Dear Patient Reader,
I had learnt about the mycorrhizal network through a TED talk given by Suzanne Simard titled How trees talk to each other. Simard’s shared her findings as an ecologist, and how she put forward her hypothesis in the 1990s that trees effectively communicate or “talk” to one another.
I found this quite incredible, not only at a scientific level. But because it simultaneously happies a child’s belief that trees talk like in The Wizard of Oz. If one were to agree with Simard’s theory, then yes, hub or “mother trees” do exist, who are ensuring the survival of seedlings and saplings. Sharing their nutrients and minerals, and passing on their knowledge to fend against pests and diseases as a parent and a grandparent would do to their offspring.
The mycorrhizal network are masses of mycelium hyphae that run for kilometers, essentially keeping trees, animals, and ecosystems interconnected and alive. As fungi, mushrooms are the fruits of mycelium and are a sign that a forest is doing well and is relatively healthy.
When you walk into a forest, there’s a whole world under your feet.
Take care,
Zoizo lib
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