Below is the English translation.
The headline is changed to: Summary of the Secret Life of Trees
All subheadings are preserved.
All separators (hr) are removed as requested.
Everything else is translated faithfully.

---

Summary of the Secret Life of Trees

“A man returns from vacation. His friends ask him:
– How was it out in nature? Did you like it?
– What nature? With all those trees, I couldn’t see any nature at all!” 😂

Well, yes. Trees are just trees – those boring green-brown things that do nothing but stand in one place and, at best, give shade or a place to hang a hammock?

Sure. But the truth is that trees are not nearly as boring as you think.

Did you know they have their own kind of electrical internet, allowing them to warn “friends” and “relatives” miles away about insect attacks? Or that when the soil lacks nitrogen, they cooperate with fungi to get it? Or that they have different personalities and choose for themselves when to drop their leaves?

As you can see, there is much to learn in the forest. Over millions of years, trees have developed remarkable abilities that help them survive in the constant battle for water, light, and nutrients. They have taken on incredible ecological roles and formed friendships, rivalries, and alliances with countless living beings.

Today, some countries practice a natural form of forestry, which is both productive and humane, perfected thanks to extraordinary attention to detail and deep knowledge of nature.

The Lungs of the Planet

Trees play a vital role in the global water and carbon cycles.

Before exploring the amazing abilities of trees, let’s first understand their fundamental importance. Humanity owes them a great deal. They purify the air we breathe and help supply water even to the most remote parts of the planet. In fact, without trees, humans could not survive.

If there were no trees, vast parts of the Earth would turn into deserts.

You might remember from school how the global water cycle works: water evaporates from the oceans, forms clouds, drifts over land, rain falls, and water flows back toward the sea. But this explanation misses one crucial detail – without trees, rainfall would occur only within 600 km from the coast, leaving the inner parts of continents completely dry.

Trees act as giant water pumps, carrying moisture further inland.

When it rains in a forest, much of the water remains on the leaves and forest soil, then evaporates to form new clouds. These clouds move deeper inland, ensuring rainfall far from the coasts.

Besides supplying water, trees clean the air of carbon dioxide (CO₂), thus protecting the climate. They pull CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it. When a tree dies, some carbon is released, but a large amount stays locked inside.

However, burning trees (as firewood or fossil fuel) releases that carbon back into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

We produce so much CO₂ that trees can’t keep up!

Clearly, without trees, Earth would be far less hospitable for human life.

Digging Our Roots Even Deeper

Trees interact with the soil in countless ways.

Besides influencing the climate, trees are also the foundation of the soil where we grow our food.

Surprisingly, a large part of Earth’s soil is actually made by trees.

When our planet formed, there were only minerals, rocks, air, and water. Wind and rain gradually broke down the rocks into sand and gravel. Then came microorganisms and algae, followed by small plants and the first trees.

When these plants and trees died, they decomposed and became humus, forming the fertile soil we know today.

Living trees also have many relationships with the soil.

They anchor themselves with roots that absorb water and nutrients. Some roots even connect to the roots of neighboring trees, sharing food and information.

Trees also create underground connections with fungi, which we’ll explore shortly.

When trees drop their leaves in autumn, they return nutrients to the soil. They also get rid of waste – in a sense, leaf fall is a kind of toilet for trees.

The Secret Life of Trees

Young Trees Live Dangerous Lives

We already know that without trees, we would have no water, clean air, or fertile soil.

But what does a tree’s life actually look like?

Different species have different strategies for reproduction.

Some, like birches, rely on wind to spread their tiny seeds.

Others, like oaks and chestnuts, use animals to carry their larger seeds.

But most seeds do not survive – they may land in the wrong place, be eaten, blown away, or dried out by the sun.

Throughout its long life (which may last hundreds of years), each tree manages to raise only one or two children.

Once a young tree takes hold and survives its first years, it begins to show the remarkable abilities all trees possess.

Where a seed lands is a matter of chance, and each tree species has preferences. These depend mostly on light, moisture, protection from wind, and suitable soil. Some trees prefer to grow close together, like birches, which need the forest’s protection. Others, like poplars, often grow alone in meadows, enjoying sunlight and space – but this also exposes them to storms and other dangers.

Unfortunately, the chances of a tree seed surviving are very low.

Often they land where they cannot thrive – in standing water (too much moisture), on asphalt (too little moisture), or carried into caves by animals, where there is no sunlight. Even when conditions seem good, dangers remain: seeds are eaten, trampled, broken by storms, or damaged by hail.

In fact, during its entire life – which can span centuries – a tree will raise only one offspring to adulthood.

But once the young tree establishes itself and survives its early years, it begins to display the extraordinary abilities of tree life.

As the years pass, trees learn more about their environment and how to adapt. Like humans, trees have different personalities – some more cautious, others more daring. We tend to think that trees simply react: the weather cools, they drop their leaves; spring arrives, they grow new ones. But things are not so simple.

Imagine three oaks growing so close their trunks nearly touch. Every autumn, one of them always starts shedding its leaves two weeks earlier than the others. Since all three experience the same temperature, soil, and daylight, these factors cannot explain the difference.

What is happening then?

This tree is simply more cautious than the others. Holding onto leaves longer allows more photosynthesis and more stored nutrients. But the longer a tree keeps its leaves, the greater the risk of frost damage.

Trees Talk – With Each Other and With Other Creatures

It’s good that trees learn to deal with danger because they also like to share their knowledge. When to drop their leaves? Where to grow their roots – east, where soil nutrients may be higher, or west, where moisture is greater?

Trees not only make decisions but also learn from mistakes. If a tree keeps its leaves too long one year, it won’t repeat the mistake. This suggests trees can sense temperature and daylight and somehow store memory in their sensitive root tips.

Trees are not only smart about themselves – they also support each other. They communicate in two ways: through scents and through a kind of “electronic mail.”

Trees release different pheromones to communicate with other trees and species. For example, when an elm or pine is attacked by caterpillars, it releases a scent attracting tiny parasitic wasps. These wasps lay eggs inside the caterpillars; when the larvae hatch, they eat the caterpillars.

Even more impressively, trees can identify what is eating them by tasting the insect’s saliva.

Information spreads even faster through the forest’s internet network. Within a single tree, electrical signals travel slowly – about one centimeter per minute. But underground, almost every tree is connected to countless fungal threads, which carry electrical signals much faster. One fungus can spread for miles, linking many trees.

Trees Help Each Other

Trees are not stupid. They depend on the ecosystem and their relationships with others. That’s why they help one another whenever needed.

A good example is the acacias of the African savanna. When giraffes feed on them, the trees release toxins into their leaves and warn neighboring trees by releasing a special gas. Giraffes know this and quickly move to another tree that hasn’t received the warning.

Trees also care for their sick and weak “relatives.” The author describes finding an old stump cut down over 400 years ago, yet its outer wood was still alive. This was possible because neighboring trees were feeding it through their root system.

Respect for Trees

Most people underestimate trees. They can do far more than we imagine – they communicate, help one another, and are sensitive living beings. We should respect and care for them just as we care for animals.

---