Mother Trees In A Wood Wide Web
Árboles madre en una amplia red de bosque- por Suzanne Simard
L@s ancian@s desempeñan un papel especial en cualquier comunidad, habiéndose ganado el respeto de la tribu por la sabiduría, el conocimiento y la enseñanza de toda su vida. Ayudan a vincular a las personas con la comunidad en general como un todo y conectar el pasado con el futuro. No todos los individuos “mayores” son ancianos, ni todos los ancianos son “mayores”. En mi familia, las abuelas y los abuelos generalmente desempeñaban el papel de ancianos, aunque ciertas personas, como mis hijas, nacieron con sabiduría más allá de su edad, conectando a la familia a través de distintas épocas.
Esta sabiduría surge de las vidas vividas antes de ell@s durante muchas generaciones.
En el trabajo de mi vida en el bosque, he aprendido que los ancianos de muchas especies, incluidos los humanos, también conectan el bosque, proporcionando un andamiaje genético adaptativo para el cambio y la resiliencia de toda la comunidad. En el bosque, las especies fundamentales son los árboles, y los ancianos de esta fundación son los árboles más grandes y más viejos. Los árboles mayores proporcionan un ancla para la estructura diversa de los árboles de muchos tamaños en su entorno. Estos ancianos son importantes no solo como hábitat para las muchas criaturas vegetales, animales, fúngicas y microbianas que viven en el bosque, sino también para las personas cuyas culturas y medios de vida dependen del bosque.
Un simple abeto mayor de Douglas, por ejemplo, se puede conectar a cientos de otros árboles, ya sea de la misma especie o de diferentes especies, por la magnitud de su enorme sistema de raíces y su diversa comunidad de hongos. Estas conexiones subterráneas forman una red de micorrizas, ahora conocida coloquialmente como la “Wood Wide Web” (La Red Ancha del Bosque), con una topología similar a la de las redes neuronales, las redes de corrientes en las cuencas hidrográficas e Internet. En la Red del Bosque, se puede pensar que los árboles sirven como nodos de la red, mientras que los hongos actúan como vértices.
La Red Ancha del Bosque es una red muy ocupada, donde [...] los árboles mayores pueden reconocer a los vecinos que están relacionados genéticamente o que son parientes, y pueden enviar más o menos recursos a otros árboles para favorecerlos o desfavorecerlos en función de la seguridad del medio ambiente. He empezado a llamar a estos ancianos “Árboles Madre” porque parecen estar alimentando a sus crías. Los Árboles Madre conectan el bosque a través del espacio y el tiempo, al igual que los ancianos conectan a las familias humanas a través de generaciones.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con el papel de conexión y crianza de los ancianos, ya sean humanos o árboles? ¿Puedes compartir una experiencia de alguna vez en que te diste cuenta de una ecología completa por debajo de los nodos visibles? ¿Qué te ayuda a ser un/a ancian@ nutritivo que sostiene a los demás?
Suzanne Simard es una científica canadiense, profesora y autora de varios libros.
Suzanne Simard is a Canadian scientist, professor and author various books. Excerpted from this article.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the connecting and nurturing role of elders, be they humans or trees? Can you share an experience of a time you became aware of an entire ecology beneath the visible nodes? What helps you be a nourishing elder that sustains others?
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8 Past Reflections
On Oct 16, 2021 Debbie wrote :
Totally Agree! Our Sustainability Book Club read your book for our Sep meeting. We all loved it!
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On Oct 8, 2021 Gururaj wrote :
Elders or elderly qualities , I see now, tap into the life force in a wise way which makes them flourish. They inspire that in others and a supportive eco system forms.
One such system that has influenced me is Yoga. A great master worked sincerely on himself, built institutions, which created expert instructors and one such instructor is coaching me well over more than a year. Health and peace spreads over all practitioners and , I trust, in some way it redounds to the glory of that original master.
Of course, weeds and noxious plants ( and inner impurities) also flourish, especially when the "elderly" forces are weak.These negative forces support each other and often become big forces - both externally in the world and in our psyches.
But maybe ( I trust) it's the innate love , wisdom, cleansing force of nature that eventually tips the evolution towards itself and the noxious things are kept in check.
One such system that has influenced me is Yoga. A great master worked sincerely on himself, built institutions, which created expert instructors and one such instructor is coaching me well over more than a year. Health and peace spreads over all practitioners and , I trust, in some way it redounds to the glory of that original master.
Of course, weeds and noxious plants ( and inner impurities) also flourish, especially when the "elderly" forces are weak.These negative forces support each other and often become big forces - both externally in the world and in our psyches.
But maybe ( I trust) it's the innate love , wisdom, cleansing force of nature that eventually tips the evolution towards itself and the noxious things are kept in check.
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On Oct 5, 2021 Megan McKenzie wrote :
I learned so much of what you speak from old growth Coastal Redwoods on the Northern Californian coast.
There is one area you do not mention that I particularly treasure. The tall old elder trees showed me that they are receptors of cosmic energy and channel it into the earth.
The redwoods are a true elder community. Their roots are connected underground and above ground they frequently support each other with massive ingrown limbs.
They alsosupport a network of rare and endangered small species that are born on the tree and spend their entire life on that one tree.
The trees depend on fog for 90% of their water needs. It cannot possibly be pumped 200 ft.in the trunk. They truly are amazing miracles and gifts.
There is one area you do not mention that I particularly treasure. The tall old elder trees showed me that they are receptors of cosmic energy and channel it into the earth.
The redwoods are a true elder community. Their roots are connected underground and above ground they frequently support each other with massive ingrown limbs.
They alsosupport a network of rare and endangered small species that are born on the tree and spend their entire life on that one tree.
The trees depend on fog for 90% of their water needs. It cannot possibly be pumped 200 ft.in the trunk. They truly are amazing miracles and gifts.
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On Oct 5, 2021 Patrick wrote :
Trees of course have no sense of human gender, some even carry the "male" and "female" together both physically and spiritually. We have given our trees names for the purpose of conversing with them, but again, gender looses its meaning when conversing with trees. Why even giant Aidan, the 300+\- year old Oak is certainly a "mother tree" having nurtured both humans and animal neighbors for three centuries.
}:- a.m.
anonemoose monk
}:- a.m.
anonemoose monk
1 reply: J | Post Your Reply
On Oct 2, 2021 David Doane wrote :
If elders is defined as those having "lifelong wisdom, knowledge, and teaching," then elders are very likely to provide a valuable connecting and nurturing role,being of great benefit to everyone. I very much listen to and respect such elders. It's too bad our society doesn't produce more of them. It's fairly recently that I became aware of an ecology beneath the visible nodes, and now I see that there is one ecology that is beneath all life and includes all life. What helps me be a nourishing elder is life experience and learning from it, years of learning from elders past and present, being open, getting old, caring, healthy detachment, and wanting to make a positive contribution to the ecology network of which I am a part.
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On Oct 1, 2021 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
I like the difference between oldindividualsand elders as shown by the author Suzzane Simard. As the author says not all individual are elders nor all elders are old. The marking sign of an elder is wisdom, not just knowledge. People may have knowledge but not wisdom. Wisdom grows like a Mother Tree connecting, nurturingand protecting the young plants. As an elderly and old member of the family and my community I help the young members of my family and the community at large when they need guidance from me. My heart gets richer when I help, guide and nurture those who need help and support.
As I was growing up I needed help, support, empathyand emotional nurturingin my life. I was blessed to have some elderly folks in my life to provide guidance, empathy, love, and nurturing. The elderly people provided shade and support I needed to survive and flourish. They taught me by theirliving example how I can go through the thick and thin in my life. They were my great teachersand they have l... [View Full Comment]