28 Humbling Lessons from the book 'The Hidden Life of Trees' by Peter Wohlleben

You will never look at trees the same way after reading this book. Trees and Forests will truly feel a magical world to you.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.

After having read the book page by page, I, hereby, list down 28 humbling lessons from this awesome book. 
These are the examples that stuck with me. 
These learnings are worded and appended in a way that makes it easier for most of us to understand and absorb.

If you are interested in reading about such learning from other all-time best-selling books, you may click here.

For now, if you wish to know about 'The Hidden Life of Trees', and what I learned from it, here you go...

1/ Most trees of the same species growing in the same stand are connected to each other through their root systems. Nutrient exchange and helping neighbors in time of need is the rule. Forests, therefore, are super organisms with interconnections, much like ant colonies.

2/ A single tree is at the mercy of nature. But together, many trees can create an ecosystem that ensures saner environment, humidity and water at all times. In this protected environment, trees can live to be very old.

3/ Trees use scent as a mode of communication. Humans also possess a secret language of scent.

4/ Other than scent, they also possess a sense of taste, and can also communicate via roots to defend themselves against specific attacks by pests.

5/ A lot of nature independent communication among trees happen via a network of fungus attached to their root tips.

6/ Trees face competition when growing together, but that's true only for the trees of different species. Trees of the same species work as a team (through fungi in their roots) and support each other when growing together.

7/ In a jungle, out of the million flowers that bloom, hardly 1 to 2 trees finally become big enough to survive for 100+ years. Rest are eaten up by pests, and animals.

8/ A mature tree can send 130 gallons of water traversing through its branches and leaves in a single day. Water is essential for photosynthesis. But it cannot afford to find so much moisture every day in summers. Thus, it stockpiles water in winter. They learn how to conserve water and not be lavish about its use during abundance.

9/ When trees are really thirsty, they begin to scream, of course, in ultrasonic waves which humans are not capable of hearing. These waves are created via vibration of trunks.

10/ Trees collaborate with specific underground fungus to increase the reach of their roots for fetching water. Fungus also protects the tree roots from harmful attacks by other pests and fungi, and also some harmful minerals. In turn, they have to provide food to the fungus.

11/ Trees shed and generate new skin, much like humans. As trees age, wrinkles start to appear in their skin, starting from bottom.

12/ Old trees nurture and fertilize the ground for their young ones by taking help of moss which grows only on old trees.

13/ Trees, like animals, have brains, can think, decide and act. The brain is spread across the roots. It's just that it's not as fast as animals. 

14/ There are more life forms in a handful of forest soil than the number of humans on this planet. More than 50 % of the forest bio mass is below the soil. A teaspoon of forest soil has many miles of fungal filaments which work and transform the soil to make it usable by the trees.

15/ A tree, through its course of life, stores about 22 tons of CO2 in its trunk, branches and roots. A part of it gets released when the tree dies but a majority is held up in the forest.

16/ But for transpiration from trees and the chain of trees from oceans until the middle of land, there would have been no rains ever in land areas just a few miles beyond the coast. Trees form a chain and move clouds from sea to the middle of land with the help of wind, of course.

17/ Trees don't allow harsh rain drops to hit the ground directly. Instead, they take the blow and feed the ground slowly so that the water doesn't run away as a stream but is slowly absorbed by the ground.

18/ Trees support a vast ecosystem even within themselves - owls, woodpeckers, beetles, ants, squirrels, fungi and the list goes on. Even the dead tree trunk go on to serve the forest ecosystem.

19/ At the top of a typical single forest tree are around 2000+ animals belonging to 250+ different species. There is a different world that each tree holds.

20/ Trees hibernate in winters by shedding leaves and going off to sleep for a few months. This shedding also aids facing storms, and helps the young ones down below get some sunlight.

21/ Trees have their own character. They behave differently in the same environmental conditions. Three trees, growing together, hibernate at different times displaying that they have their own character.

22/ Trees release anti bacterial compounds in the air. The air under a walnut tree is always devoid of mosquitoes because of the compound releases by its leaves. Thus, in a forest, the air is the cleanest and purest. 

23/ The upper side of the leaf is primarily for photosynthesis while lower side of the leaf is breathing. However, some species can photosynthesize from both the sides.

24/ Trees move with the help of their seeds and depending on the climate change. If the earth is becoming warmer, trees tend to move towards the north and vice versa.

25/ When rain and lightning strikes the trees that are smooth, the smooth trees create a layer of water around their trunk. In such a case, lightening travels to the ground without impacting the tree. In case the tree outer is rough or in some trees when the water does not form a continuous string. the impact of lightning is much worse.

26/ Tree leaves clean up so much from the air, like pollution dust etc. They also absorb a lot of pollen and dust which comes up from the ground. So, the air under the trees is one of the cleanest air you can breathe on this planet.

27/ Everyday a tree releases about 29 tons of oxygen into the air per square mile of forest. An average human breathes in nearly 2 pounds of oxygen a day. This means that a tree produces a daily requirement of about 10,000 people. Every walk in the forest is like taking a shower in oxygen but only during the day. During the night, trees do not photosynthesize and they produce carbon dioxide.

28/ Trees need sleep much as the humans do. When we exposed trees to artificial light during the night, then they are more likely to die early. They need complete rest during the night.

Hope these 28 humbling lessons will help shape up your thought process to some extent and help you appreciate trees much better.

Don't have time to read the entire book? 
Then, you can read the crux of some of the best-selling books ever written.
If you are interested in reading about such learning from other all-time best-selling books, you may click here.

Regards

Manoj Arora
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