Suzanne Simard : How trees talk to each other

TED 2016

Suzanne Simard : How trees talk to each other (transcript)

Summary

This is a pretty talk because the speaker tells us that trees talk to each other, it’s true and she's proved it.

Talking means to communicate and to connect. Although you would imagine a sound that leaves make by wind blowing, the most important trees' communication is acting below ground. Roots could transmit carbon to another tree below ground. It means to share information. By measuring two types carbon, her experiment proved to be correct. Even trees that are not sufficiently irradiated with sunshine by covering with cloth were sending carbon to each other and she measured the mixed carbon. I thought that the sound measuring them was talking the trees, but it's acted always below ground. When we couldn't listen to, it’s acted.

Thus we have to know our forest more. 1)
In the forest, harmony is important. Less cutting is necessary though no cutting is not necessary. 2)

We need to conserve trees which can withstand the future stresses coming down the road. 3)
Then we need to regenerate our forest with a diversity and having self healing power. 4)

I think that all living things are much more than what we see. They're supercooperators. We have to listen to their voices more when we can't see them also.

Words in this story

mycelium / the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments (hyphae).

mycorrhiza / a fungus that grows in association with the roots of a plant in a symbiotic or mildly pathogenic relationship.

respirator / a mask that protects the wearer from poisonous gases, called gas mask

photosynthesis / the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.