Suzanne Simard on the Intelligence of the Forest

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Decades ago, when forest ecologist Suzanne Simard set out to understand why forests tended to heal themselves when left to their own devices, she uncovered early evidence that trees communicate with each other, lending mutual aid during times of duress. Over the years her research deepened and expanded, marked by discoveries that trees relay information through cryptic underground fungal networks and that old trees, known as mother trees, can discern which seedlings are their own and transmit food and water to them. We’ll talk to Simard about her work, and the intertwined story of her family, all chronicled in her new book “Finding the Mother Tree.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:01.3	From KQBD Public Radio in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Decades ago, when forest ecologist Suzanne Samard set out to understand why forests would
1:07.4	often heal themselves when left to their own devices, she uncovered early
1:11.7	evidence that trees communicate with each other, lending mutual aid during times of duress.
1:17.9	Through underground fungal networks, trees relay information, and old trees can discern which
1:23.7	seedlings are their own and transmit nutrients to them. We'll talk to some art about her work and the intertwined story of her family chronicled
1:32.3	in her new book, Finding the Mother Tree.
1:35.1	Join us. This is Forum. I'm Nina Kim.
1:48.0	If you've driven the avenue of the giants or walked among California's towering redwoods or sequoias,
	...

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