Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children

The Secret Social Life of Trees

A hidden underground network allows trees to move nutrients and chemicals around. The question is why.

Trees may appear to be solitary beings. But they are more connected than it seems. Just beneath our feet lurks a complex underground network of fungi. Trees use this system to pass information, share food, and even wage war on their competitors. Ever-clever scientists have nicknamed this network the “wood wide web.”

Underground Network

Every tree has underground roots that keep it anchored in the soil. Most of these roots are covered in a fuzzy, thread-like fungus that grow in and around tree roots. Together, the roots and fungi are called mycorrhiza.

This mycorrhizal network spreads like a web, often connecting the

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