The Hidden Life of Trees

Outline

The Hidden Life of Trees (2015) reveals the surprising ways trees live, communicate, and support one another. Drawing on his experience as a forester and on scientific research, Peter Wohlleben explains how trees share nutrients through underground networks, warn each other of danger, and care for their young. The book invites readers to see forests as complex communities and to value them more deeply.

• Trees share nutrients with one another through underground networks, so a forest works more like a connected community than a crowd of individuals.
• Trees can warn each other of danger, passing signals through the forest to neighbours.
• Trees care for their young, a reminder that their lives are more social than they appear.
• Peter Wohlleben draws on his experience as a forester and on scientific research to explain how trees live.
• Seeing forests as complex communities can help readers value them more deeply.

Peter Wohlleben is a German forester and author who manages a forest in the Eifel region using environmentally friendly methods. His books on nature have become international bestsellers, and his other works include The Inner Life of Animals.