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We are a connected society.

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We are connected to our families and friends,

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but also to our jobs and duties.

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We are connected over computer networks,

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phone lines and traffic junctions.

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The world surrounding us

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is in constant movement and growth.

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We left our houses made of wood

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to plant an artificial forest

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from concrete, glass and metal.

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It's not easy escaping a world

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where everything is connected

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to spend some time in the forest

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where we seek quiet and rest

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from our unsteady lives.
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We expect to find some kind of wisdom

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in the forest,

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but we don't understand the voice of nature.

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If those trees could only talk!

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Little do we know,

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that in between this world of stillness,

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words are rushing back and forth.

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We only have to tilt our heads down

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and listen … to our roots.

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The Coastal Pacific Rainforest of North America.

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These forests are special

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and known all over the world.

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Here in British Columbia,

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one can find trees of heights

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around a hundred meters

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and over a thousand years of age.

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People walk amongst these ancient giants

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in a sense of spiritual wonder and respect.

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But not anymore are these places

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only described by mythological metaphors.

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Scientists begin to understand the importance

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of these forests as they discover more details

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about the relationships between trees

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on a microscopic scale.

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Here in Canada,

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at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver,

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Dr. Suzanne Simard, Professor of Forest Ecology,

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conducts groundbreaking research.

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Together with a team

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of passionate forest scientists

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she tries to find out more about the methods

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of communication amongst trees.

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Before I became a professor

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I was actually a forester.

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And before that I grew up

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in the Inland Rainforest of British Columbia.

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As a forester I really was moving

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into an area that I loved dear to my heart.

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I knew forests.

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As I started working for the forest industry,

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I started to realize

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that what was happening

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didn't mesh very well

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with what I understood forests to work like.
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My job was to go into old clearcuts

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or new clearcuts and prescribe

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trees to be planted.

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What the forest industry was doing then

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was planting one or two species

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in clearcuts.

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This was very different than what I

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understood forests to grow like,

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where there is mixes of species.

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When we go walking in the woods

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we expect to find nature untouched

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and pure, but in fact

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we wander through an environment

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that has been largely shaped by men.

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Pristine forests are rather unique in the world.
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In a small country like Germany

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forests have been intensively managed

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by people for centuries,

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almost everywhere you go.

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In an old, close to natural beech- forest

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in The Eifel, a low mountain range

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in the West of Germany,

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forest ranger Peter Wohlleben

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is well aware of the value

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of the trees in his district.

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For more than two decades

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he made his observations.

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In his bestselling book "The hidden life of trees"

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he describes the most curious

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and unexpected things

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that are going on in his forest

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He knows that this place is a rare treasure

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that needs to be protected.

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Originally all of Germany would have looked

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like this old Beech-forest.

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Eighty percent of the area was covered

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with natural Beech-forests

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mixed with other tree species.

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But today there is only a fraction left

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and we have plantation forests everywhere.

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These consist mostly of plantations

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with even-aged conifers that have been planted

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and are managed with heavy machinery.

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What happened was that they ended up

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using the same species everywhere.

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The standard practice was to clearcut

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and then plant either pine or fir or spruce

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One species. And I was wondering

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what was going on.

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The community was not intact any more.

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It was much different

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than what I grew knowing about these forests.

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I studied forestry

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and started my career the classical way:

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I prescribed small clearcuts,

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cut down such beautiful old beech-trees

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like these, and used insecticides.

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As a teenager I wanted to become

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a conservationist.
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But I started to realize that I was in fact

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destroying everything

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and that wasn't what I wanted.

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When I looked at those trees I found

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that they didn't perform that well.

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They didn't grow very well.

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They were sickly. They weren't that healthy.

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As I became a scientist

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after a few years as a forester,

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I started to examine why these trees didn't seem

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to grow well when they were by themselves.

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I found that when we remove certain species

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or their neighbors that trees actually became ill.

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They became diseased and more at risk of insect attack.

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I wanted to understand why that was the case.
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I thought some of the story

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might be going on below ground.

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What we call a tree is only

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what is visible above-ground.

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We consider a tree to consist only

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of trunk and crown.

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However, the major part of it's life

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takes place underground.

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What happens in the forest

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is actually more than whats meets the eye.

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The root system of a tree

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can spread as far as two to four times

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the diameter of it's crown.

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Only scientists with state of the art

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research techniques are able

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to dig deep enough into this matter

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to uncover that these roots

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are more than only water pipes.

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I started looking at the root systems

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I found that the roots of these different

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tree species, when they grew together,

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Birch and Fir and Cedar and Hemlock

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were all intertwined and linked together.

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I learned later on through more research

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as I went into my PhD

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that these rootsystems actually formed

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what is called a Mycorrhizal Fungal Association.

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Mycorrhizal fungi are certain species of fungi

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which associate with all of the tree species worldwide.

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They form a mutualistic relationship

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where the fungus grows into the root

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and provides the root with nutrients

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and water that the fungus gathers up from the soil.

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Mushrooms are only the fruiting-bodies of fungi,

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just like apples are the fruit of apple-trees.

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Fungi are very underestimated organisms,

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because so far most of us appreciate only the fruit.

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Fungi can spread over several square kilometer.

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One teaspoon of soil may contain

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several kilometers of string-like hyphae

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that form the 'Internet of the Forest'.

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For their services they charge sugar

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and other products of tree-photosynthesis.

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The tree shares up to a third
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of it's total production with the fungi.

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We found, when we mapped these forests,

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that all of the trees were all

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linked together in a single massive network.

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I was wondering, how these below-ground linkages

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would affect how trees are growing.

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We did some more sophisticated experiments,

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once we knew that those links existed.

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We labelled one tree with an isotope

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and traced it from that tree to it's neighbor.

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We found that carbon molecules

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were moving from one tree to another tree

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through these mycorrhizal networks.

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As we went one we thought

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there might not only be carbon,
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but other molecules involved as well.

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We started labelling trees

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with Nitrogen and Phosphorus and deuterated water.

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We found that all of these elements

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move back and forth between the trees.

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That was the rudimentary

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understanding of the language of trees.

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So these birch trees here

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will be linked to other birch trees,

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but also to the Douglas Fir

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and the Hemlock behind it.

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You can see their root-systems

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coming down there.

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They straight into the ground.

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The mycorrhizal network is just below

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the surface of the forest floor.

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As you walk, you are only centimeters

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or millimeters away,

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walking on top of this network.

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The network below ground can easily be imagined

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as a market place, where the food is either offered

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or received by all the trees that are linked together.

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But what about competition?

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If all are eating at the same table,

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then why don't they steal from each other

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and suck each other dry, in a struggle

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for the survival of the fittest?

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Trees of one species are not competitors.

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On the contrary: They actually support

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each other almost unconditionally.

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The weak are supported by the strong.

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Only together they can, for example,

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regulate the micro-climate

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and lower the air-temperature,

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because trees love it cool and moist.

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You could almost call this 'tree-communism'

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and it functions perfectly,

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compared to human-communism.

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Here, the individual is not as important as the community.

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Trees do care for each other.

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We think of that as an interaction between trees,

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but they're looking after each other.

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<i>Sm’hayetsk d’waiyu.</i>

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<i>Na walp Xpe Hanaax da wil tsogu.</i>
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<i>Gitlan, Tsimshian da wil waatku.</i>

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My Name is <i>Sm'hayetsk.</i>

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I'm Teresa Ryan. I'm <i>Tsimshian</i>.

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I'm from the <i>Gitlan</i> tribe of the <i>Tsimshian</i>.

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My house is <i>Xpe Hanaax</i>.

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I'm from the <i>Ganhada</i> Clan; Raven.

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My interest in research is the relationships

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of the forests to Salmon.

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I'm a Fisheries Scientist.

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A Fisheries Aquatic Ecologist.

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I'm also a Cedar Weaver.

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A traditional <i>Tsimshian</i> Cedar Weaver.

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We have an understanding of

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these ecosystems around us

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and the relationships with things within them.
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In many of our languages we have

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certain words to discribe that.

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In <i>Sm'algyax</i> we say "of one heart".

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The aboriginal people on Vancouver Island

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say "Everything is one".

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It demonstrates those relationships

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that we've known and understood

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for a long time.

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When we mistake trees for loners,

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each of them growing by themselves,

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oblivious to their neighbors and to the environment,

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we underestimate them by far.

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If forests are actually not the kind

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of harsh environment we expect them to be.

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Where competition determines the survival

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of the strongest, fastest and toughest,

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then maybe a closer look might reveal

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even further relationships

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that go beyond our expectations.

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The forest industry wants trees to grow quickly.

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Initially trees do grow quite fast,

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when they grow by themselves.

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However, that is not what they prefer.

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Normally, trees would rather cuddle

276
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:17,770
and stand closely together.

277
00:12:17,770 --> 00:12:20,130
They love company and like to take things slow.

278
00:12:20,130 --> 00:12:22,710
We need to relearn that trees do not need

279
00:12:22,710 --> 00:12:25,240
to be separated from alleged competitors.

280
00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,420
On the contrary: We need to allow them

281
00:12:27,420 --> 00:12:29,550
to live in tight groups - just as they like it.

282
00:12:29,770 --> 00:12:34,080
There is in fact friendship among trees.

283
00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,600
It doesn't happen very often,

284
00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:37,460
because tree seedlings cannot choose

285
00:12:37,460 --> 00:12:38,840
whom they will be growing next to

286
00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:39,930
for the rest of their lives.

287
00:12:39,930 --> 00:12:42,640
Maybe one out of fifty trees will become

288
00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:44,640
friends with it's neighbor, like these two.

289
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,680
They grow their branches away from each other

290
00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:52,550
so that they don't interfere.

291
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,640
Their roots intertwine intensively.

292
00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,640
It's like an old couple.

293
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,680
If one of them dies, the one left behind

294
00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,350
might suffer, and die soon after.

295
00:13:03,710 --> 00:13:07,550
For a tree it is a disaster
296
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:09,600
when the social network collapses.

297
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,600
You can observe this right in this forest.

298
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,600
Three trees have blown over.

299
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,710
The remaining tree is now left by itself and get's sick.

300
00:13:16,710 --> 00:13:18,710
The tips of it's branches die back,

301
00:13:18,710 --> 00:13:20,710
the leaves turn earlier in the fall,

302
00:13:20,710 --> 00:13:22,710
so it can't photosynthesize properly.

303
00:13:22,710 --> 00:13:24,350
It really suffers.

304
00:13:24,350 --> 00:13:26,020
In case it is not able to reconnect

305
00:13:26,020 --> 00:13:28,600
with other trees, it will likely die as well.

306
00:13:29,530 --> 00:13:31,550
Do trees have a sense of friendship?

307
00:13:33,060 --> 00:13:35,880
It's language that we are using here

308
00:13:35,950 --> 00:13:38,970
to describe how trees relate to each other.

309
00:13:38,970 --> 00:13:42,440
In ecology we call this <i>interactions</i>.

310
00:13:42,660 --> 00:13:46,040
<i>Interactions</i> is a very clinical term.
311
00:13:46,170 --> 00:13:47,840
When we think of interactions,

312
00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:49,600
we think of: Do they help each other?

313
00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,310
Do they compete with each other?

314
00:13:51,310 --> 00:13:53,860
Is one a parasite or a pathogen?

315
00:13:53,860 --> 00:13:56,770
Species interact in a myriad of ways.

316
00:13:56,770 --> 00:13:59,420
Some of them are beneficial.

317
00:13:59,420 --> 00:14:01,820
In Science this is called <i>Facilitation</i>.

318
00:14:01,820 --> 00:14:04,330
In human relations we call that friendship.

319
00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:08,200
A grove of Maple Trees with Cedar in it

320
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,200
will indicate to us

321
00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,820
that the Cedar has enough moisture.

322
00:14:15,310 --> 00:14:18,400
When Cedar and Maple are growing together,

323
00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,620
there is a relationship with those two trees.

324
00:14:21,620 --> 00:14:23,620
So it's just a matter of language.

325
00:14:23,620 --> 00:14:26,130
When I think back to my early work

326
00:14:26,150 --> 00:14:29,770
with plantations and we were planting single species

327
00:14:29,770 --> 00:14:32,570
of trees and weeding out the species we didn't want,

328
00:14:32,570 --> 00:14:34,800
I found that Douglas fir would suffer,

329
00:14:34,820 --> 00:14:36,640
when we took birch away from it.

330
00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,880
We were affecting that facilitation between them.

331
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,000
The transfer of Carbon back and forth,

332
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,970
the nutrition that the birch provided for the fir.

333
00:14:45,970 --> 00:14:47,840
The resistance against the pathogens

334
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:48,930
that were in the soil.

335
00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:50,930
When we took the birch away,

336
00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:53,060
Douglas fir lost it's friend.

337
00:14:53,060 --> 00:14:55,060
They lost it's facilitator.

338
00:14:55,060 --> 00:14:57,060
So is there friendship in forests?

339
00:14:57,060 --> 00:14:58,860
I can use that language.

340
00:14:58,860 --> 00:15:00,860
Sure, there is friendship in forests!

341
00:15:00,860 --> 00:15:03,600
There are mutualistic facilitative relationships

342
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:04,820
going on all the time.

343
00:15:06,060 --> 00:15:07,860
Tree connections may form bonds

344
00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:10,440
of friendship, but they also link each tree

345
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,330
to all the others over hubs,

346
00:15:12,330 --> 00:15:14,330
very similar to a computer network.

347
00:15:15,020 --> 00:15:17,730
Scientists who try to visualize these connections

348
00:15:17,730 --> 00:15:19,440
have been creating complex models

349
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,370
that look like a map: A map of the Wood Wide Web.

350
00:15:24,350 --> 00:15:29,080
By looking at this map we were able to identify,

351
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,400
which trees were the most important

352
00:15:31,620 --> 00:15:32,510
part of the network.

353
00:15:32,510 --> 00:15:34,510
Which ones were the most highly linked.

354
00:15:34,510 --> 00:15:37,200
We found that the biggest, oldest trees
355
00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,000
were the most highly linked.

356
00:15:39,310 --> 00:15:42,240
We ended up calling them <i>Mother Trees</i>,

357
00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,080
because we discovered through this map,

358
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,000
that the younger ones were growing up by

359
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,600
hooking into the network

360
00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,600
and growing up around these <i>Mother Trees</i>.

361
00:15:51,950 --> 00:15:55,170
Trees are very social beings.

362
00:15:55,170 --> 00:15:57,170
The parents, the <i>Mother Trees</i>,

363
00:15:57,170 --> 00:15:59,170
are looking after their offspring.

364
00:15:59,170 --> 00:16:00,910
Their roots grow together

365
00:16:00,910 --> 00:16:02,910
and they feed them with a sugar-solution.

366
00:16:02,910 --> 00:16:04,910
One could say that the <i>Mother Trees </i>

367
00:16:04,910 --> 00:16:06,280
'suckle' their offspring.

368
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,620
To some it may seem strange comparing the flow

369
00:16:09,620 --> 00:16:12,220
of nutrients between older trees and their kin
370
00:16:12,220 --> 00:16:14,220
with human relationships.

371
00:16:14,220 --> 00:16:15,840
Analogies like that

372
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,460
based on the observations of a practitioner

373
00:16:18,460 --> 00:16:22,040
should rather stand on a solid ground of scientific facts.

374
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,080
At UBC, students from the faculty of forestry

375
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,460
conduct basic research about the relationships

376
00:16:28,460 --> 00:16:30,910
between <i>Mother Trees</i> and their kin.

377
00:16:31,750 --> 00:16:34,400
All of our experiments involve both field

378
00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,170
and greenhouse experiments.

379
00:16:36,350 --> 00:16:39,370
We use similar techniques in both;

380
00:16:39,370 --> 00:16:42,530
to verify what is going on in the other one.

381
00:16:42,530 --> 00:16:47,260
We go into a Douglas fir forest to gather soil.

382
00:16:47,260 --> 00:16:51,260
That soil has a mixture of mycorrhizal fungi

383
00:16:51,260 --> 00:16:53,260
that prefer to associate with Douglas fir.

384
00:16:53,260 --> 00:16:56,710
We use that mixture to inoculate our trees.

385
00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,420
We grow 'Mother trees', basically seedlings

386
00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:03,370
in pots, inside mesh-bags.

387
00:17:03,370 --> 00:17:05,350
These mesh-bags would either allow

388
00:17:05,350 --> 00:17:07,350
the mycorrhizal network to form

389
00:17:07,350 --> 00:17:09,350
with the neighboring seedling, or not.

390
00:17:09,910 --> 00:17:11,970
We use mesh-bag to keep the roots

391
00:17:11,970 --> 00:17:13,860
from going through and touching

392
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:15,860
each other and transferring between roots.

393
00:17:15,860 --> 00:17:19,820
We want just the fungi to meet in the middle.

394
00:17:20,530 --> 00:17:22,660
Over a period of a few months,

395
00:17:22,660 --> 00:17:24,660
we allow these two seedlings,

396
00:17:24,660 --> 00:17:25,910
the '<i>Mother Tree</i>' and her kind,

397
00:17:25,910 --> 00:17:27,480
or the '<i>Mother Tree</i>' and the stranger,

398
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:29,150
to communicate with each other

399
00:17:29,150 --> 00:17:32,930
through this mycorrhizal network that had formed.

400
00:17:32,950 --> 00:17:35,080
We had to be able to do the experiment

401
00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:36,530
in the greenhouse, so we couldn't bring in

402
00:17:36,530 --> 00:17:38,820
a big, old Mother Tree and plant her in a plot.

403
00:17:38,820 --> 00:17:40,240
We had to use seedlings,

404
00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,820
because of the restrictive environment of a greenhouse.

405
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,880
The seedling that grew up first

406
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,820
was well established and had more nutrients

407
00:17:51,820 --> 00:17:55,730
to spare than the one that was planted later.

408
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,710
That one that was previously established

409
00:17:58,710 --> 00:18:01,370
had more resources than it needed.

410
00:18:01,370 --> 00:18:04,280
It was able to shuttle some of those resources

411
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,550
to it's little brother that was growing up next to it.

412
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,460
The term <i>Mother Tree </i>is a really nice term,

413
00:18:12,460 --> 00:18:15,130
because we understand the importance
414
00:18:15,170 --> 00:18:18,110
of mothers in families.

415
00:18:18,110 --> 00:18:20,680
It's a term that resonates with people.

416
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,440
But it's probably not the most scientifically accurate term.

417
00:18:25,750 --> 00:18:28,170
What we are really talking about is relatedness.

418
00:18:28,170 --> 00:18:31,130
whether <i>Mother Trees</i> are related

419
00:18:31,130 --> 00:18:35,060
to trees around her or new trees

420
00:18:35,060 --> 00:18:37,060
that are coming up in her neighborhood.

421
00:18:37,060 --> 00:18:42,530
It's really about whether their genetics

422
00:18:42,530 --> 00:18:46,170
are well related to each other or not;

423
00:18:46,170 --> 00:18:48,170
whether they are distant or close together.

424
00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:50,370
One of the differential responses was:

425
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,330
When the new seedling,

426
00:18:54,330 --> 00:18:56,330
the <i>younger sibling</i> if you will,

427
00:18:56,550 --> 00:18:59,530
was planted that the older and bigger seedling

428
00:18:59,550 --> 00:19:04,570
it was related to, slowed down it's growth rate.
429
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,110
It appeared that it would make room

430
00:19:07,110 --> 00:19:08,970
for it's younger sibling to grow.

431
00:19:08,970 --> 00:19:12,060
We would label these mother trees with C13;

432
00:19:12,220 --> 00:19:15,600
which is an isotope that we injected

433
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,600
into a plastic bag around the seedling.

434
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,020
That bag completely seals in the air.

435
00:19:22,310 --> 00:19:24,620
Then we allow the seedling to photosynthesize.

436
00:19:24,620 --> 00:19:28,110
As we apply the treatment,

437
00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:29,480
the seedling is only able

438
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,110
to photosynthesize with C13.

439
00:19:32,110 --> 00:19:36,460
Any sugars, any products that it makes will be labeled.

440
00:19:36,460 --> 00:19:41,350
Then we look for that C13 in the recipient plants.

441
00:19:41,350 --> 00:19:44,240
Remember the recipients are either kin or stranger.

442
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:45,620
Then we'll look at the ration

443
00:19:45,620 --> 00:19:47,710
of the amount of carbon that is present.

444
00:19:48,550 --> 00:19:51,880
We bring the pots into the potting room,

445
00:19:51,910 --> 00:19:55,330
we clip them and then we clean all the roots,

446
00:19:55,330 --> 00:19:57,080
we brush-off all the dirt,

447
00:19:57,330 --> 00:19:59,060
we wash them and then they

448
00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:01,060
are ready to be morphotyped.

449
00:20:01,060 --> 00:20:03,040
We do that using a microscope;

450
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,240
we look for all the fungal connections

451
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:06,860
on the root-tips. After that

452
00:20:06,860 --> 00:20:08,970
they are ready to be dried.

453
00:20:09,550 --> 00:20:12,150
We do that in a large drying oven.

454
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,440
After that each one of those

455
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,400
portions is frozen separately

456
00:20:17,550 --> 00:20:19,930
using liquid nitrogen.

457
00:20:19,930 --> 00:20:22,440
Then you are able to grind them

458
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,440
using mortar and pestle.

459
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,240
That creates a powder

460
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,000
that is weight in very small increments.

461
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,570
We send those to the lab

462
00:20:35,950 --> 00:20:39,680
to evaluate how much C13 is in the sample.

463
00:20:39,970 --> 00:20:42,200
And we found out that seedlings

464
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,200
that were kin seedlings

465
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,400
were receiving more Carbon

466
00:20:46,460 --> 00:20:50,040
from <i>Mother Trees</i> than strangers were.

467
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,400
Then it starts to look like a family.

468
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,660
The <i>Mother Tree</i> is nurturing her own family

469
00:20:56,660 --> 00:20:59,620
but she is also looking out for her whole neighborhood.

470
00:20:59,620 --> 00:21:02,260
So it's not just a family.

471
00:21:02,260 --> 00:21:04,770
It's a whole community of trees.

472
00:21:04,770 --> 00:21:09,440
Each with their own role to play in the forest.
473
00:21:10,060 --> 00:21:11,370
Mothers who care lovingly

474
00:21:11,370 --> 00:21:13,370
for their neighborhood and their children?

475
00:21:13,370 --> 00:21:15,510
Also Peter Wohlleben has a way

476
00:21:15,510 --> 00:21:17,170
of expressing the behaviors of trees

477
00:21:17,170 --> 00:21:18,800
in a very humanized language.

478
00:21:19,170 --> 00:21:21,370
When guiding groups of visitors through his forest,

479
00:21:21,370 --> 00:21:23,680
this helps to make biological mechanisms

480
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,570
understandable for everyone.

481
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,150
When he talks about tree families

482
00:21:27,150 --> 00:21:28,680
he goes further by claiming

483
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,820
that they even provide a good education.

484
00:21:31,330 --> 00:21:35,660
This is a typical Beech-Kindergarten.

485
00:21:35,660 --> 00:21:37,370
Beech-trees grow up in groups

486
00:21:37,370 --> 00:21:38,570
just like this one.

487
00:21:38,570 --> 00:21:41,150
The parents raise their children very strictly
488
00:21:41,150 --> 00:21:43,150
by limiting the available light.

489
00:21:43,150 --> 00:21:45,150
Only three percent of the sunlight

490
00:21:45,150 --> 00:21:47,350
reaches the ground, so that the small trees

491
00:21:47,350 --> 00:21:49,950
need to stretch towards the little remaining light.

492
00:21:49,950 --> 00:21:51,600
The benefit of this is

493
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,950
that they grow straight trunks,

494
00:21:52,950 --> 00:21:54,950
which can resist strong winds.

495
00:21:55,130 --> 00:21:57,400
However, like in every class or kindergarten,

496
00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,330
there are little rascals that do as they please.

497
00:22:00,330 --> 00:22:02,200
They grow this way, they grow that way,

498
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,800
they think 'Oh I don't have to stretch towards the light'.

499
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,800
Slowly their class-mates surpass them

500
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,420
and switch off the last bit of light,

501
00:22:08,420 --> 00:22:09,860
so that they die off.

502
00:22:09,860 --> 00:22:11,860
Eventually from this entire bunch

503
00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:14,570
only one or two trees will remain to grow old.

504
00:22:14,860 --> 00:22:17,640
We discovered that the <i>Mother Tree</i>

505
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,640
was affecting how those seedlings grew.

506
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,970
So if we changed the linkages

507
00:22:22,970 --> 00:22:24,970
or we removed them,

508
00:22:24,970 --> 00:22:27,860
those seedlings would behave differently.

509
00:22:27,860 --> 00:22:30,420
They would either grow worse

510
00:22:30,420 --> 00:22:32,420
or they would grow better.

511
00:22:32,420 --> 00:22:33,880
What we were gathering from this:

512
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,170
If the Mother Tree was trying

513
00:22:36,170 --> 00:22:38,460
to make a favorable place for their seedlings

514
00:22:38,460 --> 00:22:40,460
then she would encourage their growth;

515
00:22:40,460 --> 00:22:43,840
so send more nutrients to those seedlings

516
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,350
and they would grow better.

517
00:22:45,350 --> 00:22:46,770
If the <i>Mother Tree</i> knew

518
00:22:46,770 --> 00:22:48,550
that the environment around her

519
00:22:48,550 --> 00:22:50,880
was not ver hospitable for her young

520
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,970
in other words, if there were diseases

521
00:22:52,970 --> 00:22:54,240
or insects around,

522
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,060
she would it make more difficult

523
00:22:56,060 --> 00:22:57,150
for those seedlings to grow.

524
00:22:57,150 --> 00:22:59,280
She would be antagonistic towards them

525
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:00,950
or become more competitive.

526
00:23:01,220 --> 00:23:03,730
This said to me

527
00:23:03,730 --> 00:23:06,570
that the <i>Mother Tree</i> was communicating

528
00:23:06,570 --> 00:23:08,950
with her young, in order to favor

529
00:23:08,950 --> 00:23:10,530
the survival of those seedlings;

530
00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:12,020
whether they should be further away

531
00:23:12,110 --> 00:23:14,110
or close to her depending on how
532
00:23:14,110 --> 00:23:15,840
favorable the environment was.

533
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,350
We are doing these experiments

534
00:23:18,350 --> 00:23:19,640
out in the forest as well.

535
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,220
So we'll go to big, old <i>Mother Trees</i>

536
00:23:22,220 --> 00:23:24,620
and grow seedlings that are related

537
00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:26,620
or distantly related to her

538
00:23:26,620 --> 00:23:28,060
and see how they perform.

539
00:23:28,060 --> 00:23:29,860
So we will verify,

540
00:23:29,860 --> 00:23:31,220
what we are seeing in the greenhouse

541
00:23:31,220 --> 00:23:33,220
with what's going on in the forest.

542
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,620
Trees are studied and measured,

543
00:23:35,820 --> 00:23:37,080
cultivated and cut.

544
00:23:37,730 --> 00:23:39,080
They seem defenseless,

545
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,570
because they can't run away from any thread.

546
00:23:41,930 --> 00:23:43,620
Some plants, however, have developed
547
00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:46,310
amazing skills to react to attacks.

548
00:23:46,310 --> 00:23:48,440
The response of this mimosa

549
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:49,660
makes it obvious

550
00:23:49,660 --> 00:23:51,660
that even plants don't like to be hurt.

551
00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:55,680
Trees have feelings.

552
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,040
They can feel pain,

553
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,440
but can also have emotions, such as fear.

554
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,570
This is apparent, for example, in this oak behind us.

555
00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:05,730
It grows these clusters of twigs;

556
00:24:05,730 --> 00:24:07,730
signs of great distress.

557
00:24:07,730 --> 00:24:09,150
But the oak would behave differently,

558
00:24:09,150 --> 00:24:11,420
if, for example, attacked by insects

559
00:24:11,420 --> 00:24:12,930
that bore into it's bark.

560
00:24:12,930 --> 00:24:16,200
It would feel pain, electrical signals would run

561
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:17,710
through it's fibre and the oak

562
00:24:17,710 --> 00:24:19,910
would accumulate defense substances.

563
00:24:19,910 --> 00:24:22,930
At the same time it would alarm it's colleges

564
00:24:22,930 --> 00:24:24,930
via root network and fungi,

565
00:24:24,930 --> 00:24:26,680
so that they could already accumulate

566
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,200
defense substances, although

567
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:29,530
they haven't been attacked, yet.

568
00:24:30,060 --> 00:24:31,750
Once the insects arrive,

569
00:24:31,750 --> 00:24:33,330
the other oaks would be prepared.

570
00:24:35,330 --> 00:24:38,420
A forest is much healthier and more resistant,

571
00:24:38,420 --> 00:24:40,420
when individual trees warn the rest

572
00:24:40,420 --> 00:24:41,240
of the community,

573
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,240
as soon as they realize something is wrong.

574
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:45,840
At the same time that we were looking

575
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,640
at Carbon transfer, or this energy transfer,

576
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,800
we were also looking at defense signal's transfers

577
00:24:51,860 --> 00:24:53,530
through these mycorrhizal networks.

578
00:24:53,730 --> 00:24:56,060
It's mysterious that a plant

579
00:24:56,060 --> 00:25:00,570
would leak these particular compounds

580
00:25:00,570 --> 00:25:02,330
and that a fungus would pick them up

581
00:25:02,570 --> 00:25:06,570
and transmit them through their hyphae

582
00:25:06,570 --> 00:25:07,860
to another plant.

583
00:25:07,930 --> 00:25:09,530
We haven't seen this before,

584
00:25:09,530 --> 00:25:11,240
this flow of signaling molecules.

585
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,370
We're trying to figure out

586
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:14,730
what these defense signals are.

587
00:25:14,730 --> 00:25:16,730
We have an idea that there are certain

588
00:25:16,730 --> 00:25:18,080
compounds involved.

589
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,220
What happens is that the injured seedling

590
00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,220
sends defense signals. The seedling
591
00:25:23,220 --> 00:25:25,040
that receives the signal, or that

592
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,040
piece of communication,

593
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,280
those words, if you can think of it that way,

594
00:25:29,350 --> 00:25:31,820
Then they up-regulate

595
00:25:31,820 --> 00:25:33,820
their defense genes. Those genes

596
00:25:33,820 --> 00:25:36,370
start to produce more defense enzymes.

597
00:25:36,370 --> 00:25:38,970
Those enzymes increase the defense

598
00:25:38,970 --> 00:25:41,150
of those seedlings against the attack

599
00:25:41,170 --> 00:25:42,110
by those insects.

600
00:25:42,110 --> 00:25:45,060
When you are scared,

601
00:25:45,420 --> 00:25:49,020
your body is producing chemicals

602
00:25:49,020 --> 00:25:52,510
that are telling your whole body

603
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,110
that you are scared.

604
00:25:54,110 --> 00:25:57,060
It's getting your legs ready to run,

605
00:25:57,310 --> 00:25:58,240
it's getting your arms ready
606
00:25:58,330 --> 00:25:59,800
to whatever they need to do.

607
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,350
Those chemicals are specific for that purpose.

608
00:26:03,350 --> 00:26:05,930
If those would leak out of your feet

609
00:26:05,970 --> 00:26:08,680
and something in the ground,

610
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:10,110
let's say a fungus,

611
00:26:10,110 --> 00:26:12,110
would pick up those chemicals

612
00:26:12,110 --> 00:26:14,110
and transmit them through the ground.

613
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,440
so move them through the ground,

614
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,440
and someone else standing nearby

615
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,970
would pick up those chemicals through their feet

616
00:26:19,970 --> 00:26:21,170
and get scared,

617
00:26:21,170 --> 00:26:22,620
because they would get those

618
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,170
scary chemicals in their body.

619
00:26:24,170 --> 00:26:25,110
That's like what like what we

620
00:26:25,110 --> 00:26:26,170
are looking at with the trees.

621
00:26:26,170 --> 00:26:28,170
This guy get's scared

622
00:26:28,170 --> 00:26:29,640
it's sending those chemicals

623
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,570
among it's own body and then

624
00:26:31,570 --> 00:26:32,880
they go out into the roots.

625
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,710
The question is, whether the fungi,

626
00:26:34,710 --> 00:26:36,970
which are an entirely different organism,

627
00:26:36,970 --> 00:26:38,970
not a tree,

628
00:26:38,970 --> 00:26:41,820
are moving those chemicals

629
00:26:41,820 --> 00:26:42,970
through the ground and if those

630
00:26:42,970 --> 00:26:45,220
are being picked-up by the other trees.

631
00:26:45,220 --> 00:26:47,510
Specifically, I am looking at

632
00:26:47,510 --> 00:26:49,240
defense signals, which I

633
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,240
induce using Western Spruce Budworm

634
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,240
onto Douglas fir.

635
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,440
The tree that has the Western Spruce Budworm

636
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,440
elicits a response from the tree,

637
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,060
which is sent into the mycorrhizal network

638
00:27:02,060 --> 00:27:05,040
and get's transferred to an adjacent seedling

639
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,330
that is attached via a mycorrhizal network.

640
00:27:07,550 --> 00:27:09,570
Two plants in a pot.

641
00:27:09,570 --> 00:27:11,080
They are Douglas fir seedlings;

642
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,080
which is what we tend to use,

643
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,080
because they form strong mycorrhizal networks.

644
00:27:15,970 --> 00:27:20,910
They are planted inside mesh-bags.

645
00:27:20,910 --> 00:27:23,710
Those mesh-bags can either be very small

646
00:27:23,710 --> 00:27:27,660
in their pore-size and block mycorrhizal networks or

647
00:27:27,660 --> 00:27:29,910
a bit larger and allow mycorrhizal networks.

648
00:27:29,910 --> 00:27:31,910
So, we compare treatments, where they are networks

649
00:27:31,910 --> 00:27:33,480
to treatment where there are not,
650
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,820
and see if that transfer occurs.

651
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,130
This is where we place the Spruce Budworms

652
00:27:39,130 --> 00:27:44,040
and entice them to eat these little budding areas.

653
00:27:44,530 --> 00:27:47,480
You clip off the branches

654
00:27:47,530 --> 00:27:49,600
and then you dip them in liquid nitrogen.

655
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,440
You scrape off the needles

656
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,440
and put the stem in another vile.

657
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,260
You dip it in liquid nitrogen,

658
00:27:56,260 --> 00:28:00,480
because you want to freeze what is happening.

659
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,370
You measure gene expression

660
00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:03,710
by looking at RNA,

661
00:28:03,710 --> 00:28:07,730
which is a really short-lived chemical.

662
00:28:07,730 --> 00:28:09,240
It can degrade very quickly.

663
00:28:09,310 --> 00:28:12,310
You want to take it off the live plant

664
00:28:12,310 --> 00:28:14,310
and dip it in the liquid nitrogen
665
00:28:14,820 --> 00:28:15,950
as fast as you can.

666
00:28:15,950 --> 00:28:18,220
The defense signals, or the warning signals,

667
00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:20,220
are happening really quickly.

668
00:28:20,220 --> 00:28:22,750
So when there is an injury,

669
00:28:22,750 --> 00:28:25,950
there is an almost instant communication.

670
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,000
There is an immediate up-regulation of genes

671
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,530
that increases the defense.

672
00:28:30,530 --> 00:28:34,840
It is actually knowledge that is being passed on,

673
00:28:34,860 --> 00:28:37,330
from the seedling that is injured to the new one.

674
00:28:37,330 --> 00:28:40,080
That knowledge, is based in wisdom.

675
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,150
I think of it more as passing on wisdom.

676
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,640
(Burial Forest)

677
00:28:53,130 --> 00:28:56,220
It's important for a forest

678
00:28:56,220 --> 00:28:58,220
to sustain all of it's members;

679
00:28:58,220 --> 00:29:00,750
including old and dying trees.

680
00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:02,680
Even stumps that you would expect

681
00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,400
to have died hundreds of years ago,

682
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:05,840
are being kept alive.

683
00:29:06,510 --> 00:29:08,110
Possibly, they have stored memories,

684
00:29:08,110 --> 00:29:09,800
that they can pass on.

685
00:29:10,110 --> 00:29:13,150
This is an ancient stump;

686
00:29:13,150 --> 00:29:15,150
and it is still alive.

687
00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:17,310
The inner part of a tree, the heartwood,

688
00:29:17,310 --> 00:29:19,880
is without life; much like dead bone.

689
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,840
That's why this one is rotten inside.

690
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,400
In trees, life is located in the sapwood,

691
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,910
in the cambium and in the roots.

692
00:29:28,910 --> 00:29:32,170
And all of this is still alive in this one here.

693
00:29:32,530 --> 00:29:35,600
The question is, how can this be possible?

694
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,310
It doesn't have any more leaves

695
00:29:37,310 --> 00:29:39,310
to photosynthesize and nourish itself.

696
00:29:39,310 --> 00:29:41,480
Still, it must consume sugar,

697
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:42,880
otherwise it would die.

698
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,880
The only possible explanation is

699
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:46,420
that this tree over there,

700
00:29:46,420 --> 00:29:48,910
keeps the stump alive via root connections

701
00:29:48,910 --> 00:29:50,400
that are running across here.

702
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,400
It appears very social and touching

703
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,710
that this old stump is still being nurtured.

704
00:29:54,710 --> 00:29:58,060
The forest's own 'nursery home for the elderly' .

705
00:29:59,350 --> 00:30:01,800
When trees are cut,

706
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,840
fall over or break over with the wind

707
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,530
that the stump continues to live.

708
00:30:07,530 --> 00:30:09,530
We can tell that it's living,
709
00:30:09,530 --> 00:30:11,530
because the cambium in the bark

710
00:30:11,530 --> 00:30:14,080
grows over the top of this stump.

711
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,080
There is no way it will grow into a new tree,

712
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,080
because is there is no seed

713
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,080
or there is no epical meristem there.

714
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,350
The stump is still alive,

715
00:30:22,370 --> 00:30:24,860
because it's root systems are grafted

716
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:26,930
to it's neighbors,

717
00:30:26,970 --> 00:30:28,130
or they are linked in

718
00:30:28,130 --> 00:30:30,130
through the mycorrhizal networks, or both.

719
00:30:30,130 --> 00:30:32,530
When you have that pathway,

720
00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:35,820
the trees that are alive around it

721
00:30:35,820 --> 00:30:39,400
are sending Carbon from the foliage

722
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,080
down into the root systems of the stump

723
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:42,640
and keeping that stump alive.
724
00:30:43,460 --> 00:30:45,660
Where does a tree store it's information?

725
00:30:45,660 --> 00:30:49,170
How valuable is such a stump to the community?

726
00:30:49,170 --> 00:30:51,600
So far, we don't not known where a tree's memory

727
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,400
is located and where it stores experiences.

728
00:30:55,130 --> 00:30:57,280
For example, droughts that occurred

729
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:58,930
a long time ago can influence

730
00:30:58,930 --> 00:31:00,930
a tree's behavior over many years.

731
00:31:00,930 --> 00:31:03,350
This demonstrates that they store

732
00:31:03,350 --> 00:31:05,350
this information somewhere.

733
00:31:05,350 --> 00:31:08,020
It is quite likely that this storage sits

734
00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:10,280
partially or even entirely in the roots.

735
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:12,150
An ancient stump like this

736
00:31:12,150 --> 00:31:13,480
might pass on it's knowledge

737
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,660
to the neighboring trees and it's descendants.

738
00:31:17,350 --> 00:31:19,930
It is now known, that processes occur in the root-tips,

739
00:31:19,930 --> 00:31:23,200
which are quite similar to those of a brain.

740
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,330
Obviously it is presumptuous to claim

741
00:31:25,330 --> 00:31:27,330
that trees have a brain just like animals.

742
00:31:28,170 --> 00:31:31,110
However, they make decisions within seconds

743
00:31:31,110 --> 00:31:33,110
that are partially processed electrically.

744
00:31:33,110 --> 00:31:36,570
All of this takes place in the roots.

745
00:31:36,570 --> 00:31:40,440
So maybe, we could call this a tree-brain.

746
00:31:41,510 --> 00:31:43,000
Through these various experiments

747
00:31:43,530 --> 00:31:45,530
and our discoveries, I've started to think

748
00:31:45,530 --> 00:31:49,880
about the root systems of trees in forests

749
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:51,880
as the brains of the forest.

750
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,880
There is a number of reasons for this.

751
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:58,950
First it's the pattern of these connections,

752
00:31:58,950 --> 00:32:00,950
the pattern of the network.

753
00:32:00,950 --> 00:32:04,680
When we look at how it's arranged,

754
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:08,620
it's very much like how our brain is organized.

755
00:32:08,620 --> 00:32:14,040
There are certain central hubs in forests,

756
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:15,710
where things are highly connected.

757
00:32:15,710 --> 00:32:17,570
Then there are satellite nodes,

758
00:32:17,570 --> 00:32:19,570
where things are less connected.

759
00:32:19,570 --> 00:32:21,260
If you look at a neural network,

760
00:32:21,260 --> 00:32:23,640
it's patterned very much in the same way.

761
00:32:24,660 --> 00:32:29,750
Secondly, the idea that there are chemicals

762
00:32:29,750 --> 00:32:33,080
that are transmitting from a mycorrhizal root-tip

763
00:32:33,130 --> 00:32:36,040
or root of one tree through the mycorrhizal network

764
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:37,310
to another tree.

765
00:32:37,310 --> 00:32:39,310
This is like in our brains.

766
00:32:39,330 --> 00:32:40,680
We have neurotransmitters.

767
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:42,680
It's not that much different than
768
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:47,530
Carbon, Methyl Jasmonate, Nitrogen and Water

769
00:32:47,530 --> 00:32:49,040
moving back and forth through these

770
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:50,260
mycorrhizal networks.

771
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,730
There is another part to the story.

772
00:32:52,730 --> 00:32:55,620
In dying pine forests, for example,

773
00:32:55,620 --> 00:32:57,800
that are attacked by Mountain Pine Beetle,

774
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:02,220
those dying trees affect the mycorrhizal communities.

775
00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:05,150
Seedlings in healthy forests

776
00:33:05,150 --> 00:33:07,550
have a better suite of defense enzymes

777
00:33:07,550 --> 00:33:09,550
than those from dying forests.

778
00:33:09,550 --> 00:33:13,110
We know that it's not only a Carbon legacy

779
00:33:13,110 --> 00:33:15,860
that is passed on, it's also messages

780
00:33:16,420 --> 00:33:18,020
about he defense chemistry

781
00:33:18,020 --> 00:33:20,020
of the new seedlings coming up.

782
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,020
We really need to think more carefully
783
00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:26,370
about how we manage these dying forests.

784
00:33:26,370 --> 00:33:28,730
We will be dealing with this more and more.

785
00:33:28,730 --> 00:33:34,020
Tree species will be changing as the climate changes.

786
00:33:34,020 --> 00:33:35,480
There is going to be a mortality.

787
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,060
Our response has been to cut those trees down

788
00:33:38,060 --> 00:33:39,770
as quickly as possible, make them

789
00:33:39,770 --> 00:33:41,530
into two-by-fours and sell them.

790
00:33:41,530 --> 00:33:45,910
You can easily see that by doing that

791
00:33:45,910 --> 00:33:47,770
we're cutting off the opportunity

792
00:33:47,770 --> 00:33:49,460
for the old trees, the dying trees,

793
00:33:49,460 --> 00:33:52,440
to pass their legacy onto the new generations.

794
00:33:52,750 --> 00:33:54,400
When we cut down trees,

795
00:33:54,570 --> 00:33:57,280
not only do we disturb the micro-climate of the forest,

796
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,820
but also the relationships between the trees.

797
00:33:59,820 --> 00:34:01,020
They become loners,

798
00:34:01,020 --> 00:34:02,530
and we won't be able to observe

799
00:34:02,530 --> 00:34:04,730
these wonderful processes any more.

800
00:34:05,730 --> 00:34:08,110
Managed forests are a convenient way

801
00:34:08,110 --> 00:34:09,880
to transform the natural disorder

802
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,550
into efficient, fast growing plantations

803
00:34:12,550 --> 00:34:13,710
of rogue trees.

804
00:34:13,710 --> 00:34:15,710
Its getting quiet.

805
00:34:15,710 --> 00:34:18,040
Planted forests don't talk much.

806
00:34:18,150 --> 00:34:23,280
Plantations are like a group of only-children

807
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,280
without parental guidance.

808
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:26,770
These trees are planted

809
00:34:26,770 --> 00:34:28,680
with clipped and damaged roots,

810
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:31,200
which results in disrupted communication;

811
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:35,370
along with many other dysfunctions.

812
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,460
The trees are forced to fend for themselves,

813
00:34:40,460 --> 00:34:42,460
which leaves them more vulnerable.

814
00:34:42,460 --> 00:34:44,640
If a tree suffers,

815
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:46,640
it won't receive help from it's neighbors.

816
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,130
If one thrives, and could share,

817
00:34:49,130 --> 00:34:51,130
it would rather grow a little faster,

818
00:34:51,130 --> 00:34:53,130
which is also not healthy.

819
00:34:53,130 --> 00:34:59,840
In a forest, speed is always negative.

820
00:35:00,150 --> 00:35:03,840
In Germany are no more pristine forests left.

821
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,200
In the past centuries numerous activities

822
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,200
took place everywhere in the forests.

823
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,200
Here, for example, charcoal production

824
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:11,060
took place.

825
00:35:11,060 --> 00:35:12,640
This forest will likely be

826
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,170
very close to natural again,
827
00:35:14,170 --> 00:35:16,350
in about one-hundred to two-hundred years.

828
00:35:16,350 --> 00:35:18,220
Only very few places like this

829
00:35:18,220 --> 00:35:19,680
still exist in Germany.

830
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,550
But currently the forest industry

831
00:35:21,550 --> 00:35:23,550
is becoming increasingly radical,

832
00:35:23,550 --> 00:35:25,550
and more and more wood is being harvested.

833
00:35:25,550 --> 00:35:28,040
Sadly, we are turning back the clock.

834
00:35:33,620 --> 00:35:36,040
These plantations are increasingly managed

835
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:37,220
with heavy machinery.

836
00:35:37,220 --> 00:35:39,220
And these machines compress the soil.

837
00:35:39,220 --> 00:35:41,040
They destroy the pore-volume

838
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,040
and life in the soil suffocates.

839
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,040
This includes also the fungi

840
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:46,330
which are extremely important

841
00:35:46,330 --> 00:35:48,620
for the communication between trees.
842
00:35:48,710 --> 00:35:53,020
Most machines have wide tires,

843
00:35:53,020 --> 00:35:54,460
so damage caused is often

844
00:35:54,460 --> 00:35:56,460
not so visible on the surface.

845
00:35:56,460 --> 00:35:58,460
However, compaction remains

846
00:35:58,460 --> 00:36:00,460
and increases with the size of the tires.

847
00:36:00,460 --> 00:36:03,840
The soil becomes compacted down to two meters.

848
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,640
This is comparable to a sponge

849
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:06,840
that has been squeezed.

850
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,480
But unlike a sponge soil doesn't recover.

851
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,280
Pore size is lost along with oxygen-content.

852
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,510
Compared to before, in some cases,

853
00:36:15,510 --> 00:36:17,510
only as little as five percent of the water

854
00:36:17,510 --> 00:36:18,600
can be stored.

855
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,820
This is extremely dangerous for trees,

856
00:36:20,820 --> 00:36:22,330
because here, during summer,

857
00:36:22,330 --> 00:36:24,910
trees depend on winter-precipitation.

858
00:36:24,910 --> 00:36:26,910
And if this can't be stored any more,

859
00:36:26,910 --> 00:36:29,330
the trees may die of thirst during summer.

860
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,510
And according to geologists,

861
00:36:31,510 --> 00:36:33,750
soil damage below twenty centimeters

862
00:36:33,750 --> 00:36:40,570
remains beyond repair, until the next ice-Age.

863
00:36:45,150 --> 00:36:50,640
In horse-logging, harvested stems

864
00:36:50,660 --> 00:36:53,080
are first cut to a maximum of five meters;

865
00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:55,550
a length that a horse can handle.

866
00:36:55,570 --> 00:36:58,080
The horse navigates gently

867
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,080
around both big and small trees,

868
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,080
and barely causes any damage.

869
00:37:08,350 --> 00:37:10,330
Even today, horse-logging

870
00:37:10,330 --> 00:37:12,330
could be done on a large scale.

871
00:37:12,330 --> 00:37:15,060
However, most horse-loggers don't find enough work,

872
00:37:15,060 --> 00:37:17,060
because there isn't sufficient demand.

873
00:37:17,060 --> 00:37:19,310
One could argue that if all of the harvesting

874
00:37:19,310 --> 00:37:21,000
would be done only with horses,

875
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,550
it would exceed the number of horses available.

876
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,930
That may be true, but when the demand grew,

877
00:37:25,930 --> 00:37:27,460
more people would be motivated

878
00:37:27,460 --> 00:37:28,930
to practice horse-logging.

879
00:37:28,930 --> 00:37:30,910
It is a wonderful job that has already

880
00:37:30,910 --> 00:37:33,060
been practiced for thousands of years.

881
00:37:33,060 --> 00:37:34,060
I am certain that today

882
00:37:34,060 --> 00:37:36,060
it can be just as successful.

883
00:37:36,060 --> 00:37:38,200
Obviously we would need more personnel

884
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:39,840
to replace large machinery.

885
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,330
One harvester replaces twelve workers.
886
00:37:42,330 --> 00:37:44,060
So - if we would turn back time

887
00:37:44,060 --> 00:37:46,060
we could create twelve new jobs.

888
00:37:46,060 --> 00:37:48,370
Interestingly enough this pays off:

889
00:37:48,370 --> 00:37:51,040
We earn more, because we preserve the soil

890
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:53,040
and the forest is more productive.

891
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,550
It grows more wood in better qualities,

892
00:37:55,550 --> 00:37:57,550
while we generate more jobs.

893
00:37:57,550 --> 00:38:01,000
More money, more jobs. I like that.

894
00:38:01,460 --> 00:38:03,640
We didn't treat forests like families at all.

895
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:05,130
We've treated them like rows

896
00:38:05,130 --> 00:38:07,130
of corn plants, basically.

897
00:38:07,130 --> 00:38:11,530
This new understanding that we suddenly had;

898
00:38:11,530 --> 00:38:15,040
that <i>Mother Trees</i> were linked to all these seedlings

899
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,840
and other trees below ground and favoring her kin,

900
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,880
completely turned the idea of how
901
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,880
we manage forests upside down.

902
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,950
Now, instead of rows of trees,

903
00:38:24,950 --> 00:38:26,510
it's families of trees.

904
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,330
How you treat a family of trees

905
00:38:29,330 --> 00:38:31,130
is going to be very different

906
00:38:31,130 --> 00:38:33,860
than how you would treat individual rows of trees.

907
00:38:34,350 --> 00:38:36,480
As a forester, you like to think

908
00:38:36,510 --> 00:38:37,950
that you are helping the forest,

909
00:38:37,950 --> 00:38:39,550
but in fact it's comparable

910
00:38:39,550 --> 00:38:41,910
to a small child that fiddles with a clockwork,

911
00:38:41,910 --> 00:38:44,550
thinking that it can make it run smoother afterwards.

912
00:38:44,550 --> 00:38:46,550
That means we need to keep out

913
00:38:46,550 --> 00:38:49,200
of such an ecosystem if we want it to function.

914
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,220
We can take something, every once in a while.

915
00:38:51,310 --> 00:38:53,040
But once we start to destroy things,

916
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,310
we will eventually reach a point of no return.

917
00:38:55,310 --> 00:38:58,620
We as humans make great demands.

918
00:38:58,620 --> 00:39:00,080
We want to be warm during the winter,

919
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:01,770
so we heat our homes with wood.

920
00:39:01,770 --> 00:39:04,330
We want furniture, we want to use paper.

921
00:39:04,330 --> 00:39:06,660
That is OK, but obviously this clashes

922
00:39:06,660 --> 00:39:08,660
with the idea of an intact forest.

923
00:39:08,660 --> 00:39:11,220
We should be aware that when we use a chainsaw,

924
00:39:11,220 --> 00:39:12,640
we can't be doing any good.

925
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:14,820
We pretty much slaughter a tree.

926
00:39:29,150 --> 00:39:32,350
As long as there is a certain limit to it,

927
00:39:32,350 --> 00:39:34,020
the forest will be able to cope.

928
00:39:34,020 --> 00:39:36,840
But if we take too much, it will be destroyed.

929
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:38,710
What every single one of us can do

930
00:39:38,710 --> 00:39:40,330
to take better care of the forest,

931
00:39:40,330 --> 00:39:42,620
is simply to reduce consumption.

932
00:39:43,260 --> 00:39:44,840
With over seven Billion people,

933
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,280
we can't keep going on at this level.

934
00:39:49,820 --> 00:39:52,400
Is this a Survival of the Fittest after all?

935
00:39:52,970 --> 00:39:54,400
We use trees to provide wood

936
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:56,400
for our homes, which we then build

937
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,150
where once these trees used to be.

938
00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:02,040
Our cities grow and displace the forests.

939
00:40:02,710 --> 00:40:04,710
Have we unwillingly turned to enemies

940
00:40:04,710 --> 00:40:06,710
who compete for the same ground?

941
00:40:07,330 --> 00:40:10,060
Is there an alternative to how we treat forests;

942
00:40:10,060 --> 00:40:11,880
so that we are able to coexist

943
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:13,880
and preserve what is still left?

944
00:40:14,460 --> 00:40:16,460
In the world of forestry,
945
00:40:16,460 --> 00:40:21,600
Foresters generally don't pay any attention to it.

946
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:24,240
They either don't know about it

947
00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:29,730
or they're so wrapped up in the traditional ways

948
00:40:29,730 --> 00:40:31,110
of practicing forestry.

949
00:40:31,170 --> 00:40:36,350
They've become so rigid in how they do things,

950
00:40:36,350 --> 00:40:39,260
that the idea that things can be connected below ground

951
00:40:39,330 --> 00:40:42,420
and therefore, to conserve those connections

952
00:40:42,420 --> 00:40:44,640
would mean doing forestry in a very different way.

953
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,510
We need to change terminology.

954
00:40:48,510 --> 00:40:49,620
We shouldn't claim

955
00:40:49,620 --> 00:40:50,930
that we are tending to the forest,

956
00:40:50,930 --> 00:40:53,350
when we are in fact utilizing wood.

957
00:40:53,350 --> 00:40:56,080
Just as a butcher is not an animal-keeper,

958
00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:58,570
a forester is no forest-keeper.

959
00:40:58,570 --> 00:41:01,110
Once we realize that we always destroy something,
960
00:41:01,110 --> 00:41:02,480
when we use a chainsaw,

961
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,840
we might start to treat the forest more carefully.

962
00:41:05,420 --> 00:41:09,860
I think that there is an enormous opportunity

963
00:41:09,860 --> 00:41:13,460
to transform how we practice forestry,

964
00:41:13,620 --> 00:41:16,750
so that our forest are more wise,

965
00:41:16,750 --> 00:41:19,150
have their language intact,

966
00:41:19,150 --> 00:41:21,730
have their families intact.

967
00:41:21,730 --> 00:41:23,480
They'll be around in the future.

968
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:26,330
Where as the planted forests that we are putting back,

969
00:41:26,330 --> 00:41:28,840
where we don't conserve those features,

970
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:30,840
or those qualities of a community,

971
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,260
will be way more at risk.

972
00:41:33,310 --> 00:41:36,950
Just like, if we become isolated in our societies,

973
00:41:36,950 --> 00:41:38,280
we are more at risk.

974
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,060
It's not any different than forests.

975
00:41:41,260 --> 00:41:44,260
The Municipality of Hümmel,

976
00:41:44,260 --> 00:41:45,440
where I am forest ranger,

977
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,110
has placed all of their remaining

978
00:41:47,110 --> 00:41:49,440
old Beech-forests under protection.

979
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,440
That's very rare in Germany.

980
00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:53,750
At over two-hundred, these beech-trees,

981
00:41:53,750 --> 00:41:55,040
are comparatively old.

982
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:58,350
Here, they can live their social lives entirely undisturbed.

983
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:00,710
Only in forests like this,

984
00:42:00,710 --> 00:42:03,440
can one observe the intact social life of trees.

985
00:42:03,770 --> 00:42:06,200
It is possible to manage forests so gently

986
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,220
that they can emulate pristine forest processes.

987
00:42:09,220 --> 00:42:11,550
That means removing only single trees

988
00:42:11,550 --> 00:42:13,350
here and there and leaving the rest

989
00:42:13,350 --> 00:42:15,350
of this social community alone.

990
00:42:15,350 --> 00:42:18,510
Planting, tending, producing great wood-qualities:

991
00:42:18,510 --> 00:42:20,880
Trees can manage this all by themselves.

992
00:42:21,260 --> 00:42:22,340
We can pretty much sit back.

993
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:27,510
When people hear about connections below ground

994
00:42:27,570 --> 00:42:30,170
and that there is mothering going on in forests,

995
00:42:30,170 --> 00:42:32,170
people immediate say:

996
00:42:32,170 --> 00:42:35,350
Of course, I see this all the time.

997
00:42:35,350 --> 00:42:37,080
I knew this all the time.

998
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:38,910
I am so glad that you've done

999
00:42:38,910 --> 00:42:41,280
the science that validates

1000
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:43,280
what I've always felt about a forest.

1001
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,660
To me, that's hugely powerful.

1002
00:42:47,660 --> 00:42:49,660
There's already a sense out there.

1003
00:42:49,660 --> 00:42:52,310
We as humans are part of that forest
1004
00:42:52,310 --> 00:42:54,860
and what we'e perceiving is really valuable.

1005
00:42:54,860 --> 00:42:56,860
We should be paying attention to that,

1006
00:42:56,860 --> 00:42:59,060
because it's true. It's true in our hearts

1007
00:42:59,060 --> 00:43:00,480
and it's true in the forest.

1008
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:04,820
To me that's a super-important message

1009
00:43:04,820 --> 00:43:06,820
that this is a natural fit.

1010
00:43:06,820 --> 00:43:08,730
It's a natural fit in forests

1011
00:43:08,730 --> 00:43:10,730
and it's a natural fit with how we interact

1012
00:43:10,730 --> 00:43:12,730
with forests. It's something we

1013
00:43:12,730 --> 00:43:14,310
can learn from forests to bring

1014
00:43:14,510 --> 00:43:17,530
to our own sense of community and family as well.

1015
00:43:18,750 --> 00:43:21,440
Hopefully scientists like Suzanne Simard

1016
00:43:21,620 --> 00:43:23,620
and observers like Peter Wohlleben

1017
00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:25,810
are able to change the way we look at trees.

1018
00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:29,170
Looking at nature has often helped engineers
1019
00:43:29,170 --> 00:43:31,720
to find inspiration for groundbreaking inventions.

1020
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:34,760
Looking at the forest might inspire us to live

1021
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,800
in a healthy human community that appreciates

1022
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:43,360
the natural processes surrounding us.

1023
00:43:45,060 --> 00:43:47,090
Next time we take a walk in the forest

1024
00:43:47,450 --> 00:43:49,510
and ask ourselves if trees can talk,

1025
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,030
the answer lies below the surface:

1026
00:43:51,030 --> 00:43:51,890
Trees do talk!

1027
00:43:52,230 --> 00:43:53,990
What they want to tell us remains

1028
00:43:53,990 --> 00:43:55,820
yet to be uncovered.

1029
00:43:56,260 --> 00:43:58,290
Maybe all they say is:

1030
00:43:59,020 --> 00:44:00,470
Let us be.

1031
00:44:01,220 --> 00:44:02,710
Can you imagine, being a tree

1032
00:44:02,710 --> 00:44:04,710
living by yourself?

1033
00:44:04,710 --> 00:44:05,480
Without neighbors?

1034
00:44:05,490 --> 00:44:07,270
Without others around to care for you?

1035
00:44:07,270 --> 00:44:10,640
Trees don't do well when they're by themselves.

1036
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:14,920
They blow over, or they get too much sun

1037
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:15,800
or too much water

1038
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,620
or they're more at risk of getting a disease.

1039
00:44:18,620 --> 00:44:21,070
But when they are in a community

1040
00:44:21,070 --> 00:44:23,220
and they have neighbors around

1041
00:44:23,220 --> 00:44:24,030
that protect them;

1042
00:44:24,030 --> 00:44:26,030
really, they are caring for each other.

1043
00:44:26,030 --> 00:44:27,420
They're making sure that they

1044
00:44:27,420 --> 00:44:29,320
are a productive, healthy, vibrant,

1045
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,220
diverse community of trees.

1046
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:34,220
Families of trees.