Walking in the countryside is believed to be the best tonic to lift our spirits. Being exposed to nature has been linked to both emotional and physical well-being improvement. For some, the first choice is to stroll through a forest. However, when we are admiring the lush green trees surrounding us, it's noteworthy that they are doing more than just being pleasing things to look at.
We're already aware that trees are a natural healer. They produce oxygen, remove dust and clean the air we breathe by taking in harmful human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Deforestation does no good to this, which is why so many people want to save them. But there's more to trees than we thought. A study has discovered that trees are actually an intelligent plant.
It's considered that trees do communicate and share resources among themselves. But how do they actually "talk" to each other? Below the surface of the earth are tree roots, and they are connected via an underground web of fungi(菌丝) that resembles the nervous networks in the brain. And research has shown that they are all interconnected. This network allows trees to share information which is important to the whole forest. They transfer carbon, nutrients and water to one another, and even warn each other of approaching threats.
Suzanne Simard, a researcher from the University of British Columbia, has named this network the Wood Wide Web. She discovered that mother trees help smaller trees to survive via this network. She said to the BBC," We discovered that the mother trees would prefer those seedlings of their own kin (同族) to those of the strangers" by passing them more nutrients. She also said that to survive in a changing environment, trees are clever enough to make changes and adapt themselves to the surroundings.
So it appears that trees really are the social stars in nature, and with approximately three trillion trees on our planet, it's high time to show them our respect if we expect them to thrive.
