{"id":10621,"date":"2022-10-12T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/?p=10621"},"modified":"2022-10-17T10:58:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T14:58:07","slug":"talking-like-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/talking-like-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Like Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talking Like Trees<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Written By: Alexandra Mitnick<\/span>
\n<\/span>Edited By: Sarah\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>Designed By: Nabiha<\/span>
\n<\/span>Published By: Linda Qi<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to talk to animals? How would they sound if you could translate their noises? <\/span><\/p>\n

What about plants? They communicate, too. Their chemical language isn\u2019t obvious to outsiders but scientists are discovering that it says plenty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plants have lived on Earth\u2019s terrain for 450 million years, most of which spent with herbivores and microbial pathogens roaming alongside.<\/span>
\nWhile humans can run away when in danger, plants don\u2019t have that luxury. If plants wanted to thrive amidst predators, they needed to work as a group.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a community can only function when its members cooperate; thus began the quest for communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it turns out, the solution didn\u2019t just involve the plant kingdom. Rather, it was a type of symbiosis between plants and fungi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Observed in 92% of studied plant families, mycorrhizal symbiosis has become extremely commonplace and for good reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

When a plant and mycorrhizal fungus are symbiotes, they can trade nutrients with each other such as carbon (from the plant\u2019s photosynthesized sugar) and phosphorus (found in soil by a thin, branching part of the fungus called the Mycelium).<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, multiple plants can be connected to the same fungal mycelium, creating a Common Mycelium Network (CMN) that allows them to message each other underground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many things can be sent through the CMN, most notably sugars for plants in the shade that can\u2019t photosynthesize enough on their own and chemicals that warn other plants if one is under threat.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tallest and oldest trees in a forest are also the ones best connected to the CMN. These<\/span>
\nare called \u201chub\u201d trees and they regulate how sugar gets transferred. Interestingly, hub trees<\/span>
\ntend to allocate more sugar for trees from the same seeds as them. This could mean that<\/span>
\ntrees have their own version of families!<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering the protective and nurturing benefits of CMNs, it is easy to see why seedlings that grow in them are more likely to reach maturity and are also generally healthier.<\/span><\/p>\n

This breakthrough is still relatively recent, but there are already ideas about how we can apply our new knowledge of CMNs to create better farming and forestry practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

One major example of this is the premise that, even though hub trees are the most valuable for timber, they should be conserved instead of cut down because of their importance to forest regrowth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our understanding of Mycorrhiza still isn\u2019t perfect but as it improves we will be able to use it further in our efforts for a more sustainable future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s reflect on what we\u2019ve learned: plants have been communicating for a very long time by using a very funky fungus.<\/span><\/p>\n

How cool is that?<\/span><\/p>\n

________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Gordon, O. [SciShow]. (2018, July 23). The Earth’s Internet: How Fungi Help Plants <\/span>Communicate [Video]. YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_tjt8WT5mRs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. RHODES, C. (2017). The whispering world of plants: ‘The Wood Wide Web’. Science <\/span>Progress (1933-), 100(3), 331-337. <\/span>https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/26406382<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Hoeksema, J.D., Chaudhary, V.B., Gehring, C.A., Johnson, N.C., Karst, J., Koide, R.T., <\/span>Pringle, A., Zabinski, C., Bever, J.D., Moore, J.C., Wilson, G.W.T., Klironomos, J.N. and <\/span>Umbanhowar, J. (2010), A meta-analysis of context-dependency in plant response to <\/span>inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi. Ecology Letters, 13: 394-407. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1461-0248.2009.01430.x<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Lanfranco, L., Fiorilli, V. and Gutjahr, C. (2018), Partner communication and role of <\/span>nutrients in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. New Phytol, 220: 1031-1046. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/nph.15230<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Martin, F., Duplessis, S., Ditengou, F., Lagrange, H., Voiblet, C. and Lapeyrie, F. (2001), <\/span>Developmental cross talking in the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis: signals and <\/span>communication genes. New Phytologist, 151: 145-154. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1046\/j.1469-8137.2001.00169.x<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Mith\u00f6fer, A. and Boland, W. (2016), Do you speak chemistry?. EMBO rep, 17: 626-629. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15252\/embr.201642301<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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