Tomorrow today the signs show on d w. There are roughly 3 trillion trees on earth thats around 400 for every human being. Fossil discovery suggests the 1st trees developed more than 350000000 years ago and changed the world they increase the level of oxygen in the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Pasts in the least take in sunlight Carbon Dioxide and water and use these to create oxygen and. Its the most important chemical process for life on us. Chicks some total joke trees are able to filter since the stuff is on the significant scale jumps out when its good precious little sunlight so how do they survive peter believe in works for Forestry Department in germ. He raises awareness about forests with the help of distinctly human analogies. Mother trees recognize their own offspring they link up the much sugar solution its basically akin to nursing. So trees suckle their saplings really. If we took a look below the surface we find fun guy spinning long threads around the trees roots for the fun guy use them to supply the tree with nutrients that it would otherwise be an able to access in return literally supplies the fun guy with sugar a system that benefits both sides. From god link up with a number of trees simultaneously resulting in a huge network underground thats become known as the would wide web. Young trees chap into the network and feed off the sugar provided by the older trees. Older trees with their large crown supply higher levels of sugar to the networks which is why researchers call their mother trees and remarkably additional fungal threads form connecting them to their offspring so that they receive more nutrients than other trees. Of course nursing is a term that only applies to mammals but its a similar principle as young trees flourish thanks to sugar supplied by their mothers. Forests can carry on growing and regenerating themselves for centuries that if they are left to grow. Every year an estimated 10000000000. 00 trees nothing. Displays no evidence of human interference is known as primary forest these days not many such areas left remaining it is home to one of the last remaining primary forests in europe tucked away in a remote valley. Where in the remaining region of transylvania on our way to a forest. Its about a 3 hour drive from the city of c. T. A group of scientists is doing field studies here in one of the largest and perhaps most beautiful primary forests in europe. For the scientists this landscape holds a treasure that is extremely valuable much of it is yet undiscovered. The forest is a virgin landscape that is seen almost no human intervention the boy or me cavalli. Is really special because its one of the last valleys. In the temperate zone of europe were is not trail is really wild is really difficult to access. The scientists from the university of prague have been coming here regularly for the past 5 years the remote valley in the fog a rash mountains is an ideal place to do research more than a 1000 hectors of untouched landscape from the mountain tops down to the valley floor thats rare in europe these days. Over 95 percent of all european wooded areas are manmade commercial forests so if you want to understand how a natural forest works you need to come to a place like boy and we can only hear can scientists study a forest ecosystem in its original natural form. Is really important to both of us especially in times off for Climate Change values like these are the only places where we can really observe that how the 3 species will naturally put on these conditions after climbing for 3 hours we finally reach the site where the scientists have chosen to camp. Theyll be based here for a whole week from here they can explore the surrounding mountains and study the forest to discover its secrets. The next morning the group sets off equipped with numerous measuring instruments they head deep into the forest. Making headway isnt easy. Whats more theyre clearly not alone. Here in their lives you can see the barefoot brains and you can see its kind of in line is a big so its going to be any other animal and theyre in this place it was possible looking for some insect. 15 bears are thought to live in the valley but the scientists arent worried they continue their work undeterred and that involves measuring minute details of the forest they note the number of trees in any given area as well as their age height and species they also calculate the distribution and density of dead wood and they take or samples from the center of the trunks in order to reconstruct the history of individual trees. That looked like a long needle doesnt it hurt the tree. Forest. Believes trees do indeed feel pain. Every organism can feel pain. Otherwise it wouldnt respond to an attack. Is that actually true researchers suspect that when a caterpillar nibbles on a leaf that is registered by pressure receptive. The tree then pumps a substance into the leaf that renders it an appetizing and quickly spreads it around to protect the other leaves from the predators well within the tree the relevant information is transmitted electrically as in a human body feast but feeling pain is not just a question of registering and reacting its an experience it has to have in humans and other animals that involves the brain and scientists have yet to discover the equivalent in trees. Trees do indeed respond to injuries even if they do not feel pain now back to remain here. And the environment itself im. Between the 3 of the. Mostly 3 and 400 b. Involved and thats amazing. The project started about 10 years ago. In europes few remaining primary forests scientists selected Research Plots to focus on these are circular areas roughly the size of a basketball page they now have over a 1000 plots in 9 countries theyve taken just under 40000 would samples the groups archive is the largest primary forest database in europe. Every year we spend approximately 3 months in the field we do not have really big groups right now we are here in. 25 people. 3 groups which are split into different valleys. Martin make eyelashes especially interested in looking at how primary forests cope with Climate Change. The question is could they be at risk in the future. Complicated behind it is the extremes in temperatures are increasing bring in. An increase in natural disturbances such as rolls drugs fires bar little or breaks this increase in natural disturbances pose an existential threat to primary forests to answer this question the scientists 1st studies the past how often has boyer miikka been affected by bark beetle or drought for example in the last few centuries and how quickly was the forest able to recover their findings actually. We found out that the 2nd systems are well adapted and they can regenerate after this. The scientists data reveals that the forest has repeatedly been hit by disaster and yet suffered no lasting damage. Pickel ash believes this amazing ability to regenerate is one of the key differences between primary forests and those money by human beings. Differently these forests are more resilient than many commercial immanence forest. Because even in cases of for high severity of large scale disturbances we can see in our data. At least several all to 3 survived even one for example where to disprove was disturbed the beach forest was still there and. The combination of the. Species after this to. Create. Diverse composition of the future for. As yet make a national his team dont know if the regenerative power of these natural forest will be sufficient to face the challenges of the future but they remain optimistic more natural growth and diversity also in our commercial forests is likely to be the best protection against the effects of Climate Change. Was. During the day the forest cools down well at night its roughly in one degree room and thats when many woodland become active but want to trays do with night if they have a family and are able to defend themselves do they also see here. That was a question sent in by pieces to one from the united states. Do treaties sleep. We all know human beings need sleep our inner body clock regulates when we feel tired following the earths cycle of day and night. Animals also have body clocks that set the read them for waking and sleeping. Many flowers close their petals and hang their heads at certain times of day their resting periods also follow the rhythm of day and night. But what about trees. Well it was only a few years ago that scientists were finally able to answer that question with the help of laser scanners. From dusk till dawn they scanned trees with infrared light. In each case they found that the whole tree droops that night. The clones of millions of laser scanning points revealed that the position of the leaves and branches changed as the night progressed they moved lower by as much as 10 centimeters. In the morning they gradually returned to their original position. But whether the trees like the animals around them are awakened by an inner body clock is still not clear. But what is clear is that trees do indeed appear to rest at certain times of the day. Now its time to look at the forest fill the roots of trees can be enormous and link up with other rich systems. That he shows that around 60 percent of all trees worldwide are into linked by networks of fundy threads as we saw and yet these networks are thought to be several 100000000 years old to last the ground beneath our feet may not appear that ancient. But for tree its a vital source of life. Forrester look vic papel and geography professor clements geitner pay close attention to the forest floor and what lies beneath it holds the key to a healthy forest. Theyre going to explain to us the profound influence trees have on the quality of the soil. In a small piece in this old spruce forest they examined the soil to a depth of one and a half meters. Of them as you can scoot in proof you know we can see here the various layers on the surface there are spruce needles the stuff the trees shed its a lot sometimes 5 or 6 centimeters deep sixed and. The needles decomposed to create a layer of humus which makes the soil more acidic the root took on the next layer down is the mineral soil with lots of tree roots spruces have very shallow roots and cant access the water or nutrients from lower down that is a disadvantage it means the roots dont loosen the soil or create channels for the humus to trickle down so the spruce can take advantage of the benefits of this good location and importance on. Nearby is a mixed forest of coniferous and deciduous trees which look big battle plan to 25 years ago the fallen leaves quickly turn to humus. The soil layers here look quite different the earth is looser and crisscrossed by lots more roots. The site is this year and its if the roots are much deeper and thats typical for a forest with deciduous trees that means the roots can access much more water the reservoir available to the roots and hence the trees for evaporation and cooling is about 3 times as large and strong for the includes effect. A particular interest of the fine routes through which trees absorb water and nutrients forestry engineer Daniel Berlant has compared the volume of fine roots from spruce and maple the difference is considerable these 2 clumps come from a maple tree as a depth of 10 and 40 centimeters. While these 2 are from a spruce. The more fine roots the tree has the more water it can access. But the scientists also find another difference between the 2 forests the one with deciduous trees as lots of earthworms which help to keep the soil rich and healthy. Agricultural scientists on a could are wants to measure the population of earthworms in this mixed forest she pours mustard water onto a sample of soil among the deciduous trees drives the worms to the surface as they try to escape the mustard irritates their skin though its actually not harmful here we see how plentiful the worms are. Organic farming has focused our attention in recent years on the role earthworms play in improving soil fertility theres been less interest in their role and forests but it is an interesting question. Because where the soil is in good shape the trees will likely be so as well earthworms dont like acidic pine needles a tall but they are drawn to maple leaves for example as they dig maze of tunnels they air right the soil make it less compact and more porous root bearing symbiotic fun guy also make use of these pop ways whats more the worms help mix humans into the soil making it easier for plants to access nutrients. So deciduous trees and hans the soil under tract worms when it comes to the challenge posed by Climate Change it is factors like these that could help make our forests more resilient. Limbs are good for the soil and helpful to tree but some animals and insects are damaging to trees especially bark beetles. And then there are cats that. The leaks and that can impede the growth of the train when precious arrive on the scene trees defend themselves by pumping toxins into their leaves. Amazingly labor and trees do the same even if theyre not under attack forestry expert peter bolaven explains the trees talk to each other and you can understand them by listening in on a born force there and. Does that mean that trees are some kind of language and what exactly do they talk about. It turns out that odor signals in response to pest and frustrations and those molecules trigger a protective reaction in adjacent trees although its not clear how this works so but what if the neighbors are on the wrong side wind wise are they then not party to the conversation. Thats where the would wide web comes in trees send signals to the fungus nestling around the roots which relay them via the underground network. This rapidly puts the other trees on alert so that they can prepare their own defenses. But does that count as a language with humans this involves not just exchanging signals but words they convey information through conscious meaning associated with certain sounds so someone who speaks a Foreign Language might understand treat as meaning treat. So trees do not have language as we understand it and yet they do communicate with each other. Our planet has a tree line latitudes to the north and south of which trees are unable to present in the attic for example there are no sizeable trees and the plants one traps and musses. But here 2 days plenty of life in the ground like these lemmings for example. Our next report takes us to greenland where scientists are concerned about the fate of these arctic rodents that are something of a barometer for Climate Change. And hours flight and theyll reach their destination for ecologist ben why sigler and wildlife biologist your highness lying its the final stage of a day long journey death flight takes them across greenlands last years im frozen fjords and they see that the pack ice is already starting to thaw although the short summer here has yet to really begin. Theyll soon be touching down in the current valley on the island of trail. Even the landing is something of an adventure. They thought along flour sugar milk coffee and tents along with lots of scientific equipment the team are the only humans on the island if they forgotten anything important theyll just have to do without it their return journey is several weeks away until then theyll be camping here in tents. They soon discover theyre not alone the tracks of a polar bear shooting one would be the very last resort the team set up an electric fence to keep the bears away. For more lemmings by contrast a more than welcome they are in fact the stars the very heart of the project the team of caught one near the camp ben was that the 1st came to greenland to research lemmings 30 years ago and hes still studying these interesting creatures lemmings are rodents and live mainly in northern regions greenland is home to the arctic lemming species in winter white as snow they turn gray and brown as temperatures rise during the summer they live in burrows underground always wary of predators especially arctic fox its snowy owls. And long skewers the lemmings are safer in winter their fun grow and enable them to dig through the snow and frozen soil winter is also breeding season beneath a thick blanket of snow they dig tunnels and build nests several litters can be born in short succession only stoats pose a threat as lemmings are able to reproduce when they reach the age of just 6 weeks the population can grow very fast its those winter nests that ben was is looking for. Its an indirect method to work out how many lemmings live in the area under investigation. As the snow melts the nests become visible this is the 1st winter nest they found. Climate change into the snow now force later in the year and thought. That means that the extended phases of large scale of reproduction known as lemming peaks have ceased. In good years stay low would come across 4000 nests here expedition these days 400 are already a lot. Easier meaning. The lemmings probably have a whole network of rows under the snow which then connect to the nests for their nests or where they reproduced. His Team Investigates an area of 15 square kilometers every year they cover several 100 kilometers on foot to register the lemming population after just 2 weeks the fuel next to the camp is almost ice free 33. 00 nests benno us that lurk continues his trek to count nests but he already knows that they are so few in number that the lemming population is unlikely to recover. Sadly theres a clear trend and one that is documented in detail. Both in its july 30th nests to 2. Its rare for such a Research Project to have 3 decades of data to work with the findings are further evidence for the painful reality of Climate Change. Incidentally what living best known for committing mass suicide by jumping off cliffs is a myth it was made popular by the 950 s. Walt disney film white wilderness but the filmmakers actually staged the scene and reportedly pushed the limits of the tiff bin was it and his team are working to expose this popular misconception and restore the rodents reputation. Because of what is read why are great but im sure you have a science question that youve always wanted answered were happy to help out send it to us as a video text or for smell if we answer it on the show well send you a little surprise as a thank you come on just ask. And for most stories about the world of science visit us on our website or on twitter and facebook. Thats all for this week next time on tamara today focused energy how lenses can be placed on solar panels to produce a super concentrated power supply by for now. Eco india. The most basic human body. But more than 800000000 people worldwide dont have access to the subsequent. Dismissing the modern crisis. The deep dive into new solutions to protect the most important resource cut. 30 minutes on d w. Passionate drama competition rival marketing numbers atmosphere fight at sight intuition love hate money millionaire fans friends files fans and found old. Songs on you tube join us. In the familiar. But conquered the major issues of our society. The best season of the sally. Bianca could host its modern day heroes in. Inspirational people who take on the challenges of the world with their. Because ideas from. The costume would face australia on my hands to look at those 2 problems and make them one solution for the new season of founders valley. Starts june 13th p. W. When the water rises cities will sink into the sea. Entire stretches of land will be abandoned. And the water struck. It cant be stopped its happening faster than anticipated. Massive spring are supposed to prevent flooding but they only delay the inevitable. How will we live in the future. 66 meters using sea levels starts to slip on g. W. This is the the news live from the. Gates scandal continues to cost a quarter in germany or does the company to compensate customers who board a v. W. Cars face it with the emissions changing Software Look as well the ruling from the countrys a federal court of justice means for consumers on for germanys biggest carmaker also on the program both parties in hong kong claim that terrorism in the cities only increased police break up mass protests against the plants new security invoked against his broad powers activists say the