The Reality Reports

Walk through an old forest at dawn and you may see sunlight cutting through mist, ferns covered in dew, and tall trunks rising like pillars. Beneath your feet, an even more complex world is active. Fine fungal threads spread through the soil and form close partnerships with tree roots. These relationships are called mycorrhizae. Some fungi connect with the roots of several plants at once, creating what scientists call common mycorrhizal networks. These systems are sometimes described as the “wood wide web.” The name is useful, but forests do not communicate exactly like computers or people. Scientists are still studying how much material moves through these networks and how important that movement is to trees.