisdom she has gleaned through her experiences with the trees.

Suzanne explains that a forest is a deeply connected and collaborative place where trees are not really individuals, instead they are part of a large interconnected community. They form relationships with their genetic relatives and also support neighboring species within their community. She has shared that because we now know how connected the trees are, particularly through their underground fungal network, this knowledge can change the way we manage our forests. If we choose, we can move away from clearcutting, which is so detrimental to all types of life in the forest, to adopting a more holistic, balanced and sustainable practice of forestry.

According to Suzanne, the health and preservation of the Mother Trees is key to the health of the forest. These trees carry the blueprints of wisdom and stability which supports the younger trees, and they also help the forest regenerate as seeds from a Mother Tree will germinate nearby and then quickly tap into the fungal network for support. This boosts their chance of survival significantly.

Therefore, if we allow these Matriarchs to remain standing in the forest, the forest will continue to be a healthy, strong and regenerative ecosystem. However, if all the old Mother Trees are removed, the younger trees are left without the clear direction they received from their elders, causing the balance and stability of the forest to break.

We’re beginning to see that when the natural connection between older and younger trees is maintained, then the forest remains healthy and resilient. It’s also more resistant to the stress created by climate change and it recovers more rapidly when climate related disturbances do occur.

Research has shown that a mixed forest of both deciduous and coniferous trees is better equipped to handle these climate related disturbances, particularly in the case of fire. Therefore, the healthy management of the forest encourages the growth of broad leaf trees among the conifers. Broad leafs hold more water, contain less resin and are less flammable than the conifers. A fire will still burn hot, but not quite as hot as a fire burning through a pure stand of conifers.

What we are learning is that a healthy forest is a diverse one. Through the diversity of trees, there will be a greater biodiversity of the birds, animals, plants, fungi and other organisms. All who call the forest environment their home.

In closing, I’ll share Suzanne Simard’s four simple solutions for sustainable forestry. These solutions are brilliantly simple and straight forward. They have the potential to re-direct the forestry industry away from the harmful methods they’ve engaged in for so many years. And in their place, new methods will be employed, methods that will bring a state of health, harmony and balance to the forest. The time has come for us to learn how to manage our forests with Love.

Four Solutions for Sustainable Forestry

Suzanne Simard

1. We need to get out in our local forests more.
2. We must save old growth forests as they are repositories of genes, Mother Trees, and mycelium networks.
3. Where we do cut, we must save the “legacy” Mother Trees and networks so they can pass their wisdom onto the next generation of trees.
4. We must regenerate our forests with a diversity of species.

The more information that comes to light on the complex relationships of the Forest, the better equipped we will be to help them not only survive but thrive. If we choose to work in tandem with Nature, it will bring about a harmonious outcome for all of us; for the trees, the plants, the animals, and the humans.

So how do we choose?

If you’d like to learn more about Suzanne, you can find her at www.suzannesimard.com

Tree Talk

Trees not only communicate below the ground through “The Wood Wide Web”, but also through their “beingness” as we all do on this beautiful Planet of ours. These are telepathic communications and the trees can be quite chatty if given the chance!

In this exercise, we’ll communicate with a chosen tree friend. I...