Trees and Science

It’s inspiring to read that we’re learning more about communication…both within the human species and now beyond it. Not that it’s a complete surprise, but some folks like it proven before they can consider it a possibility.

And who hasn’t experienced nature rendering them speechless, admiring something that halts your thought process while you simply inhale.

Now we have scientific support that there may be more picked up from nature than enjoyment of leisure time, perhaps showing a reason for why nature can provide such an emotional balance.

That may be stretching what Professor Simard explains, but if a type of chemical communication is happening within the forest ecosystem, why not consider a chemical exchange to the human?

We all know how calming it is to spend time in nature, but ‘busy’ can find us forgetful of making time for it. Maybe it should take higher precedence.

As a teenager, we often don’t acknowledge the result of being in nature as healing, we simply realize we feel better. As an adult, time outdoors is still revitalizing for those who walk, hike or peacefully bicycle, especially without the chatter of an iPod to distract our senses!

Have we missed something even more vital in nature? While intelligence isn’t a word most humans would apply to nature today because we still measure everything against our own form, a method of communication within the forest ecosystem is beginning to be scientifically acknowledged through the work of Forestry Professor Suzanne Simard.

Taking a short detour to an informative snippet from Neuroscience for Kids…(my cup of tea!)..  it states that ‘there are about 40 million olfactory receptors in humans, in the German Shepherd there are 2 billion olfactory receptors‘.

In addition to understanding why dogs have such a superior sense of smell, we might be quite impressed with our own olfactory receptor estimate. And we all know that scent is one of the strongest stimulants for evoking memories and emotions, even when many decades past.

While today’s science explains that pheromones are cell type-specific signals used for communication between individuals of the same species, we should remember that prior to the late 1970′s pheromones were still in the realm of science fiction. Unproven, not that we didn’t know about them!

So, the point is that despite our tendency to feel very knowledgeable today, study of the chemical senses of taste and smell is still in its infancy to reveal and comprehend the interconnections within nature to the human species.

We have Professor Simard’s research to thank for opening a new door. The possibilities are exciting! Canada’s University of British Columbia featured a report in 2011 on Forestry Professor Suzanne Simard who was part of a research team in 1997. Not that this was yesterday, but many have yet to hear or think about it.

She explained the scientific confirmation of interconnected communication pathways within the forest ecosystem, where tree roots exchange nutrients according to the needs of various surrounding species. The linking factor was determined to be specific forms of soil fungi.

Professor Simard discussed hub or mother trees, which impart a legacy to younger trees in the vicinity of where the older tree is dying. She calls this connection among diverse species of plants the oldest form of communication, based on chemical signals, and likened it to the neural network of the human brain.

Perhaps we’re ready to acknowledge there are different types of intelligence beyond the borders of human definition, and who knows where that will take us in understanding the interconnected relations of life on planet Earth.

We can only hope that her research ignites the enthusiasm of other scientists to reveal more of the intelligence in nature, how it links to humanity and a fuller comprehension of the brain’s abilities.

As a parting reminder of appreciation, it’s good to be mindful of sport forms undertaken for accelerating thrills without awareness of their damage to natural ecosystems.

This has yet to be examined and curtailed by society, because respect and caring for nature is still a growing consciousness … but we’re headed there.

 

With gratitude to Professor Simard for her research and to Producer Dr. Julia Dordel for permission to the link to this informative video:

Copyright of Blackforest Productions 2011, all rights reserved.
Produced by: Dr. Julia Dordel, Dorcon Film UG (haftungsbeschraenkt)
Director: Dan McKinney
Writers: Julia Dordel & Dan McKinney

From September 2014 to September 2015, viewing is available at Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts during the Trees as Art exhibit.

 

 

Isomers and pheromones:
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~abrg/pheromones/documents/Wyatt-introtopheromones2hs.pdf

“Mammals owe part of their evolutionary success to the harmonious exchanges of information” http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v424/n6944/full/nature01739.html

Neuroscience For Kids:
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/nosek.html