Trees are more than just trees.
Take, for example, a single mature oak tree. If you take a close look, you will find that it is a million different things.
Throughout its lifetime, one oak can do a whole heck of a lot. It supports hundreds of different species of insects, birds, mammals, fungi, lichens, and other organisms. Some biologists even refer to old oaks as miniature ecosystems because so much life depends upon them.
It all starts with the leaves. Oak leaves provide food for hundreds of species of caterpillars and other insects.
And then? Those insects become an important food source for birds. In fact, many songbirds rely heavily on caterpillars to feed their chicks during nesting season. Without all of those healthy insect populations living in oak trees, a lot of birds would probably struggle to raise their young successfully.
But let’s get down to my favorite part. Those amazing little acorns.
A mature oak can produce thousands of them in a good year. They just don’t go into the ground to make more oaks. No. Instead, they offer an incredible food source for squirrels, deer, wild turkeys, blue jays, woodpeckers, mice, and countless other animals.
Some animals eat the acorns right away. No nutcrackers included. Other animals bury them for later. I have seen this with my own eyes.
And then, of course, we have all those short-memory squirrels and such. Forgotten acorns often sprout into new trees, making these animals accidental foresters. That’s who I’m talking about.
Even after an oak dies, it continues to give and give. Dead trunks and fallen branches become homes for woodpeckers, owls, insects, fungi, mosses, and more. Like countless microorganisms.
And then, as the wood slowly rots and decays, it returns nutrients to the soil. All of that disappearing oak is really nourishing the next generation of plants and trees.
What most people don’t know about trees is what goes on beneath.
Perhaps most remarkable is the underground world. Oak roots form these “partnerships” with beneficial fungi. As such, they do it through networks that are known as “mycorrhizae” (My-kuh-rye-zee).
What happens is that these fungi help the tree absorb water and nutrients while connecting it with other plants beneath the forest floor. As such, they form an intricate network of life that scientists continue to study. It is a sort of communication that happens.
And just think of it. All of it.
All of this begins with a single seed.
I think this is such an incredible reminder that one living thing can influence far more lives than we ever imagine.
Yes. That is us too.
All of us.
All that we touch and do and think and say.
We give the world incredible things through a lifetime of simply being exactly what we were meant to be.
Even if we are a little nuts.
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“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek proverb
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“Even the smallest act of kindness grows roots beyond what we can see.” — Unknown
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“We are all connected to everyone and everything else.” — Gregory Bateson
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“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall
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