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Hey Thoughty2 here.
As you all know there’s this strange species of human out there called vegetarians, and
there’s an even more peculiar species called vegans.
And for a long time both groups have begrudgingly been asking the same question, “do plants
have feelings?”.
Do they have emotions, like us?
Do they feel pain?
If the answer turns out to be yes, then those aforementioned groups of people are really
screwed.
And that may very well be the case, because research conducted by forest scientists over
a 30-year-period revealed that trees have some amazing social skills; trees can actually
talk to each other.
And this isn’t just basic communication either, they have an impressively large vocabulary.
When you walk through the forest there are hundreds of conversations happening right
below your feet but you won’t hear a word because trees don’t communicate via speech,
but through electrical impulses, just like the human nervous system.
Underneath the soil a tree’s roots spread out horizontally as far wide as the tree is
tall, if not more.
As they grow sideways they also intertwine and connect with the roots of all the other
trees that surround it.
Not only can a tree send electrical signal to its direct neighbours, but by relaying
messages trees can talk to each other that are many trees apart.
This interconnected network of roots is referred to as the “woodwide web”.
In this sense a forest really is one singular living organism.
Even the fungi join in, connecting themselves into the root-based social network, communicating
with the trees.
So what could trees possibly be saying to each other?
Well mostly “pass me some food mate”.
When trees get low on certain elements, which they use to grow such as carbon, phosphorus
and sulphur they send a request out into the woodwibe web.
The closest tree that has some of that elements spare will send, the carbon for example, to
the tree that sent the request.
How do they send the nutrients?
Through the roots of course, not only do these magnificent biological superhighways act as
a communication network but they also carry physical elements all around the forest, sharing
the resources out equally.
Trees even look out for one another, if they notice a particular tree isn’t getting enough
sunlight they slowly reconfigure their branches to let extra light through and pass on more
vitamins and nutrients to that tree.
Old and sick trees also get extra love and care from their neighbours.
They may even choose to disconnect their roots from certain trees if they’re not welcome
in the community, such as dead, rotten trees.
Have you ever noticed how trees seem to copy each other, changing appearance and dropping
their leaves around the same time, it’s as if they’re all perfectly synchronized,
well that’s because they are; trees also possess the ability to count.
They collectively count the passing days and keep track of how many warm days there are
throughout the summer and spring each year.
They then share this knowledge throughout the forest and use it to open their buds at
the optimum time.
They do the same for the cold days during the winter so they all know exactly when to
start shedding their leaves.
Now don’t worry, as far as we know, it’s very unlikely that trees and any other plants
for that matter, can feel pain, they lack the nerves required to experience the sensation.
But they certainly do have personalities, there are good trees that put all their efforts
into helping other organisms, and bad trees that steal more nutrients than they really
should be doing.
It’s even been theorised that trees can make decisions and have memories.
They even have wars.
Species such as beech and oak are very family-orientated and ferociously protect their own, and yes,
incredibly, trees do know which trees are their own children.
Parent trees will pump sugar solutions through their roots to their children to support their
growth.
Family groups will purposely deprive other species growing nearby to try and push them
out of their forest.
It’s practically the ghetto out there.
A massive thank you to Audible who teemed up with me on this video.
They are offering everyone watching this video the chance to try Audible free for 30 days.
They have an unrivalled selection of audiobooks, original shows, news, comedy and more.
I always put an audiobook on when travelling, it’s such an interesting way to pass the
time.
Audible are offering a free audiobook with your 30-day free trial.
Simply go to audible.com/thoughty, signup for your free trial, download your first title
and start listening.
In preparation for this video I’ve been listening to “The Hidden Life of Trees”
by forester Peter Wohlleben.
It’s all about how trees communicate and form their own social-network.
You may not think a book about trees could be interesting but I promise you this one
is truly fascinating.
Trees have so many incredible secrets, and they’re all revealed in this audiobook.
So go to audible.com/thoughty and start listening to it today, you won’t regret it.
Thanks for watching.