The secret life of trees | Book Excerpt: The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Aerial view of a forest in autumn. Photograph: Anton Petrus/Getty Images
Aerial view of a forest in autumn. Photograph: Anton Petrus/Getty Images
Trees communicate with each other, store memories and respond to attacks. They have a profoundly positive effect on our emotions … but can we know how they feel about us?
PeterWohlleben
Fri 28 May 2021 02.00 EDT
Why can’t we communicate with trees the same way we communicate with, say, elephants? Both live in social groups and look after not only their young but also their elders. That famous elephant memory is also found in trees, and both communicate in languages that we didn’t even recognise at first. Trees communicate through their interconnected root systems, and elephants communicate using low-frequency rumbling below the range at which we can hear. We get a feeling of wellbeing when we run our fingers over the rough skin of both creatures, and what we would love above all is to get a reaction from them.