Humans may have built an artificial world wide web to streamline communication, but nature has its own ways of creating connection. Whoever thinks that there is only earth under our feet is making a serious mistake. One of the most brilliant mysteries of nature is hidden in the underground, an intricate way of generating unity: the Wood Wide Web. This magical underground network that connects the gentle wisdom of the trees, the fungal world and the microorganisms of the forest.
wood wide web
The purest communication that exists
Trees, fungi and bacteria may not have brains like animals do, but they don’t need to, together they make up one big brain unto themselves. In the depths of the earth, there where man is not able to see, a conjunction of the roots of the trees is interwoven. Scientists know it as the Wood Wide Web, or the Wide Web of Wood. From the smallest tree to the largest, deep inside lies a huge synapse communicating wisely and caring for one another.
Learning to look beyond the obvious is a quality that not everyone develops, those who decided to put the obvious aside, found that trees are not the only ones that participate in this great synapse. Fungi and bacteria also do their thing, they till the soil exchanging nutrients and minerals to make it a safe place for life to emerge from it.
But it is not only a connection between these three kingdoms, the flora, the fungal world and the microscopic bacteria. It goes beyond that, it is communication in the purest and most natural form that exists. The earth is a hidden world, it is made up of millions of microorganisms that feed on the organic waste that other beings leave behind when they die. It is a cemetery that returns to life a dialectical constant.
Complex tree brotherhood system
The inhabitants of the forest use all the potential that nature put in front of them to create a complex system of coexistence. That is why we say that it is the purest form of connection that exists, because among the huge trees, fungi and microscopic bacteria, they make sure to provide each one with what they need.
Fungi and trees have formed an ancient alliance that allows them to survive. Through their roots, the wise giants give off moisture and sap, which feeds the fungal world around them. This alliance is called mycorrhizae and it is a symbiotic association. For their part, the filaments of the fungi mobilize the nutrients and minerals from the soil to the roots of the trees. The next time you see a tree with fungus nearby, you’ll understand that it’s not a pest, but rather a surprising connection between the two.
But in an even more amazing event, the trees connect their roots to each other to send signals and engage in tree talk. Through biochemical and electrical signals they are able to feed each other. If they detect that a nearby neighbor is sick or lacks sufficient light or humidity to survive, they help him. It has even been proven that together several trees can keep alive a stump of a fallen companion due to human felling or another factor.
vision change
After all, it seems that James Cameron was not so wrong and eloquently brought the Wood Wide Web to the screen, although Avatar takes place in another world far from Earth, the nature of both worlds does not seem to be very different. The next time you hug a tree, keep in mind that it could be sharing its healing energy that emerges from millions of connected roots below.
Once you understand the intricate web of tree roots, bacteria and fungi, it becomes almost impossible to look at the forest and the land in the same way as before. It becomes a lesson in resilience and togetherness that humans themselves should learn to apply in their societies. The wisdom of the forest is in front of us, only what is essential is invisible to the eye.
It might interest you