07:03-e-Catalog - Flipbook - Page 84
The expression ‘wood wide web’ was
coined by the forester Dr Suzanne
Simards, after many years of personal
research facing considerable intellectual
opposition to the idea. She established
that the network of mycelium of fungi
growing symbiotically with the tree
root systems creates an intelligent
communication system which allows trees
‘to talk to each other’, often regardless
of their species, creating a mutually
beneficial woodland community.
It is already possible, with the right
equipment, to listen to the roots
communicating with each other. Is it
too far-fetched to consider that through
our dependence on trees to capture
carbon from the atmosphere to fight
climate change, we could be prepared to
spent considerable scientific resources
to discover a way to understand these
messages; much as during the 1940’s
breaking the Enigma Code at Blexley
Park was considered of paramount
importance in our war effort.
Wood Wide Web
