Fungal filaments
By Gauri Sirur
Humming under forest floor
Trees communicate.
Trees communicate with each other through an underground network of mycorrhizal fungi. The fungal strands colonize the tree roots, and form a web connecting the roots to each other.
The relationship between the fungi and trees is usually symbiotic. The fungi take a share of the sugars that the trees produce during photosynthesis. In return, the trees receive nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen that the fungi synthesize from the soil.
Through the network, trees share food — carbon-rich sugars, nitrogen, and phosphorous — with other trees. They also send out warning messages about predators such as aphids and caterpillars. Or about pathogen attacks. This buys their neighbors time to activate their defenses.
All is not sugar and spice, however. Both trees and fungi try to extract the maximum amount of nutrition from the other while giving the minimum in return.
Trees are more likely to help their kin than an unrelated tree. Or to release toxic substances to harm an unwanted neighbor.
Dr. Suzanne Simard, a scientist at the University of British Columbia, discovered the fungal network in 1997. She dubbed it the “Wood Wide Web.”
Further reading:
‘Wood Wide Web mapped for the first time’ – Science article.
‘Uncovering the hidden language of trees’ – Suzanne Simard interview.
‘Net transfer of carbon between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field’ – Suzanne Simard’s 1997 research paper first documenting the fungal network.
Gauri Sirur enjoys writing about nature, family, and anything that intrigues her. You can find her writing at gaurisirur.wordpress.com and gaurisirur.medium.com.
This sciku was originally published by Gauri Sirur on Medium.com here.