Finding the Mother Tree Suzanne Simard F I N D I N G T H E M O T H E R T R E E Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest Contents Illustration Credits A Few Notes from the Author INTRODUCTI.
Suzanne Simard FINDING THE MOTHER TREE Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest Contents Illustration Credits A Few Notes from the Author INTRODUCTION: CONNECTIONS GHOSTS IN THE FOREST HAND FALLERS PARCHED TREED KILLING SOIL ALDER SWALES BAR FIGHT RADIOACTIVE QUID PRO QUO 10 PAINTING ROCKS 11 MISS BIRCH 12 NINE-HOUR COMMUTE 13 CORE SAMPLING 14 BIRTHDAYS 15 PASSING THE WAND EPILOGUE: THE MOTHER TREE PROJECT Acknowledgments Critical Sources Index About the Author Dr Suzanne Simard was raised in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia She is Professor of Forest Ecology in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry, and has earned a global reputation for her research on tree connectivity and communication and its impact on the health and biodiversity of forests For my daughters, HANNAH AND NAVA Illustration Credits Interior Page page page page page page 9: Peter Simard 10: Sterling Lorence 12: Jens Wieting 15: Gerald Ferguson 22: Winnifred Gardner 27: Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 1430 page 28: Peter Simard page 29: Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 1434 page 32: Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 0541 page 33: Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 0460 page 34: Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 0464 page 37: (top) Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 0461 page 37: (bottom) Courtesy of Enderby & District Museum & Archives, EMDS 0392 page 47: Jean Roach page 55: Patrick Hattenberger page 73: Jean Roach page 86: Jean Roach page 139: Patrick Hattenberger page 223: Bill Heath page 231: Jens Wieting page 234: Bill Heath page page page page page page 243: 265: 273: 288: 295: 301: Bill Heath Bill Heath Robyn Simard Bill Heath Emily Kemps Bill Heath Insert Jens Wieting Jens Wieting Jens Wieting (top) Bill Heath (bottom) Paul Stamets Dr Teresa (Sm’hayetsk) Ryan (top) Camille Defrenne (bottom) Peter Kennedy, University of Minnesota (top) Camille Vernet 10 (bottom) Jens Wieting 11 Jens Wieting 12 Bill Heath 13 Dr Teresa (Sm’hayetsk) Ryan 14 (top) Camille Vernet 15 (bottom) Joanne Childs and Colleen Iversen / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S Department of Energy 16 Jens Wieting 17 (top and bottom) Jens Wieting 18 (top) Paul Stamets 19 (bottom) Kevin Beiler 20 Dr Teresa (Sm’hayetsk) Ryan 21 Diana Markosian All other photographs are courtesy of the author But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself —RACHEL CARSON complexity of, in aging forests, 285 conifer seedlings experiment and, 94–95 death of, and impact on trees, 100 defined, Douglas-fir root tips and, 58 early examination of, near tree roots, 59–60 environment perceived by, 230 evolutionary advantage and, 185 fertilizers and, 60 fir-oak sharing and, 122 functions performed by, 168 garden plants and, 178–79 generalist, defined, 168, 184–85 glutamate moving through, 229 huckleberries and, 68 importance of, for seedling roots, 18–20 kin recognition and, 259, 269–71 mapping of, under firs, 217–29, 261, 285–86 migration of plants to land and, 61 native grasslands and, 226 neural-network analogy and, 5, 228–32 number of species of, in forest, 168 old firs and seedlings and, 166–68, 216, 259 photosynthetic sugars passed from plant to, for water and nutrients, 58, 60 pine-fir study of, 245–46 and budworm infestation, 250–55 pines and, 49, 117 plants and, 66 plants’ relationship with, defined, 59–61 reasons for trees’ support of, 184 root tips and, 11, 24, 60, 96, 147 salmon nitrogen and, 290, 293 seedling health and, 18–19, 60–63, 83, 90, 100 soil transfer vs., 172 springtails and, 120 water flows and, 49–50, 179 15 22 Nakusp, British Columbia, , , 210, 255 , 291 Native people Aboriginal people; native plants broadleaf-conifer conference and, 195–97 free-to-grow plantations and eradication of, 84, 86–87 removal of, 161 weeding experiments and, 91–95 Williams Lake presentation on tree survival and, 127–36 natural selection, 174, 184, 187–88 nature reconnecting with, 294–95 resilience of, 36 , 164–65, 172–75, 190, 209, 225 , 251 Nelson, British Columbia, 93, 121, 210–13, 216–18, , 225, 234–37, 243, , 254, 262–63, neurotransmitters, 228–29 neutron probe, 109–11, 115, 263 “New Policies Needed to Save Our Forests” (Simard and Lewis), 235–36 nitrogen, 112–13, 138 alder and, 68, 100, 104, 109, 114, 131, 197 alder-pine transfers and, 117–22, 149–50 beans and, 179 birch-fir transfers and, 149–50, 199 deficits of, and forests, 116 lupine and soapberry and, 225 mycorrhizas and, 168 old trees and, 222 and, 188 salmon and, 289–90 transfer data, and forecasts, 123 and and, 168 weeding experiments and, 92, 119–20 Nlaka’pamux people, 65, 71, 80, 85, 157 North Thompson River, 85, 178 National Geographic See Nature Nature’s Scientific Reports 243 Pseudomonas fluorescens Tuber Bacillus and specific Nations 301 223 nuthatches, 244 nutrients, cycling of, 14, 61, 104, 116–17 nitrogen Nuu-chah-Nulth people, 292 See also carbon; oaks, 122, 199 Okanagan University College, 175 old trees and forests, 8, 35, 75–76, 270–71, 288 Mother Trees mycorrhizal complexity in, 168, 216–26 young nurtured by, 5, 222–28 Onward Ranch, 128 orcas, 297 orchids, 90, 221 Oregon State University, 100, 119–24, 127–28, 150, 158, 213 Orrego, Gabriel, 298 owls, 74–75, 199–200, 280 flammulated, 42 spotted, 94 See also paintbrushes, 41, 85 “painting rocks” controversy, 190–94, 208 parasitic fungi, 61 pathogenic fungi, 135 Périgord truffle, 159 Perry, David, 159–60, 245–46 pesticides, 103 , 158 Philip, Leanne, 175 phloem, 47–48, 146, 181, 284 phosphorus, 68, 104, 116, 168, 226 photosynthate leaves as source of, 146 roots as sinks for, 146–47 photosynthesis defined, 146–47 Douglas fir and, 47 Phialocephala fir-birch experiments and, 142–48, 150–51, 160–61 measuring rate of, 148 mycorrhizas and, 60 old-growth firs and, 167–68 transpiration and, 114 water and, 109–10 phyllosilicate clays, 168 Pickles, Brian, 268–69 , 167–68 pines death of forests, 183 moutain-beetle infestation, 189 roots grafted together, 184 species layering and, 39 pines, lodgepole, 25, 49, 68–69, 72–83, 182–84 alders and, 91, 96, 100–124, 127–31 aspen and, 132 cones of, and fire, 68, 241 ectomycorrhizal root tips and, 88 free-to-grow policy and, 127, 235 market value and, 200 mountain pine beetle and, 181–82, 239–42 root disease and, 204 seedlings in clear-cut, 43–44 weeding experiments and, 91 pines, ponderosa cluster planting and, 43 death of Mother Tree and, 243–45 Douglas-fir mycorrhizal networks and, 245–46, 251–55 drought and fire and, 46–47 pines, western white, 26, 33, , 38, 183 pines, whitebark, 181–83, 185, 241–42, 244 age of, 185 animals and, 185–86, 188, 241–42 pine siskins, 194 pipelines, 11–12 (puffball), 46, 49–50, 56, 59–61 Piloderma 33–34 Pisolithus plantains, 96 plantations, 10, 16–20, 24, 39–40, 43–45, 76, 83–86, 95, 183 plants attuned to each other, 179–80 free-to-grow experiment and, 89–90 lichen and fungi and, 80–81 migration of, to land, 61 mutualism and, 59–61 neural-like physiology of, 230 potassium, 104 pressure bomb, 108, 116 pressure flow, 146 prisoner’s dilemma, 187–88 prison labor, 101–6, 187–88 , 168, 171, 187–88 pussytoes, 49 Pseudomonas fluorescens Queen Anne’s lace, 66 (radio show), 193 Quirks and Quarks rabbits, 105, 118 radiation therapy, 274 , 291 raspberries, 85 ravens, 185–86 Read, Sir David, 144–45, 155, 165, 174 red-winged blackbirds, 194 reforestation government requirements for, 17–18 research program, 128 Reimchen, Tom, 289–90 Revelstoke Dam, 295 “Reverend, the,” 131, 134–36, 138, 197–202, 204 Reynolds, John, 290 rhizines, 80 rhizomes, 30, 49, 66, 169 Radiolab rhizomorphs, 170 (false truffle), 57–60, 167, 218–22, 226, 230– 32 rhododendrons, 16, 85, 89, 92, 132 Roach, Winnifred Jean Mather “Jean,” , 64–76, , 80, 82, , 96, 106–8, 111, 113, 125, 150, 165, 198–99, 203– 4, 206, 225, 248, 262–63, 270, 277, 279–80, 284–85 Rocky Mountains, 64, 85, 242 Rocky Mountain Trench, 196 root cues, 259 root-disease infections, 97 root grafts, 48 roots birch-fir studies of, 169 childhood observation of, 30–31 fungi and 14–16, 11, 58–59, 224 lab studies of, and carbon labeling, 156–58 sugar traveling to, 146 water tapped by, 30 roses, wild, 48 Roundup (glyphosate), 85–93, 105, 127, 263 rust, 181 western gall, 235 white pine blister, Ryan, Teresa “Sm’hayetsk,” 196–97, 199–200, 289–90, 292 –93 Rhizopogon 47 86 65 33 Sachs, Don, 106–9, 111, 116, 119, 122–26, 128, 131, 140, 158, 162, 164, 166, 171, 173–75, 177, 181–82, 191–98, 210–18, , 226, 229, 235–37, 249, 255–56, 263, 296 Sachs, Hannah Rebekah, 192–98, 209–11, , 213–14, 216– 18, , , 226, 230, 234, 236–37, 239, 243, 246, 248, 253–57, 263–65, 268, 271, 273–74, 276–77, 279–83, , 296–97, 299–303, 305 Sachs, Nava Sophia, 209–11, , 213–14, 216–18, , 223, 226, 230, 234, 236–37, 239, 241, 243, 246, 248, 253–57, 263–64, 268, 271–74, , 276–77, 279–83, 295, 305 217 217 223 209 273 209 217 295 Salish people, 294 salmon, 280, 295, 297 Chinook, 297 Mother Trees and nitrogen studies and, 289–93, 299 sockeye, tidal stone-trap fishing, 289, 292–93 salmonberries, 290 saprophytes, defined, 61 saprotrophic oyster mushrooms, 48 sapsucker, 199, 201, 280 scintillation counter, 156, 173 Scotland, 199 searocket ( ), 259, 261 seasonal changes, mycorrhizas and, 168 Secwepemc Nation, 233, 281, 293–94 seed-disperser animals, 185 seedlings, clear-cuts and, 61–63 early logging and, 38–39, 43 elder trees and, 5, 47–48, 222–28 failures of, 83 logging company planting methods and, 9–10, 16–19, 24– 26, nursery-grown, vs old growth forests, 227 weeding on clear-cuts and, 85–92 seed trees, 43 Shuswap Lake, Shuswap River, , , 34, Sicamous, British Columbia, sieve cells, 146 signal molecules, 269 Sigurd Peak trail, 248 silviculture research, 82 Simard, Adélard, 26 Simard, Earnest Charles (Peter) “Dad,” , 11, , 27, 29– 34, 36–38, , 55–56, 81–82, 84, 106, 108, 111–15, 125, 128, 150, 162 27 Cakile edentula 86 27 29 47 39 10 22 9–10 Simard, Ellen June “Mum,” “Grannie Junebug,” , 11, 21, , 26–27, 29, 45, 55–56, 74, 76, 78–82, 89, 106–8, 110, 125, 141, 162, 210–12, 237, 248, 255–56, 262, 264, 273, 296 Simard, Henry “Grampa,” 8, 26–38, , , , 76, 99, 113 Simard, Jack, 26–27, 29–30, 36, 38 Simard, Kelly, , 21, , 26–29, , 32, 34, 45–46, 48, 50 –57, , 62–64, 79, 84–85, 104, 106–8, 113, 125–26, 128, , 136–41, 143, 147, 150, 152, 156, 183–84 death of, 161–64, 166, 178, 181, 190, 247 Simard, Maria, 26 Simard, Marlene, 111, 125 Simard, Matthew Kelly Charles, 172, 210 Simard, Napoleon, 26 Simard, Odie, Simard, Robyn Elizabeth, , 21, , 26–27, 29, 32, 34, 51, 56, 79, 84–93, , 101, 104, 106–11, 115, 117–18, 121, 125, 132, 136, 162, 166, 172, 210, , 248, 255, 263–64, 273–74, 280, 296 Simard, Tiffany, 85, 108, 125–26, 128, 137, 141, 150, 152, 161–62, 166, 172 Simard, Wilfred (great-uncle), 26, Simard, Wilfred (uncle), 26–27, , , 32–38, Simard Creek, 35, Simard Forest Road, Simard Mountain, 26, 99–100, 147 Simard, Martha “Grannie,” 31, , 36, Simon Fraser University, 290 Sinixt Nation, 11, 295 sink strength, 146 Skeena River, 206, 289 Skokomish Nation, 283 Skookumchuck Rapids, snails, 28 snowshoe hares, 280 soapberry, 41, 197, 225 22 27–29 32 37 55 139 32 22 86 37 28 22 243 27 86 32 29 32 32 37 39 soil, 27–32, 39–40, 60, 81, 99, 100, 108–9, 115–16, 172 soil-moisture sensor, 244 (Kesey), 242 Song, Yuan Yuan, 241, 246, 249–54, 260, 269–71, 285–86 source-sink gradient birch-fir trading and, 149–50 seasonal changes, 175–76 carbon control by trees and, 185 defined, 146 electrochemical, and fungal root tips, 230 Mother Trees and, 230–31 old-growth firs and seedlings and, 167 sowbugs, 29 Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park, 181 Splatsin people, spiders, 28 spores, 13 springtails, 28, 121 spruce, 96, 169 aspens and, 196 birches and, 177 ferns and, 133 free-to-grow policy and, 127, 132 grasses and, 199 thimbleberry and, 132 water loss and, 46 willows and, 132 spruce, Engelmann, 40, 69, 70 weeding effect on, 85 spruce, prickly needled cluster planting and, 43 free-to-grow experiment and, 90–92 herbicides spraying and, 85–86 plantations of, to replace subalpine firs, 10–11, 16–18 weakness of, in plantation, 17–18, 196, 286 Squamish Nation, 296 Squamish River, 248–49, 302 Sometimes a Great Notion 27 squirrels, 74, 92, 105, 185–86 Stein River, 64, 79, 150 Stein Valley, 65, 76, 78–80 stomata, 7–8 drought and, 46–47 transpiration and, 47, 59, 114 Stryen Creek, 64, , 79–80, 80, 121 Subiyay Miller, Bruce sugar breakdown of, 150 old-growth firs and seedlings and, 167–68 photosynthesis and, 146 traveling from leaves to root tips, 146 underground networks for, 147–51 (pancake mushrooms), 12–13, , 49, 61, 185– 86, 283 fir sapling roots and, 14–15, 18–19 sulfur, 104, 116 Sun, Dr., 263, 267 Suzanne (author), Sweden, 200 symbiosis ancient wisdom on, 283 evolution and, 174 symbiotic bacteria, nitrogen fixing and, 68, 197 synapses, 229–30 73 See Suillus lakei 12 Tam McArthur Rim, 238, 241, 244, 251 Tantalus Range, 250 TED talks, 274 Banff, 291 TEDYouth, 274 Vancouver, Teste, Franỗois, 224, 227 Texas Creek protests, 65 , 159 thimbleberry, 96, 196, 225, 280, 282 288 Thelephora terrestris alders and pines and, 102–3 birches and, 282 free-to-grow experiment and, 90 spruce and, 132 Thomas, Macrit, 281–82 Thomas, Mary, 281–82 Thompson River valley, 244 three-sisters technique, 178–79, 190, 277–78 (Victoria), 193 of London, 165 Tlingit Nation, 292 Tolko Industries, 82 tomato plants mycorrhizal networks among, 250–51 warning systems among, 241, 246 tow-head babies, 79 Trans-Canada Highway, , 165 transpiration, 47, 59, 114 trees forests; Mother Trees; older forests and trees; climate change and, 175, 251–52 communication and interdependence among, 4–5, 242 competition and, 50, 61 cycles of growth and dormancy of, fungal network under, 5, 50 ( mycorrhizal fungal networks) group vs individual selection and, 187 larger subsidize smaller with carbon, 184 Native lore on fungi and symbiotic nature of, 66 persistence of, through disruptions, 8–9 personhood of, 66, 293–94 roots of, 11 , 174 trillium, 169 Tsimshian Nation, 289, 292 Tsusiat Falls, 70 , 159, 168 Times Colonist Times See also and specific species see also Trends in Ecology and Evolution Tuber tubercules, 226 turgor pressure, 146 Twieg, Brendan, 218 Unexpected Mrs Pollifax, The (Gilman), 266 U.S Forest Service, 94 University of Aberdeen, 84 University of British Columbia, 124, 193, 210–18, 35, 268 University of Northern British Columbia, 235 University of Sheffield, 144 University of Toronto, 84 University of Victoria, 289–90 217, 234– valerian, Sitka, 85, 91 Vancouver, 64, 212–18, , 234–35, 248–49 Vancouver Island, 70 , 191, 235–36 Vavenby, British Columbia, 142 Victoria, British Columbia, 157, 193 voles, 105, 118 Vyse, Alan, 82–88, 91, 94, 100, 131, 165, 173, 191, 195– 201, 203–6, 208–10 Vancouver Sun See also 217 water transpiration aspens and, 48–49 competition for, 104 fungal threads and, 58–59 masters experiment and, 109–15 Mother Trees and, 271 mycorrhizas and, 168, 229–30 old trees and, 47–49, 222 transport of, 113–15, 146 trees and flow of, 45–46 weeding biodiversity and, 196 conference on, 195–97 experiments on, 91–93 short- vs long-term effect of, 120, 133 Wells Gray Park, 109 West Coast Trail, 70–71, 78 Weyerhaeuser (Weyco), 82, whiskey jack bird, 241, 274 , 159, 230–32, 252–53 Willamette River, 242 Williams Lake, 62, 85 alder research presentation at, 127–36 Williams Lake Stampede, 108, 128, 166 willows, 11, 42, 70, 132, 197 Scouler’s, 69, 91 wintergreens, 96 “wolf tree,” 233 wolves, 182–84, 188–90, 292 woodpeckers, 74, 201, 280 pileated, 180 “wood-wide web,” 165–66, 225, 300 Wilcoxina 86 xylem, 113–14, 146, 239 yew trees, 169, 263, 275–77 YouTube, 274 Zimonick, Barb, 127–28, 131–33, 136–40, 142–44, 146–49, 170, 172–73, 194–95, 198–99, 203, 206 THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING Find us online and join the conversation Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/penguinukbooks Like us on 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must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly ... contemplate the social nature of the forest and how this is critical for evolution The fungal network appears to wire the trees for fitness And more These old trees are mothering their children The Mother. .. Suzanne Simard FINDING THE MOTHER TREE Uncovering the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Forest Contents Illustration Credits A Few Notes from the Author INTRODUCTION: CONNECTIONS GHOSTS IN THE. .. each other on rough-hewn springboards, elevated above the butt swell of the tree where there was a slightly smaller fraction of the girth to cut through They studied the lean of the tree and the