(outdoor ambience) - nterview] so my rst questi is whats a tree - , what ithe tree aughing) - damn it! - at's tou one, acally. at is thtree? (pianopbeat muc)

human beings have been living at the edge of forests for a very, very long time. (upbeat music) (wind whirling) the edge of the forest is where we belong. (upbeat music) (wind irling) trees are both familiar and alien. (upbeat music) (wind whirling) th don't gany plac ry fast,ut they dure.

(upbeat music) (wind whirling) compared to humans, they're old creatures that we scarcely understand. (upbeat music) (wind whirling)

the rld of pes preced the wor in whi humans uld live itakes a setch of imagation tosk, ll, whatoes that wod look le?

(beepi) (odo ambienc [dr. milr] we don't ually sethem untithey're few years d. you could imagine how lnerablet is in tho arid sos getting ough wat through ose longot summe. buif mom w living therfor 4,00years, then that was a pretty good place. the estimates are less than 1% of survival, but if they survive those first few years, they're pretty good to go. and really there isn't much that kills the bristlecone. (upbeat music) (wind whirling)

as an historical ecologist, i think a lot about times when there were trees, but no humans.

and so sometimes i'll go to places where there was before humans in my mind, because i know those places well from studying them where pines evolved and the bristlecones and the mber pin forests e those aces. am interesd in tryingo undersnd how these trs in a mounin envirment torated hioric tural clate chge, because think that cane useful for derstandg what will comin the fure thugh the owth ringof the wd. i can constrt the pa climate and i n know h they resnded. soo see a 000 yearld tree and tohink of w much it'endured anwhat is le to perst under

5,000 yrs, at's beean enormous ount of imate chge. they c't move get awaythey havto stay and fa what cos. theibest, peectly adted to bin one pce. (beeping) ind whirng) (speaking in foreign language)

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- [leah] was sev and was withy ski grp and i cod rememb them weavinthrough e trees. and i n't know whatappened me, t i justemember one point beg lost in the trs. and just sathere wooing f a little ile d realizg that i was alone (odoor ambnce) growg up treskiing, you had toave a ca. i, aot of tis se the pers that i'skiing wh d then a of a suen, my frienwill be ke, (wing)

as like a signaling beacon. yo get theeverberaon from somne else and thene know we' rely closeogether. 's kind a cool y of mmunicatg througthe tree wiout beinable to s someo. utdoor aience) (upbeat music) - [dr. suzanne] the forest is a holistic place. it's a place that's connected. since i was a little kid, i played in forest like this. they're like treasure chest full of biodiversity,

of genes, of species that are really, really old. kn that th is a special ttle heabeat inhe landspe where thesthings ride. 0 years a long timyou know th's 12 tis as olds i am. and you gethe sense history many spits have be here bere, t just han spiri, bumany creures havlived here a they stl live he d i get at sensehat i'm t here ane ever. feel by co, i've enred intohis cathal and the pe are ful walk in d i feelt home because i feel like i'm in this community of a these catures. pbeat muc) (wat drippin

prty much ery day the yea the winr i ski some wa i'm alys in thforest. don't thk that iould haveeen a scntist unless i h these coections self beg out he is urce of science let's ave scrah th a raiactive g and the ee will ke up th gas-- thesare my pple, anthey're lling we'rtalking d they'rshowing thgs and i saying, "oy, let'study tt." so, ah, it's constan ck and fth conveation beeen me a these gs. oh, th is real hot. ohwow! it's rlly, reay, really leled. if youo into aold growth forestn is quite dark, can be ite shadand you can e littlelants gring in the uerstory seedlin that a kind ofropping .

and there's t a lot of light so the b old trees e competg withhose lite seedlis for lit, t they'rable to ve. wellwhy is that if they can't photosynthesize very well? how could they live? [dr. suzne] as sn asou walk a fores st of usook arou and we , when we see thatig old te. and this oncaughty eye. myrth ees are e bigges es andhe oldesones in theorest. we've en able trace thisree woulbe concted toll theserees arod it. as far as u can se the big oltrees e like t center the hub anthat there nurtung the young edlings ound the as the seed is germinating, the mother tree is communicating with the seed.

sometimes in a really dense shaded forest, those seedlings can sit there for a hundred years and just be feeding off the mother tree, waiting for a little gap to open up for a tree to fall over a branch to fall, just waiting patiently, just waiting my time will come. (lauing) ind whirng) this fungal highway is kind of like a direct way to communicate. so you can think of the network is kind of like an internet or a bunch of telephone lines

and the trees will call each other up and say, "hey, did you know that there's an insect over here?" or, "hey, i got some extra nitrogen do you want some." (upbeat music) th communite all kindof thing they cmunicatebout poins. ey commucate abo incts and seases. theyommunica about resour availility. they c communite about their resses, eir happess, or wheth they're plete orot. (ueat musi when yore skiin rough the forest you kn, there'still, this comnications going between ese tree the winr, it's vermuch ali. pbeat sic)

when we ok at thpattern of the morrhizaletwork, whene actual dissectt and lo at all e mathematical rationshi, it the sampattern as a neul networ anit's evoed for effiency of mmunicatn. and at leadsou to ink ile it'sind of le a brai it's highly coerved stcture thatvolves bause it rks. (brit upat music ifou're toook for at, then tt reside e commity leve it not in e didual trelevel,

it's actually at the forest level. and then i started thinking about the materials that are moving through that network. when we look at the actual compounds, it turns out that some of them are exactly the same as neurotransmitters that are in our brains. intellence is wo that wescribed to hans and imals, d we tento assocte it with nerus syste and bras. plts don'tave nervs system d they d't have ains likee do wit neurons d axons. in the aditionasense of if wrestrictur thghts of telligen the phycal braiand the phical nerus syste will theyeah, no plts don'tave that trs don't ve that, t they dhave intligence in broaderense inhat theyre perceive and theyeceive iormation