In March 23 2017, I borrowed in my local library an audio-book published in 2015 and titled:
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World (English)
Das geheime Leben der Bäume:Was sie fühlen, wie sie kommunizieren - die Entdeckung einer verborgenen Welt (German original)
I wish most people had the information in it. I am deeply thankful to the author, Peter Wohlleben, and the researchers for their work. This was my tiny review of it at that time.
Some chapters touched me even deeper than others, and the last one brought me to tears. It was an invaluable read for me as a fruitarian and a human being.
The NPR Summary:
Draws on up-to-date research and engaging forester stories to reveal how trees nurture each other and communicate, outlining the life cycles of "tree families" that support mutual growth, share nutrients and contribute to a resilient ecosystem.
Author
Peter Wohlleben was born in Bonn, 1964, he is a German forester. Professionally, Wohlleben manages a beech forest on behalf of the municipality of Hümmel, Germany.
This is what he sais about himself:
I gave up my job because I wanted to put my ideas of ecology into practice, and I now run an environmentally friendly municipal piece of woodland in the village of Huemmel. I hold lectures and seminars and have written books on subjects pertaining to woodlands and nature protection so you can accompany me through the forests of my homeland and the whole world.
Description
Among other phenomena, this book introduces for a popular audience the "Wood-Wide Web", through which nutrition and signals are exchanged among trees.
This is the official description of the book:
In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.
Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.
You won't regret reading this book, I believe.
