In "The Social Life of Forests," (New York Times Magazine, posted 12/2/2020) Ferris Jabr writes: "By analyzing the DNA in root tips and tracing the movement of molecules through underground conduits, [Suzanne] Simard [professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia] has discovered that fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest — even trees of different species. Carbon, water, nutrients, alarm signals and hormones can pass from tree to tree through these subterranean circuits. Resources tend to flow from the oldest and biggest trees to the youngest and smallest. Chemical alarm signals generated by one tree prepare nearby trees for danger. Seedlings severed from the forest’s underground lifelines are much more likely to die than their networked counterparts. And if a tree is on the brink of death, it sometimes bequeaths a substantial share of its carbon to its neighbors." "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben is another source of inspiration for this series.
ink on tan Kitakata gampi paper