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The Hidden Life of Trees
What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World
Trees are engaged in countless complex cycles and they constantly struggle for water, light and their own survival. This struggle has led to some astonishing abilities: trees communicate with one another, give each other assistance, collaborate with fungi and other creatures, have memories and have even developed their own version of the internet!
This is a Blinkist staff pick
“Everybody is talking about the secret lives of animals, but no one thinks about trees. As a forest-lover, these blinks fascinated me. I always knew there’s more to trees than what meets the eye.”
– Laura, German Editorial Lead at Blinkist
- Anyone who’d like to experience the woods in a very new way
- Students of biology and ecosystems
- People who work in farming or forestry, or who have their own garden
Peter Wohlleben studied forestry and, for more than 20 years, worked in forest management. He quit his job to start his own forest enterprise in Germany’s Eifel region, where he championed alternative forestry and advocated for primeval forests. He has published multiple titles about forests and environmental protection, one of which is called Der Wald – Ein Nachruf (The Forest – An Obituary).
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The Hidden Life of Trees
What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World
- Read in 16 minutes
- Audio & text available
- Contains 10 key ideas
Synopsis
Trees are engaged in countless complex cycles and they constantly struggle for water, light and their own survival. This struggle has led to some astonishing abilities: trees communicate with one another, give each other assistance, collaborate with fungi and other creatures, have memories and have even developed their own version of the internet!
This is a Blinkist staff pick
“Everybody is talking about the secret lives of animals, but no one thinks about trees. As a forest-lover, these blinks fascinated me. I always knew there’s more to trees than what meets the eye.”
– Laura, German Editorial Lead at Blinkist
Key idea 1 of 10
Our planet’s lungs: Trees play a vital role in global water and carbon dioxide cycles.
Before diving into the fascinating abilities of trees, let’s take a brief look at their general importance.
Humanity owes them a great deal: they clean the air we breathe and help ensure the availability of water, even in the world’s most remote locations. In fact, without trees humans would be unable to survive.
If there were no trees, large swathes of the earth would dry out. As you probably remember from school, the way the global water cycle works is that water evaporates from the oceans, condenses into clouds that blow onto dry land, where it then rains down and trickles into streams and rivers that flow back into the ocean.
However, this straightforward explanation omits one crucial fact: without trees, every cloud would rain down within 600 kilometers of the coast, leaving the inner parts of continents bone dry. Trees essentially act as gigantic water pumps, transporting water further inland. When it rains in a forest near the coast, much of the rain remains on the leaves of trees and the forest floor. This water then evaporates, forming new clouds that make their way further inland, where they rain down.
In addition to hydrating the inner reaches of continents, trees also clean the air of carbon dioxide, thereby protecting the climate. They gather CO2 from the air and store it, and when they die, some of this gas is re-released into the atmosphere, but much of it remains in the tree.
By burning these dead trees, whether in the form of coal or gas, we’re releasing this CO2 back into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. What’s more, we’re producing so much CO2 that the trees can’t keep up – they are unable to store it.
As you can see, without trees the earth and its climate would be much less hospitable to humanity.
Key ideas in this title
- Our planet’s lungs: Trees play a vital role in global water and carbon dioxide cycles.
- These roots run deep: Trees interact in many different ways with the forest soil.
- A high rate of child mortality: Young trees live dangerous lives.
- Nursery school: Trees have personalities and are able to learn.
- Chatterbox: Trees communicate in different ways, both with their own kind and with other creatures.
- My friend the tree: Trees help one another.
- Lucky mushrooms: Trees intentionally work with fungi.
- That hurts! Trees protect themselves from injury.
- Respect: Trees should be treated humanely, as animals are.
- Final summary
