Watch: Do trees have their own Facebook? It's sometimes known as the woodwide web
Trees don't feel pain, but they do have personalities.
They talk to one another, they pass on messages, they forage for their children, they can count, and they’re hooked up.
Yes, trees are socially networked. The video above delves into Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees to uncover these secrets, gathered over 30 years of research.
And the findings show that a forest is essentially an interconnected web full of trees that communicate with each other using electrical impulses, just like the human nervous system. A tree’s roots connect with roots from other trees in the area, making it possible to communicate.
This isn’t just restricted to direct neighbours either, with a relay system being used to communicate with distant trees. Not unlike Facebook, much of the conversation is about food.
For instance, when one tree is low on a certain nutrient – say carbon or phosphorous – it sends out a message to the interconnected web. Whichever tree nearby has some to spare will send some across, using their respective roots – or, as they’re referred to here, “magnificent biological superhighways.”
Trees also have personalities. For example, there are good trees and bad trees. The good ones spend a lot of time trying to help other organisms, but the bad ones? They go all out to steal more nutrients than they need. And there are family-oriented trees too, such as beeches and oaks, which guard their own ferociously.