Was Tolkien Right About Ents-Talking Trees?

[R.R.J Tolkien]

Talking Trees—Secrets of Plant Communication
https://answersingenesis.org/biology...talking-trees/

An amazing read about trees and how they can communicate. Some of the highlights I thought were

"Researchers are discovering that trees form communities that “talk” to each other, sharing their needs and providing mutual assistance"

"They can communicate with other trees and with other creatures, seeking help."

"Experiments in the African savannah suggest that when a giraffe arrives and starts ingesting acacia leaves, plants will soon be inedible but will also warn nearby trees. Leaves send out the warning gas ethylene, and other trees in the vicinity detect the scent and start producing their own defense chemicals before the giraffe arrives. "

"One of their defenses against being overeaten is producing chemicals that make them taste bad. At the same time, other chemicals warn nearby trees that a swarm of voracious beetles or other animals have invaded. These chemicals are specifically tailored for this purpose."

"In addition to chemical warnings, some oak and beech leaves and spruce needles will produce electrical signals when an insect predator eats them. Electrical impulses generate messages to the rest of the tree so that, within an hour, the tree will hopefully taste so bad that the insects flee"

" If we could carefully remove the loam at the base of a forest tree, we’d see a root system that spreads out twice as far as the canopy above our heads. This root system reaches depths of 1–5 feet (0.3–1.5 m), depending on the location. More astonishingly, roots may connect directly with the roots of other trees. Trees can distinguish members of their own kind and establish connections with them."


"As hungry insects salivate on elms and pines, the trees can chemically analyze the insects’ saliva, reproduce it in mass quantities, and broadcast the chemical to the forest community. This cry for help alerts predators who like to eat the insects. They promptly come flying to the location, eliminating the insects that are attacking the tree."

" trees may be cooperating and assisting each other. When one tree is sick, nearby trees may share nutrients through their roots to help it get well again. If a lodgepole pine sapling springs up in the shade of a thick forest, older trees somehow sense that it doesn’t get enough sunlight to make food for itself, so they may share their bounty. They even change their root structure to open space for saplings."

"How do plants talk in the soil? They may have several options. For example, researchers have found evidence that plants are communicating by sound. Though this sounds crazy, vibrations emanating from seedlings in laboratory settings have been detected by special instruments and measured at 220 hertz. In experiments, roots direct other roots to grow toward this low frequency. "

Trees also communicate with chemical messages, but they aren’t just talking to each other. They talk to their other soil neighbors, too. Microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, gather water and nutrients that the trees need. So roots produce nutritious substances, such as sugars and proteins, to attract these organisms. One researcher described this chemical advertisement as trees producing “cakes” and “cookies” to attract microbes to come and enjoy...Fungi, for example, will inform the tree when they need to enter a root, and the tree will respond by softening a place in its root wall where the fungus can enter.

"Trees communicate so intensely via these networks that it has been called the “underground internet” and the “wood wide web.” Electrical impulses pass through nerve-like cells from root tip to root tip, and these signals may be broadcasting news about drought conditions, predator attack, and heavy metal contamination."

[Inziladun]

Interesting. I wish the weeds constantly infiltrating my yard would communicate when I mow that they need to stop sprouting there.
Come to think of it, wasn't there a band named along that line?

I doubt Tolkien had any scientific basis for the recurring evidence of sentience of trees in the Old Forest and Fangorn, of course. And the communications in those cases were conscious, and self-aware.

That said, I don't see the idea of low-level floral warnings as all that far fetched. It's seen time and again in insects as an instinctive response, as with bee and ant pheromones.

[R.R.J Tolkien]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Interesting. I wish the weeds constantly infiltrating my yard would communicate when I mow that they need to stop sprouting there.
Come to think of it, wasn't there a band named along that line?

I doubt Tolkien had any scientific basis for the recurring evidence of sentience of trees in the Old Forest and Fangorn, of course. And the communications in those cases were conscious, and self-aware.

That said, I don't see the idea of low-level floral warnings as all that far fetched. It's seen time and again in insects as an instinctive response, as with bee and ant pheromones.

lol great stuff. maybe they do communicate but cant up and move. I was reading abut trees somewhere that when storms hit the sap stops and the tree gathers in the center of the tree all its sap and saves it in case of a major injury such as a broken limb to send and repair it.

[R.R.J Tolkien]

And from Joel Salatins the Marvelous Pigness of Pigs

https://www.amazon.com/Marvelous-Pig...igness+of+pigs


On farmers using sap for syrup “The flow [of sap] stays constant once the taps are in and the weather holds Unless the wind blows. If the wind blows, the sap stops running out of the tree... sap is a cleanser for the trees. ...When the farmer bores the tap the tree sends sends sap to heal the wound...When the wind blows, the tree senses that a branch might break. A broken branch is a much more serious wound than a little clean tap hole in the trunk. Therefore the tree withholds the sap from the tap hole in case it needs to rush a bunch of sap to a broken limb somewhere. Once the wind subsides, the sap starts flowing again through the little tap hole. Sentinel beings anyone? You bet. Fearfully and wonderfully made.
-Joel Salatin The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs Faith Words NY Nashville 2016


“New research shows that trees in Africa being grazed by herbivorous ping out a phenol message to change the chemical composition of the leaves to more bitterness. Its a protective measure against grazing. Are trees sentient beings? You bet. Anything that can communicate and morph its physiology that quickly is absolutely thinking. Psalm 139.14 says life is “fearfully and wonderfully made” Indeed.”
-Joel Salatin The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs Faith Words NY Nashville 2016