The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World

Once a nut or seed sprouts it is “bound to this little piece of earth for the rest of its life,” no matter how inappropriate the location (73). Challenging environments include dark, shady places, marshy conditions, or dry soil, or overly sunny and hot clearings. Wohlleben paints a picture of ideal growing conditions for most trees: crumbly, moist soil, sunny temperate summers, wet winters, few storms, and limited harmful insects or fungi. He points out, however, that such conditions are very rare, which is beneficial for biodiversity, since dominant trees like beeches would crowd out their neighbors if conditions were always perfect.

For example, the yew tree has evolved to have a “frugal” approach and live in the Beech tree’s understory. Because yews need so little light and take decades to develop their root systems, they have the potential to live to a thousand years old. Similarly, the hornbeam tree has also adapted to grow in the shade of larger trees and in the event of a drought might even outlast the larger beech trees.

The author discusses how most trees cannot survive in swamp conditions because the water deprives their roots of oxygen. Even if a sapling such as a birch, pine, spruce, or hornbeam starts to grow in these conditions its roots will rot in the wet soil, and it quickly dies off.