Suzanne Simard: How trees talk to each other
苏珊·西玛德: 树木是怎么互相交流的
Suzanne Simard studies the complex, symbiotic networks in our forests. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of a collection of trees,
and their beautiful crowns.
和美丽的树冠。
than what you see,
the way you think about forests.
there is this other world,
and allow them to communicate
使得它们可以彼此沟通,
as though it's a single organism.
of a sort of intelligence.
of British Columbia.
的森林中长大的。
and stare up at the tree crowns.
向上望着那些树冠。
cedar poles from the inland rainforest.
有选择性地砍伐杉木。
and cohesive ways of the woods,
安静而紧密连接的沟通方式,
had slipped and fallen into the pit.
脚一滑跌进了一个坑里。
to rescue the poor dog.
跑过去救那只可怜的狗。
through that forest floor,
was the white mycelium
有很多白色的菌丝,
and yellow mineral horizons.
rescued the poor dog,
救出了那只可怜的狗,
alongside the powerful people
是在那些负责商业化采集的
的范围
conflicted by my part in it.
and hacking of the aspens and birches
松树和冷杉,
valuable planted pines and firs
this relentless industrial machine.
这些无情的工业机器了。
in the laboratory in vitro
to another pine seedling root.
could this happen in real forests?
这也会发生在真正的森林里吗?
share information below ground.
树木可能还会在地下交流信息。
getting research funding.
真的很艰难。
some experiments deep in the forest,
成功做出了一些实验,
and western red cedar.
would be connected in a belowground web,
在地下的网络中应该是能交流的,
so I had to do it on the cheap.
所以我决定得省着点。
and duct tape and shade cloth,
一些布基胶带和遮光布,
high-tech stuff from my university:
高科技的东西:
a mass spectrometer, microscopes.
一个质谱仪和几个显微镜。
really dangerous stuff:
carbon-14 carbon dioxide gas
的二氧化碳气体的注射器,
carbon-13 carbon dioxide gas.
碳13的二氧化碳气体。
the filters for my respirator.
we got out to our plot
我们来到了实验地点,
chased us off.
把我们赶跑了。
forest research in Canada goes.
做森林研究其实就是这样的。
carbon dioxide gases,
二氧化碳气体,
carbon-13 carbon dioxide gas.
含有稳定性同位素碳13的二氧化碳。
going on between these species.
mama grizzly showed up again.
and I jumped into the truck,
然后跳上了卡车,
the CO2 through photosynthesis,
send it down into their roots,
再把糖送到它们的根,
to their neighbors.
eating her huckleberries.
and I got to work.
I pulled the bag off.
把袋子扯了下来。
the radioactive gas.
放射性的二氧化碳。
"Hey, can I help you?"
“嘿,我能帮你点什么?”
can you send me some of your carbon?
“啊对了,你能给我点你的碳吗?
threw a shade cloth over me."
把我罩住了。”
the Geiger counter over its leaves,
我用盖革计数器在它的叶子旁边检测了一下,
interlinking birch and fir.
互连的网络中。
and I checked all 80 replicates.
对所有的树都进行了检测。
were in a lively two-way conversation.
than fir was sending back to birch,
比花旗松反送给它的要多,
we found the opposite,
我们发现了相反的情况,
than birch was sending to fir,
比纸皮桦给它的碳多,
growing while the birch was leafless.
花旗松还在不停的生长。
were interdependent,
everything came into focus for me.
we look at how trees interact in forests,
森林中树木互动方式的看法,
communications network,
树木的巨大地下交流网络的
how we practice forestry,
and more practical.
in complex systems like forests?
应该怎么做科学研究呢?
we have to do our research in the forests,
我们就是要实实在在地在森林里做研究,
as I've shown you.
你所面对的环境会非常恶劣。
at running from bears.
逃脱熊的追赶。
stacked against us.
and our experiences
and then go verify.
hundreds of experiments in the forest.
上百次的实验了。
are now over 30 years old.
到现在已经超过30年了。
and Douglas fir communicating?
not only in the language of carbon
作为它们交流的语言,
and allele chemicals and hormones --
等位基因化学物和激素——
before me, scientists had thought
在我之前的科学家们都认为
mutualistic symbiosis called a mycorrhiza
是因为一种菌根
when you walk through the forest.
你经常都能看到它们的繁殖器官。
are just the tip of the iceberg,
仅仅是冰山一角,
are fungal threads that form a mycelium,
菌丝生成了菌丝体,
infects and colonizes the roots
interact with the root cells,
根细胞交流的地方,
by growing through the soil
并且覆盖住所有的土壤颗粒
hundreds of kilometers of mycelium
在你每走过一步脚下的菌丝连起来
different individuals in the forest,
其它的个体也都有联系,
but between species, like birch and fir,
在不同种类之间也存在,比如纸皮桦和花旗松。
the short sequences of DNA
所有树和所有真菌中
in a patch of Douglas fir forest.
并且制作了这份遗传图。
the Douglas fir, or the nodes,
也就是那些节点,代表花旗松,
fungal highways, or the links.
代表着互相连接的真菌干线。
are the busiest nodes.
就是最繁忙的、连接最多的节点。
that those hub trees nurture their young,
这些中心树哺育着它们的小树,
that have established within the network
这些幼苗在这个网络中
connected to hundreds of other trees.
其它几百棵树建立联系。
through the mycorrhizal network
通过菌根的网络
with increased seedling survival
幼苗的存活率
favor our own children,
我们爱自己的孩子,
recognize its own kin,
with kin and stranger's seedlings.
以及一些陌生的幼苗种在一起。
they do recognize their kin.
with bigger mycorrhizal networks.
来覆盖住自己孩子们所在的区域。
their own root competition
on to the next generation of seedlings.
from an injured mother tree
into the mycorrhizal network
of those seedlings to future stresses.
来面对未来的压力。
of the whole community.
of our own social communities,
我们人类的社会群体,
collections of trees,
with hubs and networks
and allow them to communicate,
使得它们可以互相沟通,
for feedbacks and adaptation,
和适应的方式,
and many overlapping networks.
和重重叠叠的网络。
to natural disturbances
它们会受到自然界的干扰,
attack big old trees
粗壮的老树,
and clear-cut logging.
one or two hub trees,
unlike rivets in an airplane.
就像是飞机里的铆钉。
and the plane still flies,
飞机还能飞,
about forests? Differently?
有些改变了吧?
that I hoped that my research,
我希望我的研究,
the way we practice forestry.
我们的林业实践的方式。
30 years later here in western Canada.
to the west of us,
100公里的地方,
reported that Canada in the past decade
加拿大在过去十年中的
rate of any country worldwide,
比任何一个国家都高,
four times the rate that is sustainable.
可持续发展的砍伐率的四倍了。
is known to affect hydrological cycles,
已经严重影响到了水循环,
back into the atmosphere,
释放了很多温室气体,
and more tree diebacks.
造成更严重的破坏。
to plant one or two species
那一两种单一的树木,
to infections and bugs.
根本不堪一击。
mountain pine beetle outbreak
比如刚刚席卷整个北美洲的
couple months in Alberta.
to my final question:
我的最后一个问题:
and help them deal with climate change?
怎么才能帮助它们应对气候变化呢?
about forests as complex systems
最好的一点就是
capacity to self-heal.
and retention of hub trees
把中心树保护好,
of species and genes and genotypes
基因和基因型多样性的再生,
they recover really rapidly.
会使森林的恢复速度变得无比迅速。
with four simple solutions.
我想提出四个简单的解决方法。
that these are too complicated to act on.
因为这些做起来其实也挺复杂的。
to get out in the forest.
local involvement in our own forests.
融入到我们森林中去。
a one-size-fits-all approach,
requires knowledge of local conditions.
关于当地环境情况的知识的。
our old-growth forests.
and mother trees and mycorrhizal networks.
保护好了母树和菌根网络。
onto the next generation of trees
传给下一代的树木,
the future stresses coming down the road.
未来将会面对的重重困难了。
with a diversity of species
natural regeneration.
the tools she needs
她需要的工具,
that forests aren't just a bunch of trees
森林不仅仅是一堆树
showed me this other world,
让我见识到了另一个世界,
how you think about forests.
你们的一些关于森林的印象。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Suzanne Simard - Forest ecologistSuzanne Simard studies the complex, symbiotic networks in our forests.
Why you should listen
A professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia's Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences in Vancouver, Suzanne Simard studies the surprising and delicate complexity in nature. Her main focus is on the below-ground fungal networks that connect trees and facilitate underground inter-tree communication and interaction. Her team's analysis revealed that the fungi networks move water, carbon and nutrients such as nitrogen between and among trees as well as across species. The research has demonstrated that these complex, symbiotic networks in our forests -- at the hub of which stand what she calls the "mother trees" -- mimic our own neural and social networks. This groundbreaking work on symbiotic plant communication has far-reaching implications in both the forestry and agricultural industries, in particular concerning sustainable stewardship of forests and the plant’s resistance to pathogens. She works primarily in forests, but also grasslands, wetlands, tundra and alpine ecosystems.
Suzanne Simard | Speaker | TED.com