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Do Trees Communicate?

Started by Ron Scott, November 10, 2013, 11:16:35 AM

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chain

Quote from: Magicman on December 28, 2014, 09:12:59 PM
Now that is getting romantic.   smiley_love

I knew you would like that; did I ever tell you about Indian thong trees?  ;D

Herb

The book "The Secret Life of Plants" presents some interesting results of scientific experiments conducted on plants.

chain

As we say, "the forest is much more than trees"; there's a wealth of knowledge to be learned from the forest. For example, medicinal plants..........what a subject!

Ron Scott

I once heard an old Indian chief talk about how the trees talked to one another. Very interesting, one would think that the trees were alive.
~Ron

gaproperty

Quote from: Mark Wentzell on January 19, 2014, 04:50:44 PM
Trees don't just communicate, they also fight back. Ever fell a tree in the winter? They throw snow on you.  :D

I don't think as a society we fully appreciate that trees are living things. Last year at about this time a skinned coyote fell off the back of someone's truck and it made the news, if that had been a bundle of firewood no one would have noticed.

I have no doubt in my mind that there is more going on in the forest than photosynthesis, we just don't see it.
I am a logger and cut down lots and plan to cut more using extreme management practices. Many tests have been done proving stress and nice soft music makes plants grow better then hard rock music etc..... I do believe there is much more going on in the woods then we think. I am in conflict with taking a life and trying to make some money. Maybe someday we will find out that it was very cruel what we did to the trees just like cutting the feet of an animal would be.  I do not believe their interpretation of pain to physical damage is the same as ours or I would not be cutting them but I certainly am putting a lot of thought into doing as little damage as I can.
Ray
lostcaper.com
youtube.com/c/LostCaper

gaproperty

Quote from: David-L on January 31, 2014, 06:26:06 AM
There are generational stands of Poplar as they are all connected by root rhizomes. Seems there was an article about that in Northern Woodlands sometime back I believe. I have to agree that the is more to the picture that we don't know about. One of my concerns is Whole tree chipping and how there is never any slash left to de-compose and sequester carbon and nutrients for the future growth of our forest. I know there is a formula for mass left per acre but on most of the jobs I have seen the forest floor is as clean as can be. without Hummus and decomposition we drain our soils. Roosevelt once said " our nations wealth is in our soils". Foresters, please give me some input on this as most of the foresters around here only want to work with these big operations and the volumes they can cut are bigger paychecks for them if paid by the % of mass taken out. IMO this is not sustainable. Thanks

                                                                                   David l
Quote from: Mark Wentzell on January 19, 2014, 04:50:44 PM
Trees don't just communicate, they also fight back. Ever fell a tree in the winter? They throw snow on you.  :D

I don't think as a society we fully appreciate that trees are living things. Last year at about this time a skinned coyote fell off the back of someone's truck and it made the news, if that had been a bundle of firewood no one would have noticed.

I have no doubt in my mind that there is more going on in the forest than photosynthesis, we just don't see it.
I am a logger and cut down lots and plan to cut more using extreme management practices. Many tests have been done proving stress and nice soft music makes plants grow better then hard rock music etc..... I do believe there is much more going on in the woods then we think. I am in conflict with taking a life and trying to make some money. Maybe someday we will find out that it was very cruel what we did to the trees just like cutting the feet of an animal would be.  I do not believe their interpretation of pain to physical damage is the same as ours or I would not be cutting them but I certainly am putting a lot of thought into doing as little damage as I can.



Whether they communicate, have feelings, like friendship etc... it doesn't really matter because man has an inflated sense of self worth and every living thing including our own species can be destroyed to satisfy our greed. Here in Canada to many big companies are destroying the forest while the government won't let any small sustainable forest operator even cut a tree. Environment/sustainable forestry to often is just a public relation word so I do not have a lot of hope for our forest long term.   

   
Ray
lostcaper.com
youtube.com/c/LostCaper

beenthere

I've been cutting, seems like for a long time, and I haven't heard a scream yet.  ;) :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

mesquite buckeye

Some of those tall pines scream pretty good on the way down. :snowball:
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

ST Ranch

Interesting topic! Do trees communicate?  I believe they do but not in the traditional way [talk] and often not just as individuals.
The more I think I learn about trees, the forest and the forest ecosystem, the more I realize how complex they are and how closely related and dependant we [humans] are on trees and the forest. [Forest and grassland complexes]. And also I learn how little I really understand their complexity.

Do they communicate with us - yes,  as an example - trees that are unhealthy or dying tell us something about their health and the health of the ecosystem around them, by looking a bit farther at the dying tree, we may be able to determine the cause, maybe disease, bugs, overstocking, drought, mechanical damage - what ever - then looking farther  we may be able to see changes in the surrounding ecosystem that may be affecting their health and the state of the surrounding ecosystem, the health of the surrounding ecosystem then may tell us things about the bigger picture, changes in rainfall or the water table, changes to air quality etc.

Do they communicate with each other - of course - for example; tree growth characteristics vary by tree density in a stand [limbyness, growth rates, natural thinning, shade tolerance, nutrient fixing, etc]. There are numerous other examples of how trees grow in relationship to one another.

Do trees and the ecosystem communicate? - Again yes, variations in ecosystem structure [plant communities] can most often clearly be seen as we walk through a forest or grassland - these changes are usually a function of solid, moisture and nutrients, so again the ecosystem is able to communicate to us about conditions of that site.

And on a more philosophical level [or off the wall view], given that we human composition is made up of about 60% water [and about 65 % oxygen-a large part as water], and accepting that forests and associated trees and plants provide, clean and store O2 and water, then it could be said we as humans are very directly connected to forest ecosystems and their function.  Furthermore, given the current state [declining health] of our forests, it could be said trees are communicating to us as to our long term future health and longevity.

Just my nickel's worth.
Tom
LT40G28 with mods,  Komatsu D37E crawler,
873 Bobcat with CWS log grapple,

Joe Hillmann

There is a PBS NATURE documentary called, "What plants talk about"  If you have netflix you can find it there and it may also be on PBS.com. 

It doesn't focus much on trees but mostly on smaller plants.  It shows many of the ways that plants communicate, with other plants and with insects.  It also shows how they are aware of damage, there surroundings, their own family.  In some cases plants of the same type grown from the seed of the same mother plant will leave each other alone and share nutrients and plants of the same type but from different mothers will compete with each other for nutrients.  In the redwood forests it has been shown that a mother tree can produce more sugar than it needs through photosynthesis and is able to through its roots and fungi give its extra sugar to smaller trees that are growing in the shade and wouldn't survive otherwise.

It is a really interesting documentary and makes you realize plants are much more animal like than you would otherwise think.

beenthere

And there are some people who are out looking for that assurance that the plants are having a conversation with them..  ::)
;D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

mesquite buckeye

Was that you we saw huggin out there on that tree? ;D :snowball:
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

ST Ranch

I hug them when I wrap a diameter tape around them[the tree] during timber cruising, or possibly when I am bending around the tree to line up my bottom cut for a humboltz or lining up the back cut [getting old ]and need the support of the tree to keep my balance.
tom
LT40G28 with mods,  Komatsu D37E crawler,
873 Bobcat with CWS log grapple,

IndianaJoe

Clint Eastwood sang "I talk to the trees, BUT THEY DON'T LISTEN." 

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