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| Mark Trail |
'Talk' is a bit of a misnomer, but there is some kind of communication going on. Several kinds of molecules are being transported between trees by fungi. Trees that have a surplus are emitting molecules that the fungi pick up and shuttle over to trees that are in need. I suspect that where these molecules are delivered is modulated by a chemical imbalance of some sort, so it's not intelligence as we normally think of it. It's system that has apparently evolved and seems to work, just like the chemical systems at work in all living creatures.
Anyway the comic bestirred me enough to go looking for more, and because I'm lazy, I'll give you this video:
How trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard
TED
Suzanne's speech is a little woo-woo, but maybe that's how you have to present science to the masses. She does get into the nuts and bolts of how trees 'communicate', and those parts are pretty good.
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