Why trees are even more awesome than you think

This video was a pretty big disappointment for me. Based on the number of flags I thought I was going to hear some interesting information; instead, all the video did was suggest an idea as fact without any supporting reasoning (forget empirical evidence) whatsoever.

I'm not discounting the idea, nor am I suggesting that the research wasn't done correctly, but why not explain just one little piece of how this conclusion was sussed?

If I had to summarize what the video explains it would go something like this:

Trees communicate with their roots and mushrooms are involved somehow.

a reply to: lemmin

Watch the other documentaries or read up on her research.

There are methods they have used to track carbon sharing, including using radioactive gas on one tree and tracking it's movement among the network using geiger sensors.

Here's a link to one of her papers.

www.cof.orst.edu...

a reply to: lemmin

I am sorry I dont agree. I think it is an awesome they ways in which we find nature communicates and helps itself. You may find the second video linked interesting. It shows a plant that dances to music. How and why it dances remains a mystery...

kind regards

purp..

a reply to: Alien44


Yes it sounded odd to me too. But people do pronounce words differently in different parts of the world... and regardless of regional dialect the message remains the same.

Everything is connected. We are all ONE. PEACE.

This is why I cringe whenever I see a vegan tearing into a salad. The lettuce is still alive and conscious throughout the savage ordeal and the leaves on the plate are all witnessing the horror with the knowledge they will be next.

At least meat eaters are civilized enough to kill the organism first, so it is not alive and conscious

I know the concept has been in a movie but I often wonder if trees are quickly trying to develop a way to get rid of us humans, maybe the only thing holding them back is the time it takes to evolve and disperse some kind of deadly neurotoxin tat can be carried in the wind. If the trees did turn on us geez we'd be screwed big time yet my dark side is rooting for the trees, pun intended.

a reply to: GreyGoo

Trees have been living on Earth for a very long time, which might mean they are conscious entities evolved in their own right.

Well, more valid and currect human economic models feature cooperation as more viable than competition models, so why not trees, too?

Very nice OP ... thank you for the info, sir.

a reply to: Baddogma

So trees are more economically savvy than humans who would have guessed?

a reply to: purplemer

You should look into Cleve Baxter's experiment's with plants, he hooks up plants to a polygraph and much to his surprise and everyone's surprise the needle was moving up and down, and when he stressed the plant or even boiled brine shrimp in front of the plant the needle would move like it was nervous, its amazing

a reply to: purplemer

Cool stuff!

I remember watching a vid about the fungus that is a massive part of all this. I found this very fascinating.

www.ted.com...

a reply to: Cruff

There was a thread recently on ATS talking about how some fungus can make the rain come. It is a very intricate web..

originally posted by: Deny Arrogance
This is why I cringe whenever I see a vegan tearing into a salad. The lettuce is still alive and conscious throughout the savage ordeal and the leaves on the plate are all witnessing the horror with the knowledge they will be next.

At least meat eaters are civilized enough to kill the organism first, so it is not alive and conscious

Thanks so much !
I am aghast at the cruelty I have inflicted upon lettuce for years.

'loads shotgun, and goes out back with salad sandwich'

;-)

But seriously, great thread OP, very interesting subject, I am never happier than in a forest, the subtelties of nature never cease to astound. Underground fungal networks could rival human communication methods and have long been acknowledged but are only now giving up their secrets - a fascinating subject S&F

originally posted by: IamAbeliever
Love this! What a beautiful and amazing thread. I have often thought that trees were much more complex than we imagined.

My friends and family laugh at me because I won't so much as pull the leaves from trees, as it is also my belief that they truly are alive, and as such, can feel pain.

Thank you for this wonderful thread.

Eh? What total utter hogwash! You won't so much as pull a leaf off a tree!!! You EAT something right? So you "hurt" SOME poor defenceless plant! You hypocrite you! lol... A little tongue in cheek... :p

a reply to: anonentity

Re: "trees more economically savy than humans..."

Well, in the "meta" sense, they sure are... we'll be able to compete economically once we only need sunshine and dirt... er... wait... (fizzle)

fantastic thread!

a reply to: purplemer

Lately, in my daily path to home (in the evening after work), I tend to touch every tree in my way, in a sense of giving her a little love.

just wanted to share this. thanks.

a reply to: purplemer

....trees survive through mutual co-operation and support, passing around essential nutrients “depending on who needs it”

So true and so important. In fact, across the board seems cooperation is more important for survival than competition. Starting with bacteria - once one develops antibiotic resistance, the resistance genes are shared between individuals and then whole communities, NOT passed down through one line.

We have so much to (re)learn from the world around us.

F&S&



PS. Have you read Ursula K. LeGuin's The Word for World is Forest?

originally posted by: loam
a reply to: purplemer

Fantastic thread.

originally posted by: purplemer

I have always thought that nature work through mechanisms of cooperation, not competition and maybe are beginning to see evidence of this.

I believe its both, but understand your point. Nature is an amazing thing, isn't it?

That whole "competition (for) survival of the fittest" paradigm was always more a culture-bound male bias interpretation than actual observation.



Love ya anyway.