The Hidden Life of Trees: The International Bestseller

the all-day, every-day stimulation created by wind, that dictates the girth of a tree’s trunk and branches as well as how often and at what angles a tree branches. Doesn’t that just blow you away? (What I find most interesting about this is, how does a tree store this mechanical input? Trees grow so high and for so long, they have to store the mech

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The natural forest in Central European latitudes is overwhelmingly beech, and beech trees allow very little light to reach the ground. The yew, the epitome of frugality and patience, has decided to make the most of these conditions. Because it knows it can’t hold a candle to the beech in the growth department, it has decided to specialize in the fo

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Now, the beech is an amazingly socially oriented tree, but only when it comes to its own kind. Beeches harass other species, such as oaks, to such an extent that they weaken. It all starts quite slowly and harmlessly when a jay buries a beechnut at the feet of a mighty oak. Because the jay has enough food cached away elsewhere, this beechnut lies u

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Scientists investigating similar situations have discovered that assistance may either be delivered remotely by fungal networks around the root tips—which facilitate nutrient exchange between trees1—or the roots themselves may be interconnected.2 In the case of the stump I had stumbled upon, I couldn’t find out what was going on, because I didn’t w

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