James Stewart

Please let me know by dropping a snake emoji in the comments as a tribute to this wondrous freak of nature.

Over the past 25 years, scientists have presented us with a captivating, almost Disney-esque tale.

Imagine a diverse and vibrant forest, filled with trees of different ages and species, all thriving in the sunlight that powers their cellular functions.

But hidden beneath the surface, intertwined within their roots, are thin, hair-like strands of a different kingdom altogether.

These branching structures serve not only to expand the reach of each individual tree, but they connect multiple trees together, allowing messages to be communicated in a buzzing multi-server system akin to the invention that changed the course of human civilization, the internet.

Welcome to the Wood Wide Web.

I'm James Stewart and you're watching Astrum Earth.

Now buckle up, because we're about to recount a scientific tale with more twists, turns and knots than an old oak tree.

The discovery of the wood wide web mesmerised the public as much as the internet itself, resulting in the publication of countless popular science articles, books, documentaries, films, podcasts and more.

But is there more to the story?

A growing number of scientists certainly seem to think so, and the result has been a bitter academic war that still continues to this day.

In this video, join me as we uncover the whole story behind the famed Wood Wide Web, where it all began, its impact on conservation, and the wealth of research it inspired into the secret lives of our wooden friends.

Our story begins in the temperate forests of British Columbia in Canada.

Suzanne Simard is about to make a discovery that will help her to achieve the near impossible with her PhD thesis, making the cover of nature.

In 1997, her article was published with the title Net Transfer of Carbon

between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field, which is fairly unassuming considering the content of this paper.

In essence, Simard was claiming to have observed the transfer of carbon between seedlings of paper birch and Douglas fir in the field through a shared fungal connection between their root systems.

Not just any old fungus can form a connection with trees.

This privilege is mostly reserved for mycorrhizal fungi.

The term mycorrhizal fungi refers to a broad group of species that have been forming beneficial partnerships with plants for over 450 million years.