Forest Talk: How Trees Communicate

by Melissa Koch

Trees are essential. They provide water, shelter, and food for millions of plant and animal species, including humans. They deliver proven health benefits, and they capture and store carbon, which combats climate change. Yet trees are in trouble. Forests are struggling to adapt to climate change, and deforestation is a major threat.

Recently, researchers and citizen scientists made the surprising revelation that trees communicate with each other through an underground system of soil fungi and other methods. Complex social networks help trees survive and thrive by transferring resources to each other, sending defense signals, communicating with their kin, and more. Meet the tree scientists and learn more of their fascinating discoveries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

96 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Melissa Koch writes nonfiction books for children and their teachers. Her nonfiction children’s books (picture books, middle grade, and young adult) focus on making science and social justice personal and valuable to readers. She lived in Silicon Valley for 27 years where she designed award-winning learning technologies and out-of-school learning experiences that encourage youth and young women from diverse backgrounds to pursue their dreams in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, uncomplicated book that should not be overlooked. It contains almost everything that everyone should know about these large flora with which we share this planet (and with which we are intimately connected).

The publisher says this about the book: “Trees are essential. They provide water, shelter, and food for millions of plant and animal species, including humans. They deliver proven health benefits, and they capture and store carbon, which combats climate change. Yet trees are in trouble. Forests are struggling to adapt to climate change, and deforestation is a major threat.” I found that its central focus is two-fold: How trees communicate and how humans and trees are intertwined.

Koch makes a convincing case about the both. The peoples who live in forests are well-aware of the shelter, food, medicines, etc. that these behemoths provide. The author gives us enough general science and botany to appreciate the ecosystems and bio-cycles that are fundamental to life. This is done succinctly and skillfully with breakout boxes for recent research and profiles of the researchers.

The book has suggestions for activities that are good for trees and good for the planet. It comes with a fine glossary and provides websites that can help readers take their interests further. A quick and helpful read for many from "tweens" through adults.

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5. An easy to read informative book, for teenage readers, about trees and the importance they have on our ecosystem. Good enough for this public, my only problem was the extremely poor quality of the illustrations, maybe that was my epub format, maybe on paper it will look better, but the picture look stretch like they take a tiny pictures and enlarge it without proper software or tools, or just over zoom in.

[subbacultcha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be more on the biological channels through which plants talk to one another. And there is a brief channel on that. But it's more about deforestation and how that's bad. Obviously a good message. And there's some good introductions here to spark interest in ecology. But the tone was off. It's written for YA (Interest Level: Grade 8 - Grade 12 · Reading Level: Grade 8) and here's what that looked like: "This scientist was homesick and wanted to go back to his country but his peers convinced him to keep trying and now this scientist does science." I could be wrong abt teens but I feel like this book talks down to them in a way they won't really appreciate. Maybe better geared towards a younger audience (5th-8th grade)?

Also, I was a little disappointed that this book didn't make any special mention of being printed on recycled paper or having some sort of carbon-offset program.

[Kris Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t help but love books about trees. This is short, informative and a quick read. It makes me think about the trees in my life, in the city, in the forest and in the world. They communicate with one another and help each other prosper. Why can’t we do this too? So much trees can teach us!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Forest Talk" offers an interesting look at trees. Readers will learn the benefits of forests to human health and wellness, how trees sustain the environment, and the ways trees communicate with each other.
I did enjoy reading "Forest Talk." It includes plenty of research and a large reference section for readers who want to learn more about this topic. The writing style and tone give the book a school report feel, though, and I kept wondering if it was a college class essay. I also get the impression that it's written for a young audience because of the vocabulary explanations and other content.
The conclusion provides ways readers can appreciate trees. I definitely see the forest in a different view after reading "Forest Talk" and am grateful for this reminder to get outside and walk in the woods.

[Aniko Nagyne vig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very important topic, and it’s main purpose is to encourage environment friendly thinking. It also gives a lot of background information of the biology, forestry as well as important researchers on the field.

My issue was the haphazard style, it forced everywhere the environmental effects, even if I was curious about the title, how trees communicate, forest talk, but it was only a small portion. Especially in the beginning the research examples were not logical or detailed enough for the consequences mentioned. Even if the points were valid and important, the reasoning lacked for me. I would do the background and interesting research parts, then highlight in one big chapter the environment protection points, why is it important and how to prevent it.

[HPL Teen Advisory Group · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate this book 4.5 stars as I think it's a great book if you love trees and are learning about them. The reading level was good for me as someone that doesn't read a lot. and I like how the colours that they used for the inside of the book match the theme of the book (trees) . I also liked that it's not too long of a read and that you don't have to worry about reading this long donating book so that was nice. and I also liked that it had so many things that I did not know about trees like the fact that they can use their roots to communicate with other tress I thought that was cool. so I would recommend this book to anyone who loves trees and the outdoors.

-Review by Megan

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a short, interesting book that's a mile wide and an inch deep. I don't mean that as a negative either. It covers quite a wide range of topics related to forests and now it's not simply a collection of trees. It's written for a high schooler or perhaps precocious junior high schooler. For someone of that sort who took a nature hike and wants to know more about the forest, this would be a good introduction that may get them to read more in depth. I was hoping that the book would concentrate on the "wood wide web" and while it did cover it, it wasn't as extensive as the subtitle would suggest.

In all, a solid book, especially for a teen. 3.5/5

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me, you'll pick up this book because you care about the environment, and you want to learn everything you can about it, so that you can do your share to help out. The description of this book is something that jumped out to me actually more than the cover, because it just sounded really interesting and I love short non fiction books. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpr...

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ended up mostly being a love story to trees, with lots of information on the good trees do to the environment and the way they benefit people through their products, water cycling and pollution reduction capabilities. There was some information about how trees share resources and use chemicals to trigger responses in other trees to deter predators or other dangers, but not much. I think my expectations led me to expect the wrong stuff.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good general book on how trees work and why it is important to protect forests. I was particularly interested in the chapter entitled, "Trees Talk to One Another." It talks about how the interconnection of trees in vital to the health of forests. There are also good Bibliographies in the back of the book and source information if you wanted to get involved more in working for forest preservation.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative, but not quite on target. The sub title, how trees communicate, led me to believe this book would be about how trees communicate. There was only one chapter on that subject. Also, it is marketed for teen readers. Instead, it is poorly written, and juvenile. This would be an adequate book on forest ecology for upper elementary, but missed the mark for my high school library. Disappointed.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seemed to be struggling to find a reading level. Some of the topics seemed advanced for the intended audience, but for the most part the reading level of the book was very low. I expected the book to be more about the communication networks of trees, but there was much more focus on ecology, sustainability and carbon footprints. An interesting read. I did appreciate that there were lots of reference materials to further pursue the topics I was truly interested in.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd.

I tried to read this but I found it to have more of a spiritual vibe in the first few pages that turned me off to the rest of the book. I was hoping for more scientific based reading. Maybe the tone changed further in the book but I couldn't force my way through.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often when I begin to explore a new area of interest, I read a child's or young adult book on the subject. I'm seldom disappointed in what I gain by this practice. This book is engaging, well researched with an appealing format. Now I can tackle adult books on the topic!!

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, informative, written at a lay level. Learn a bit about the importance of trees to the world and the devastation of deforestation. Learn about the fascinating "connection" between trees that exists underground. Amazing facts.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of the information in this book was not new for me. It seemed elementary to me, perhaps written for an inexperienced, new learner in the field.