{"id":32247,"date":"2018-01-08T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=32247"},"modified":"2018-01-05T14:28:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T20:28:02","slug":"the-hidden-life-of-trees-by-peter-wohlleben","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/the-hidden-life-of-trees-by-peter-wohlleben\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>guest post by Laura<\/p>\n

I will never look at trees in the same way again.<\/p>\n

Most among us look out at a forest and see greenery. Some people may be able identify a tree species or two but most of us don\u2019t give much thought to the beings that far outnumber humans on Earth. The Hidden Life of Trees<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Peter Wohlleben explores the intricacies of trees in a humorous and lively narrative.<\/p>\n

It is only a surprise that trees have social structures and can care for other trees because of the way we are taught to think (or not think) about them. It makes sense. They\u2019re living organisms like other living creatures that have evolved to survive over millennia. Why wouldn\u2019t they be complex organisms with the capacity to interact with one another in both communal sharing and competition?<\/p>\n

He explores how mycorrhizal fungi play important roles in soil biology and chemistry. Plants and fungi created a symbiotic relationship long ago and the details of their nutrient exchanges are cool enough alone. He also talks about the fungal strands acting like fiber optic cables to form a network not quite like James Cameron\u2019s Avatar<\/em> but amazing nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Wohlleben, when I see single trees of a species alone in a park or surrounded by concrete, I think \u201cstreet kids\u201d and when I look at the giant oaks in my neighborhood, I think, \u201cIt\u2019s a family! I wonder which one\u2019s the mother?\u201d and \u201cHow old are they really<\/em>?\u201d I noticed the leaves of a neighborhood tree turned color in the fall on the side not exposed to a streetlight but not the other. This had escaped my notice before.<\/p>\n

Wohlleben goes too far in anthropomorphizing trees at times. He didn\u2019t need to do this since his subject matter and the way he relates is are compelling enough. Yes, he turned the seemingly dry subject of woody plants into a lush account of the complex inner lives of trees and along the way, we learn why this subject is important to all of us and our future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

guest post by Laura I will never look at trees in the same way again. Most among us look out at a forest and see greenery. Some people may be able identify a tree species or two but most of us don\u2019t give much thought to the beings that far[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[2101,4455,513],"class_list":["post-32247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-nature","tag-tree-culture","tag-trees"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-8o7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32250,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32247\/revisions\/32250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}