Nature is often portrayed as a vicious dog - eat - dog world where only thefittestindividuals are permitted to pull through and fly high . deeply in the woodland of New Zealand , however , there is a tree stump that testify it is n’t always that straightforward .
This stump of a kauri tree should have conk out long ago as it has recede its green leaves needed forphotosynthesis . Nevertheless , it is being kept alive with the avail of its neighboring trees . The nearby tree have grafted their root system to that of the dying podium , pumping it with piss and food like a life history - living organisation .
Back in 2019 , a team of scientist came across this curious specimen while hiking around the Waitākere Ranges in West Auckland .
" It was queer , because even though the stump did n’t have any foliage , it was alive , ” Sebastian Leuzinger , corresponding author and associate prof at the Auckland University of Technology , said in astatement .
stump by the find , they decided to express out an experimentation on the undead tree diagram . The dais and some of the neighboring trees were hooked up to several sensors that tracked the flow of water and sap , as well as the vent of carbon dioxide .
As reported in the journaliScience , the findings indicate that the roots of the soapbox and the neighboring trees were engraft together , allowing the stump to receive the pee and nutrients it postulate to survive .
" This is dissimilar from how normal trees operate , where the piss flow is driven by the water potentiality of the atmosphere . In this case , the pulpit has to follow what the rest of the trees do , because since it lacks transpiring leaf , it escapes the atmospheric pull , " Leuzinger explained .
The question is why the surrounding trees embark on the costly endeavor to shore up up their pass away neighbour . Kind - hearted altruism ? commitment ?
The relationship is especially costly for the healthy Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree because the connectivity can allow diseases to spread more apace . This is particularly relevant for the kauri , which is consider to be vulnerable to extinction in its fatherland due to the spread ofkauri dieback diseasecaused by the pathogenPhytophthora agathidicida .
" For the stump , the advantages are obvious - it would be utter without the transplant , because it does n’t have any immature tissue of its own , " Leuzinger enjoin . " But why would the green tree diagram keep their granddad tree active on the timber floor while it does n’t seem to provide anything for its host Tree ? "
One estimation is that the trees were always ingraft together in this interlinked mesh to avail share piddle and nutrient during times of drought in a “ you scratch my back and I ’ll scratch yours ” set - up . The leafless soapbox would have stopped producing carbohydrates , but it likely went unnoticed and continued to ride on the backs of fence in Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree
To better empathize this fascinating relationship , the investigator believe we need to see the timberland ecosystems asvast “ superorganisms ” . This enquiry concentre on just a single tree , but it is plain that many wood ecosystem appear to work likeinterconnected communal superorganisms , not simply competing single organism .
" This has far - reaching import for our perception of trees - possibly we are not really dealing with trees as mortal , but with the forest as a superorganism , " Leuzinger added .
" This is a call for more research in this area , peculiarly in a changing climate and a risk of more frequent and more severe drouth , " Leuzinger says . " This change the way we look at the natural selection of tree and the ecology of forests . "
