The Wood Wide Web

A new Swiss study has documented the existence of a large underground fungal network moving large amounts of carbon from trees across to nearby unconnected trees, reports The Atlantic.

A similar experiment by UBC’s Suzanne Simard in 1997 showed that paper birch and Douglas fir seedlings can exchange carbon via fungi on their roots.

“It’s an important advance, given that the experiment was conducted among older trees in natural forests,” said Simard. “It drives home the shift in how we view plant communities, driven not only by competition, but also cooperation.”