Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

“Free-to-grow” was a new policy at the time Simard was beginning her research career; it involved eliminating the various shrubs and bushes that tended to take hold in areas where clear-cutting had eliminated the forest’s canopy. Foresters at the time believed that these plants posed a threat to the survival of new conifer seedlings. Although Simard and her supervisor, Alan, believed this was unlikely, they devised the Roundup experiments to test the policy’s effectiveness.

Hand-falling (also known as hand-felling) is the practice of chopping down a tree without modern industrial machinery; this is the kind of felling that Simard’s family historically practiced. Hand-falling is a necessarily slower and more personal process—the person chopping down the tree must be alongside it rather than some distance away in a vehicle—and Simard implies that this explains her family’s more respectful attitude toward the forest and their appreciation of Nature and Generosity. 

Through her research into mycorrhizal networks, Simard sought to prove that different species of trees cooperate to share resources and communicate threats. Simard conducted research on alders and pines, as well as birch and fir, to confirm that interspecies cooperation is directly observable in nature. This theory challenged the traditions of Forest Service’s policymakers, who promoted clear-cut and free-to-grow practices.

Simard’s conclusive, career-defining concept of Mother Trees proposes that elder trees often look after their seedlings by communicating with them through belowground mycorrhizal networks. Mother Trees embody Simard’s research into the cooperative nature of the forests, as well as her own personal investment in forest sciences. Simard’s theory of Mother Trees has been influential in reconceptualizing human society’s relationship to the forests, as communication between two plant species implies a degree of intelligence heretofore unrecognized in scientific research. The name that Simard chose for these trees also reflects her interest in Feminism, Scientific Research, and Legacy, and her observations of Mother Trees influenced her attitude toward her own daughters.

Simard began her scientific career because of an intense curiosity regarding the fungi she found on many tree roots. Over the course of her career, Simard developed a scientifically proven theory of mycorrhizal networks, which states that the fungi found on tree roots are essential for the way that trees communicate with each other and share resources. Without connection to their local mycorrhizal network, trees are not as healthy and cannot grow as abundantly.