Original air date: 23 January 2022
Selected material
The Wood Wide Web
Fungi – the mycorrhizal network (threadlike marks on the ground) is a network of fungal threads that connects trees together and helps with their relationships. It may aid trees to harm but mostly it is mutually beneficial. It may be used to add chemical or electrical signals to nutrients, helping trees to communicate with each other.
Trees that are dying send reserves to their neighbours and some trees known as “mother trees” seem to recognise their offspring and channel resources to them, giving them the best possible start in life (caring or even – mixing the two criteria – inheritance?)