Forest discovery: Trees trade carbon among each other

Yes! One more piece of evidence that tree/forests guilds are effective!


Forest trees use carbon not only for themselves; they also trade large quantities of it with their neighbors, botanists report. The extensive carbon trade among trees -- even among different species -- is conducted via symbiotic fungi in the soil. Interestingly, they only saw this exchange between trees and not understory plants.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160414144711.htm

Cool article and an interesting idea. This really gets you thinking about natural forests, food forests, shade trees, and symbiosis among species in them.
John S
PDX OR

Identifying which fungi works symbiotically best with specific plant species should increase the efficiency of plant guilds. Facilitating guilds with known varieties of fungi will result in higher carbon sequestering, healthier plants and a truly efficient live soil. A win-win!