Nature’s Communication Web
Did you know that nature has its own “internet?” Nature’s communication web has been around far longer than man’s tech creation. It’s a mycelium (fungus) network that allows trees to warn each other, send carbon and nutrients to each other, and even pass wisdom and support to their seedlings. Through back and forth conversations, trees strengthen the forest community.
“Two decades ago, while researching her doctoral thesis, ecologist Suzanne Simard discovered that trees communicate their needs and send each other nutrients via a network of latticed fungi buried in the soil — in other words, she found, they “talk” to each other. Since then, Simard, now at the University of British Columbia, has pioneered further research into how trees converse, including how these fungal filigrees help trees send warning signals about environmental change, search for kin, and transfer their nutrients to neighboring plants before they die.”
Exploring How and Why Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other
Suzanne Simard’s Ted Talk on How Trees Talk to Each Other
Nature Knows the Future Better Than We Do
I can’t help but wonder, What is the extent of the communication network nature uses that we are unaware of? For example, why do wooly caterpillars grow more fuzz when a heavy winter is coming? How do geese, ducks, and Monarch butterflies know to migrate South earlier on years that have heavy winters? What makes the oaks produce an abundance of acorns when a hard winter is around the corner? (See 20 Signs of a Cold and Harsh Winter.)
Nature knows what’s coming better than people do. Old timers have learned to notice nature and prepare accordingly. While we’re busy with our noses in our phones watching Reels and Tiktock, all of nature is communicating around us. Are we listening? What messages are we missing from the Earth because we are so busy looking at our devices instead of observing and learning to communicate with nature? What if we learned to observe and listen to nature more? What could she tell us? And what messages is God sending us in nature that we’re not tuning into?
