The Sunday Read: ‘The Social Life of Forests’

<p>Foresters once regarded trees as solitary individuals: They competed for space and resources, but were otherwise indifferent to one another.</p><p>The work of the Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard upended that, finding that while there is indeed conflict in a forest, there is also negotiation, reciprocity and even selflessness.</p><p>Ms. Simard discovered that underground fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest.</p><p>On today’s Sunday Read, listen to an exploration of these links and the influential and contentious work of Ms. Simard.</p><p><em>This story was written by </em><strong><em>Ferris Jabr</em></strong><em> and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, </em><a href="https://www.audm.com/?utm_source=nytmag&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=social_life_forests_jabr" target="_blank"><em>download Audm for iPhone or Android.</em></a></p>