What Mother Trees Can Teach Us

Just As Mothers Are Critical to Our Lives, Mother Trees are Central Hubs in the Forest

Moms are pretty amazing. They bring us into this world, nurture and guide us, and often carry more than we realize. And their influence extends beyond immediate family: as put by the American College of Pediatricians, "mothers are a powerful influence for good, a strength and bulwark for society." To all who mother—whether by birth, by choice, or by heart—you are deeply valued and appreciated; not just on Mother's Day, but every day.

And in that spirit of appreciation, let’s expand our notion of “mother” and turn our gaze to another nurturing, supportive — and sometimes under appreciated — presence: Mother Trees. According to the Mother Tree Project, headed by professor, author and groundbreaking researcher Suzanne Simard, “Mother Trees are large trees within a forest that act as centralized hubs, supporting communication and nutrient exchange amongst trees.”

These massive ancients are aptly named "Mother Trees" because they recognize and favor their genetic kin, share wisdom, support networks of hundreds of trees and saplings, and foster deep connections and alliances.

A Few of the Amazing Things Mother Trees Do:

• Use their deep roots to draw up water and share it with shallow-rooted seedlings.
• Detect the distress signals of neighboring trees and respond by sending them nutrients.
• Reduce their root competition to make elbow room for their "kin" (saplings that are genetically related to them).
• Direct sugar and other critical resources such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus toward the roots of young saplings—with particular attention to their genetic kin.

Lessons from the Mother Tree

Elders are Priceless

When Mother Trees are injured, dying, or in their twilight years, they deliberately pass their resources on to their genetic kin. In one experiment, Simard found that Mother Trees colonize their kin with bigger mycorrhizal networks, send them more carbon, nitrogen, water, phosphorus, allele chemicals, and defense signals, and share messages of wisdom with future generations. While science hasn’t determined exactly how they’re able to recognize their kin, the implications are clear: by supporting them, Mother Trees ensure that their genetic line will run unimpeded. It would seem the younger trees recognize this. As noted by forester and author Peter Wohlleben, "The trees in a forest care for each other, sometimes even going so far as to nourish the stump of a felled tree for centuries after it was cut down by feeding it sugars and other nutrients, and so keeping it alive. Only some stumps are thus nourished. Perhaps they are the parents of the trees that make up the forest of today."

The Healthiest Communities Take Care of Each other

Interspecies alliances are common — and necessary — to stay resilient against threats such as insect colonization, tree disease, deforestation, and other disturbances such as drought and wildfire. The relationship between conifers and deciduous species such as Birch and Douglas fir are a perfect example of this. When Birch trees are in full bloom, they can easily shade out nearby Douglas fir. But once Birches drop their leaves, fir quickly capitalizes on the extra sunlight. That might seem like proof of competition, not cooperation — but under the surface, these old friends pass nutrients back and forth throughout the year, helping each other stay alive.

Cooperation, Not Competition, Makes us Stronger

While it’s certainly true that trees compete, it’s also true that they work together, forming deep connections and intricate networks. They lean on each other, sometimes literally, for survival — and are stronger for it. Mother Trees provide their more fragile neighbors with essential carbon, water and nutrients to keep them alive. The excess carbon they share alone increases seedling survival by as much as 4X. Trees live longer and are more successful in a healthy, stable forest system, so it makes evolutionary sense for neighbors to take care of each other.

Close-up image of Fungal mycelium (Mycorrhizae), which facilitate symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi

How is All of this Possible? The Important Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi

Thanks to a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, trees in a healthy forest are connected via a vast and intricate network of hair-thin fungal filaments called mycorrhiza — all just a few inches beneath the soil surface. This is known as the “mycorrhizal network”—also referred to as the “wood wide web.”

In fact, by analyzing the DNA in root tips and tracing the movement of molecules through underground conduits, Suzanne Simard discovered that in a healthy forest, these tiny fungal threads link the roots of nearly every tree — and that “one teaspoon of forest soil contains several miles of fungal filaments.”

In addition to facilitating connections between trees, mycelium helps trees get nutrients from the soil. When fungal cells interact with root cells, they exchange carbon for nutrients they've obtained by growing through the soil and coating every particle. Thanks to this mutually beneficial relationship, Mother Trees are able to support entire forests, serving as “hubs” in the interconnected forest web of life.

Mother Trees remind us of our better nature. They prove that true strength is reflected in our ability to care for each other. Just like a good mom, they remind us to share when we can, and to give a helping hand anyone who needs it. And the world is, undeniably, a better place for it.