We all know that humans are social animals but do you know that trees are social in nature too? Over the course of time, trees have also evolved in response to stressors or triggers in their environment. We just don’t often hear about it but trees live a pretty interesting life as well. They do look after each other. For instance, let’s take a closer look at acacia trees. They release chemicals once giraffes start munching on their leaves to inform other nearby acacia trees, so they can produce a toxic chemical to protect them even before the giraffe reaches them.
Experts who specialize in trees have conducted experiments and studies to prove that trees interact with one another, do even the mundane of things like going to the toilet annually, and even have sex like humans do. These studies encourage people to see trees in a different light and don’t just think of them as inanimate beings that we believe them to be for deep down, they have feelings too.
Trees are social creatures that mother their young, talk to each other, experience pain, remember things and have sex with each other, a bestselling author has said.
If that persuades you to go and hug the nearest tree, then great, said Peter Wohlleben. Just avoid a birch: “It is not very sociable. Try a beech.”
It’s not surprising to find out that trees are sociable since they are also living things like us humans. The only difference is that we don’t hear them speak or act out how they feel but maybe they do, we’re just oblivious to it or care too little to notice.
Wohlleben wants society to be more aware of trees’ “feelings”. Trees that are close to street lights, which burn all night, will die earlier, he said.
Pollarding trees – removing the upper branches to promote a dense head of foliage – is also a bad thing. “It is like cutting your fingers, it hurts and it damages the tree very heavily. A wound more than 3cm deep can cause a fungal infection and perhaps 10 or 20 years later the tree will rot.”
He said people pruning trees were often not particularly educated about what they were doing, and that they were in effect killing trees.
Think that you’re so tech-savvy yourself since you are well-versed on the World Wide Web. The trees also have this extensive network known as the “Wood Wide Web”, a fungal network where trees send electric signals to each other in the face of danger. Indeed, there are so much more to a tree’s life that we’ll ever get to know of.
Streetlights are causing the urban trees of the towns and cities of the planet to stay up past their bedtimes, as the natural world falls victim to the modern world's need to have an electric light illuminating everything all the time.
This is coming from tree expert Peter Wohlleben, who says there's lots of research pointing out that city trees growing near streetlights die sooner than their rural equivalents. This is because trees need to sort of sleep a bit at night too, with the artificial lights also affecting their leaf and blossom-producing schedules, further impacting upon their health.
(Via: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/06/trees-are-staying-up-too-late-as-well/)
If the premise is true, then trees have been suffering for a while now in the hands of man. Jungles and rainforests disappear at such a quick pace leaving thousands of wildlife and insect species devoid of a home in a world that is increasingly becoming inhospitable. On the other hand, plants planted in crowded cities also suffer from the loneliness of their isolation and likewise subjected to various types of pollution that aren't doing them any favor at all.
Whether you believe that trees are social beings or not are purely subjective. Big trees in big cities can pose a danger to people and properties too. Since we don’t want to endanger human life but want to refrain from cutting down more trees, the answer is simple: http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming. No to minimal problems will arise if we learn to coexist with all the living things on the planet. And because trees can’t speak for themselves, let us take the initiative to do the right thing on their behalf so everyone lives harmoniously for all eternity.
Trees Know How To Socialize Too is republished from All Clear Tree Service's Blog
source http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming/trees-know-socialize
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