Trees are far more complex, and social than we ever gave them credit for.
I can't recommend reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohllenbehn enough.
A fascinating and enlightening essay on trees, and their ability to communicate n coordinate with each other.
Jomoco
I finally got around to finishing this book last night - can't thank you enough for recommending it.
It answered my question.. but, it's caused me to think about trees in a completely new light and now I have a lot more questions...
For starters, he talks about the beneficial organisms that are in the soil surrounding tree roots and how they aid with communication between the roots of one tree and it's siblings, children, and neighbors, and how this system grows with the trees and if this network is broken the health of the trees can be severely affected.
He also says that trees benefit, in many ways, from growing in close proximity with other trees of the same species, like the mature trees providing shade to the young sprouts and supplying them with nutrients when conditions get tough.
This makes me think that the common acceptable practice of growing trees in nursery pots, transplanting them to the over-chemical-saturated field, digging up smaller than normal root balls and shipping them clear across the state, or further is, at the least, planned obsolescence for the trees and at the worst premeditated "homicide."
It really makes me sad to think about all those lonely, solitary, yard specimens that people plant in their yards - especially those planted along city streets and sidewalks.
Seems to me, the modern plant nurseries aren't conducting business much different than the dreaded puppy mills.
Near the end of the book, he says it can take 500 years to establish a forest, starting from scratch with the first generation. I'm fearful for their future on this planet as long as they are in competition with humans for space and killed for their commodity.
Thoughts?