Hidden Life of Trees
by Peter Wohlleben, Fred Bernard, Benjamin Flao · first published 2024
60% recommend38% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, story-driven look at how trees behave as a community: warning neighbors of insect attack via pheromones, sharing nutrients through fungal networks, and living across centuries. Suits curious general readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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I highly recommend reading the book "The Hidden Life Of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben There is an informative chapter/section called Street Kids about trees planted along the streets primarily in urban areas. How their health is impacted by having no network of close…
on “Urban trees 'live fast, die young' compared to those in rural forests” ↗If you're interested in this subject, Peter Wohlleben published a book in 2015 called The Hidden Life of Trees, What They Feel, How They Communicate. One excerpt from the book relevant to this article: "The fungus not only penetrates and envelops the tree's roots, but also allows its web to roam through the surrounding…
on “Exploring How and Why Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other” ↗…lot of these things are available on wikipedia. But I think it helps if you take time to read books and then explore further on the web. Also liked and would recommend very highly Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees (so many new things to know). Leaving this comment here just in case someone is interested.
on “Blue bee feared to be extinct is found in Florida” ↗I just recently read a great book called The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben [1] that touches on the subject of a social network among trees via a fungal network known as the "Wood Wide Web" [2]. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Life-Trees-Communicate_Discove...…
on “The largest living thing on Earth is a fungus (2014)” ↗Thanks! There is also the nice book by Peter Wohlleben touching on this subject (the "wood wide web"): The Hidden Life of Trees.
on “A popular household fern may be the first known eusocial plant” ↗There's also The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. There was an article about it earlier this year. [1] [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest...
on “The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web” ↗You might want to check out "The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate" by Peter Wohlleben. It's an enjoyable book that covers similar topics, also available as an audiobook.
on “Crown shyness” ↗Update: added a few lines about the books than just a name listing From the ones I read in 2017, I would highly recommend (non-IT): 1. The hidden life of trees- Peter Wohlleben Why forest trees are different than the ones you plant, how the communicate, how they care for their friends when they are not well, how mother trees protect their young ones by not letting…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗Give The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben a read and you might have to blur the border between the two. Highly recommended though - it's a marvellous read and very enlightening. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life...
on “Plants “panic” when it rains” ↗Reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben was pretty mindblowing. I encourage anyone who found this article interesting to check it out as well.
on “The Social Life of Forests” ↗I highly recommend The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Trees signal their neighbours of incoming dangers so they have to time to e.g. pump tannins into their leaves to deter animals that would munch on them.
on “Three reasons fungi are not plants” ↗…to a wide audience... imho, again to the detriment of her field. > fungi-mediated carbon transfer between trees of different species. I knew first from Suzanne Simard in Peter Wohlleben's book "The Hidden Life of Trees". Among other things, it describes how fungi interact with trees. It's absolutely fascinating and can very much recommend. Just as Dr. Simard, Wohlleben likes to attribute personality to trees. From the…
on “The Intelligent Forest” ↗…Usually this sharing and communication network is among members of the same species and often the same kinship. I do not know the primary literature on this area, but this is a good introduction: The Hidden Life of Trees by Wohlleben, Peter
on “Plant Root System Drawings” ↗Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey A Brief History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Entangled Life - Merlin Sheldrake The Hidden Life of Trees - Peter Wohlleben
on “I should have loved biology (2020)” ↗In The Hidden Life of Trees, one cool fact that stuck with me in support of tree consciousness was how trees that are under attack from certain insect species will release pheromones to warn neighboring trees. The neighboring trees…
on “The case against plant consciousness” ↗