Trees have a social life?

A review of a book with an interesting take on trees...

Hey friends,

Greetings from Ashoka University, India!

I'm back at university and am digging into a book that I read a while back called "The Hidden Life Of Trees" by a German forester named Peter Wohlleben. And it has some interesting insights into nature that you'd be surprised to hear…

Can trees (and plants) talk?

Well, that depends on how you define "talk".

Humans use talking as a way of communicating thoughts and feelings. It's how we transmit information from one person to another. Language is a common set of rules people agree on to transmit this information. 

Think about it. The only reason "trees" means what it does is because you and I (and the creators of the English language) have agreed to use this word to describe these leafy, wooden organisms (there are several species of trees, but that is a separate discussion…)

If you want to see REAL trees, go to the rainforests of India.

So, in the same light, if we describe talking/communication in the way I've described above, then yes, we can say that trees and other plants talk.

You must have smelled the scent of freshly mown grass, right? Chances are, some of you might like that smell.

But that smell is caused by chemicals that grasses release as a distress mechanism to alert other grass shoots that there is something in the vicinity that is chomping on their leaves. To them, the lawn mower is nothing but a grazing animal, and so plants alert each other of its presence by sending out these chemicals into the air. When other plants detect these chemicals, they begin pumping toxins into their leaves as a way of deterring this "grazing animal".

Here's a 2 min engaging video that explains it:

This is the same thing that acacia trees do in the African savannah when giraffes feed on their leaves. That's why you find these tall animals always moving upwind (because the wind doesn't allow the chemicals to spread).

This is just one of the many things I'm learning from this book, and I thought I would share it this week. I would like to see the actual science behind this, though—I will write a full review later.

Here are some links I enjoyed this week:

This is another related video that you might like.

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Postcard

I need your help. I’ve gotten permission from Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology (KCRE) to share some camera trap images of leopards that I’d taken with their cameras at their station in my upcoming book! I owe them a lot and if you’re in India, you should pay them a visit.

I want to know: which leopard image is better? Keep in mind that these are camera trap images, so they are obviously low resolution. The fact that we even have these images is something to be grateful for.

Which is better - 1 or 2?

Favourite Quote

I thought I’d change things up this week and share a paragraph from my upcoming book without any context. Here you go.

From birth, this creature had battled all odds to survive. It was one of 40 other siblings born into this world. Chances are it was the only individual to have made it to adulthood. It had endured the rainforest's harshest brutalities so strongly that you could almost sense its resilience pulse inside its body.  - Ishan Shanavas

Have a creative, wild and inspiring week!

If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.

Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.

I would greatly appreciate it if you shared my newsletter and work with your friends. It really helps me out :)