Читать книгу Can You Hear the Trees Talking? - Peter Wohlleben - Страница 23

If you come from a big family, you probably have lots of other relatives besides

your parents.

You

might have siblings, cousins, aunts and

uncles,

and grand-

parents, too. But how do the trees in the forest know who is related to whom?

WHEN

IT

COMES

TO

TREES,

THAT'S much harder to figure

out

than

it

is

for

humans.

After

all,

we

can ask

questions

and get

answers.

And sometimes family members look

so much alike that we know even without asking that

people are related.

Trees recognize each other differently. They

communicate with each other through their roots

below the ground. Trees can feel more through the

tips of their roots than we can with our

fingers.

They

can even make decisions with them! A root tip Is

almost like

a

small brain.

If

a

tree's roots meet those of

a

neighboring tree,

they can check whether they belong to the same

species, If so, then those trees are probably part of

the same family. Now their roots will grow together.

The

trees

can

send messages and exchange the sugar

they have

made

through this connection. It's

as

if they

had invited each other to dinner.

It's nice to have family and friends, but not all trees

like each other. Some prefer not to share.

You

can look at old tree stumps to see which trees

belong to

a

community and which stand alone. If the

bark is falling off and the stump is rotten, the tree is

out of touch with its neighbors. If the edge of

an

old

stump is very hard and still has solid bark, the stump

is still alive. That's only possible when the stump is

getting food from its family through its roots.

This is what true tree friends look like. They

stand close together and help each other

Some stumps can stay alive for hundreds of years

like

this.

They may

be

the grandparents

of the

younger

trees around them.

It's likely that old trees and stumps can remember

things that happened long ago. They've experienced

a lot that they can pass on to their younger family

members. They may have learned, for instance, how

to share the water in the soil during

a

dry summer so

that no trees will die of thirst.

Sometimes two related trees like each other so

much that they can no longer live separately. They

grow with their roots so tightly interwoven that they

become like a single tree. Their crowns face away

from each other

so

they don't get

in

each other's way.

With conifers, pairs that seem to be closely linked

might not actually

be.

Conifers grow thinner branches

in the direction of their neighbors, which makes it look

as though

they're being considerate of

each

other, even

though they may not be friends underground.

*

Tree families only work this way if we don't disturb

them.

When trees are cut down, the ones that are

left lose their relatives.

Imagine three trees standing in a row. They're all

connected underground and can talk to each other

through their roots. If the middle tree is cut down,

that connection is broken. And even though the two

remaining trees are not that far apart, they can no

longer send messages—or sugar—to each other

through their roots.

That's why it's always best to leave old trees alone.

WITH

DECIDUOUS

TREES

YOU

CAN RECOGNIZE

real part-

ners by their branches. Two trees standing side by

side will turn their thick crown branches away from

each other. This happens rarely, though, so you may

have to

search

for a while. If you find a pair of trees

like this, take a photo or sketch the two crowns. For

comparison, you can draw or photograph two trees

that are not friendly. And because true tree partners

are so

rare,

you can share pictures with your friends

to

see

who has spotted the most.

Old Tree Stump

HOW

CAN YOU RECOGNIZE AN OLO tree stump?

A fresh slump has hard wood in the middle, and

often it is still light-colored. With

an old

stump, the

wood is already dark and rotten, and it breaks up

easily

when you

touch

it.

If

an old

stump

is still

alive,

the bark around the outside edge will be tightly

attached.

If the bark on the outside is falling off, it

means the tree is dead.

These two trees are growing together,

connected by their roots.