Do Trees Communicate with Each Other?樹木之間會互相交流嗎？

For many years， scientists thought trees live on their own. Each tree in the forestwas trying to get light， water， and nutrients1. But scientists find that trees may worktogether—with the help of fungi2.

多年以來，科學家認為樹木是獨立生存的。森林中的每棵樹都試圖獲得陽光、水和養分。但是科學家發現樹木可以在真菌的幫助下共同合作。

Fungi are small living things. They are not plants or animals， but break downdecaying3 matter and use it for food. In forests， fungi connect4 trees throughunderground networks5. Trees’roots6 grow out in all ways. The same soil is home tofungi， which can grow on and around tree roots. The fungi make webs between treesknown as mycorrhizal7 networks.

真菌是微小的生物。它們不是植物也不是動物，但可以分解腐爛的物質并將其用作食物。在森林中，真菌通過地下網絡連接起樹木。樹木的根朝各個方向生長。同樣的土壤也是真菌的家園，真菌可以在樹根上面和周圍生長。真菌在樹木之間結網，稱為菌根網絡。

In these networks， scientists think the trees and the fungi help one another. Thetrees give sugars made during photosynthesis8 to the fungi. The fungi get mineral9nutrients from the soil. They share them with the tree.

在這些網絡中，科學家認為樹木和真菌互惠互利。樹木將光合作用產生的糖分提供給真菌。真菌從土壤中獲取礦質營養。它們和樹木分享這些營養。

The fungi in a mycorrhizal network connect the trees together. Trees can sharesugars， nutrients， and water with one another. For example， if a small tree is growingin a shaded10 area， it may not get enough sunlight for photosynthesis. However， largertrees growing around it can send sugar to the young trees through the fungi. If a treeis dying， it might give its nutrients to the healthy trees growing around it.

菌根網絡中的真菌將樹木彼此連接在一起。樹木之間可以互相分享糖分、養分和水分。例如，如果一棵小樹生長在陰暗的地方，它可能無法獲得足夠的陽光進行光合作用。然而，生長在它周圍的大樹可以通過真菌將糖分傳遞給小樹。如果一棵樹快死了，它可能會把養分提供給周圍健康生長的樹木。

Some plants will use the networks to take nutrients from their neighbors. Treesalso send messages by mycorrhizal networks. Networks can even connect differentkinds of plants. For example， fungi might connect a tree to a flower. Scientists thinkmycorrhizal networks are important for healthy forests. While the fungi are meetingtheir own needs， they are also helping trees to stay healthy.

有些植物會利用該網絡從鄰居那里拿走養分。樹木也通過菌根網絡傳遞信息。這些網絡甚至可以連接不同種類的植物。例如，真菌可能會把樹和花聯系在一起。科學家認為菌根網絡對一片健康的森林很重要。真菌在滿足自身需求的同時，也在幫助樹木保持健康。

（英語原文選自：wonderopolis.org）