The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World

Peter Wohlleben’s 2015 book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World explores what modern science has learned—and has yet to find out—about trees and forests. Wohlleben’s book was named a best seller by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal and won the Indie Choice Award for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. Wohlleben, who has decades of experience working as a professional forester in the Hummel region of Germany, has used his own expertise as well as recent scientific research to inform this book. The Hidden Life of Trees was originally published in German, and this SuperSummary study guide is based on the Kindle English translation by Jane Billinghurst, which was published by the David Suzuki Institute and Greystone Books.

Summary

Wohlleben begins The Hidden Life of Trees by exploring trees’ ability to form social networks. He credits Dr. Suzanne Simard for discovering that trees can communicate with each other because their root systems are connected by networks of beneficial fungi. These root and fungal networks are now referred to by scientists as the “wood wide web,” which trees can use to share water and nutrients with neighbor trees of the same species.