Mother Tree Networks

The largest, oldest trees act as hubs, each linked to hundreds of neighbors through the fungal network. One intriguing idea concerns timing: when a tree dies, some studies suggest it may release stored carbon and nutrients into the soil and fungal network rather than locking them away. Whether surviving neighbors meaningfully absorb and benefit from those reserves is not settled — researchers have not pinned down how much, if any, reaches recipient roots. So the picture of the oldest trees "feeding" the forest as they fall is a compelling hypothesis more than an established fact.