In 2021, scientist Suzanne Simard’s compelling memoir Finding the Mother Tree argued that life in the forest is more complex than a simple race for competition between species. Forests are, she believes, a complex network of cooperation and competition, facilitated by mycorrhizal fungal connections between roots that operate something like a biological neural network. Trees, she argues, have agency in the transmission of resources, and perhaps even a type of intelligence. The book blended science, memoir and an intriguing proposition to great effect, stimulating useful discussions ...

 

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