What do you think of
when you think of trees?

It turns out they may be a lot more social and alert than you thought.

In forests around the world, trees are communicating with each other.

They do it through an underground network of connected roots and fungi that scientists call the Wood Wide Web.

Fungi grow inside and around the tips of tree roots. The trees produce sugars that fuel the fungi, and the fungi help trees access minerals in the soil.

Through this network, older trees send sugars to small saplings growing in the understory. Sick and dying trees dump resources into the network that can be used by healthier neighboring trees. And when trees are attacked by insects or disease, they send out chemical distress signals.