Suzanne Simard: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Canadian forest ecologist (born 1960)}}

| image = Suzanne Simard 2.jpg

'''Suzanne Simard''' is(born a1960)<ref Canadianname="Vanchierim" scientist>Cori whoVanchierim, [https://www.sciencenews.org/article/finding-the-mother-tree-suzanne-simard-forests-logging 'An ecologist’s new book gets at the root of trees’ social lives,'] [[Science News]] 28 June 2021</ref> is a professorCanadian scientist and Professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the [[University of British Columbia]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Biography of Suzanne Simard for Appearances, Speaking Engagements|url=https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Suzanne+Simard/398201#:~:text=When%20she%20was%20a%20little,life%20revolves%20around%20the%20forest.|access-date=February 18, 2021|website=www.allamericanspeakers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818201605/https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Suzanne+Simard/398201 |archive-date=2021-08-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> SheAfter growing up in the [[Monashee Mountains]], British Columbia,<ref name="Vanchierim" /><ref name="Wired">{{cite web |title=The Wolf Tree and the World Wide Web |url=https://www.wired.com/author/suzanne-simard/ |website=WIRED magazine |access-date=28 December 2022}}</ref><ref name="hooper-2021" /> she received her PhD in Forest Sciences at [[Oregon State University]].<ref name=":0" /> Prior to teachingworking at the [[University of British Columbia]], Simard worked as a research scientist at the British Columbia Ministry of Forests.<ref name=":0" />

Simard is best known for the research she conducted on the underground networks of forests characterized by [[Fungus|fungi]] and roots.<ref name=":0" /> She studies how these fungi and roots facilitate communication and interaction between trees and plants of an ecosystem.<ref name=":0" /> Within the communication between trees and plants is the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients and defense signals between trees.<ref name=":0" /> Simard is also a leader of TerreWEB, an initiative set to train graduate students and Postpost-Doctoraldoctoral Fellowsfellows in global change science and its communication.<ref>{{Cite web|title=TerreWEB - UBC Wiki|url=https://wiki.ubc.ca/TerreWEB|access-date=February 18, 2021|website=wiki.ubc.ca}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

She used rare [[carbon isotopes]] as tracers in both field and greenhouse experiments to measure the flow and sharing of carbon between individual trees and species, and discovered, for instance, that [[birch]] and [[Douglas fir]] share carbon. Birch trees receive extra carbon from Douglas firs when the birch trees lose their leaves, and birch trees supply carbon to Douglas fir trees that are in the shade.

Simard identified something called a hub tree, or “mother"mother tree”tree". Mother trees are the largest trees in forests that act as central hubs for vast below-ground [[mycorrhizal networks]]. A mother tree supports [[seedlings]] by infecting them with fungi and supplying them with the nutrients they need to grow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forestry.ubc.ca/2011/05/prof-suzanne-simard-talks-about-mother-trees/|title=Prof. Suzanne Simard talks about "Mother Trees"|date=May 16, 2011|publisher=}}</ref>

She discovered that [[Douglas firs]] provide carbon to baby firs. She found that there was more carbon sent to baby firs that came from that specific mother tree, than random baby firs not related to that specific fir tree. It was also found that the mother trees change their root structure to make room for baby trees.<ref>Simard, Suzanne W.; Perry, David A.; Jones, Melanie D.; Myrold, David D.; Durall, Daniel M.; Molina, Randy (August 1997). "Net transfer of carbon between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field". Nature. 388 (6642): 579–582. {{doi|10.1038/41557}}</ref>

Her book ''[[Finding the Mother Tree]]'' asserts that forest ecologies are interdependent with fungal mycelium. She asserts that trees (and other plants) exchange sugars through their respective root systems and through interconnected fungal mycelial structures to share (and at times trade) micronutrients.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last1=Slaught |first1=Jonathan C. |title=The Woman Who Looked at a Forest and Saw a Community |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/books/review/finding-the-mother-tree-suzanne-simard.html |access-date=7 January 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=3 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last1=Bone |first1=Eugenia |title=BOOKSHELF 'Finding the Mother Tree' Review: Seeing the Forest |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/finding-the-mother-tree-review-seeing-the-forest-11620397546 |access-date=7 January 2022 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |date=7 May 2021}}</ref> This is significant in terms of the way existing woods and forests are managed and new plantations established.<ref name="Simard2021" />

Simard found that "fir trees were using the fungal web to trade nutrients with paper-bark birch trees over the course of the season".<ref name=newyorker>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/the-intelligent-plant|last1=Pollan |first1=Michael|author-link=Michael Pollan|title=The Intelligent Plant|magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=December 16, 2013 |publisher=}}</ref> For example, tree species can loan one another sugars as deficits occur within seasonal changes. This is a particularly beneficial exchange between [[deciduous]] and [[coniferous]] trees as their energy deficits occur during different periods. The benefit "of this cooperative underground economy appears to be better over-all health, more total photosynthesis, and greater resilience in the face of disturbance".<ref name=newyorker /><ref>Simard, S.W. ''et al.'' (2012). "Mycorrhizal networks: Mechanisms, ecology and modeling". Fungal Biology Reviews. 26: 39–60. {{doi|10.1016/j.fbr.2012.01.001}}</ref>

Suzanne Simard is an advocate of [[science communication]]. At the [[University of British Columbia]] she initiated with colleagues Dr. Julia Dordel and Dr. [[Maja Krzic]] the Communication of Science Program TerreWEB,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://terreweb.ubc.ca|title=TerreWEB|website=terreweb.ubc.ca}}</ref> which has been training graduate students to become better communicators of their research since 2011. Simard has appeared in videos intended for general audiences, including three [[TED (conference)|TED]] talks,<ref>{{cite web|title=How trees talk to each other|date=July 22, 2016 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The networked beauty of forests - Suzanne Simard|url=https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-networked-beauty-of-forests-suzanne-simard|website=TED-Ed}}</ref> the short documentary ''Do trees communicate?'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2139811/|title=Do Trees Communicate?|publisher=|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://tedxseattle.com/talks/natures-internet-how-trees-talk-to-each-other-in-a-healthy-forest/|title=Nature's internet: how trees talk to each other in a healthy forest – TEDxSeattle|website=tedxseattle.com}}</ref> and the longer [[documentary film|documentary films]] ''Intelligent Trees''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelligent-trees.com|title=Intelligent Trees - The Documentary}}</ref> (where she appears alongside forester and author [[Peter Wohlleben]]) and ''[[Fantastic Fungi]]''.<ref>{{Cite webnews|last=Morgenstern|first=Joe|author-link=Joe Morgenstern|title='Fantastic Fungi' Review: Magic Mushrooms|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fantastic-fungi-review-magic-mushrooms-11571952327|access-date=2021-12-28|websitenewspaper=WSJWall Street Journal|date=October 24, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[New Scientist]] magazine interviewed Simard in 2021.<ref name="hooper-2021">

Simard’sSimard's life and work served as the primary inspiration for Patricia Westerford, a central character in [[Richard Powers]]’' 2018 [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]] winning novel ''[[The Overstory]]'', in which Westerford pioneers the controversial idea that trees can communicate with each other, and is ridiculed by fellow scientists before eventually being vindicated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/02/magazine/tree-communication-mycorrhiza.html|title=The Social Life of Forests|last=Jabr|first=Ferris|date=December 2, 2020|website=The New York Times|language=en-US|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/its_not_the_trees_that_need_saving/|title=It's Not the Trees That Need Saving: The Overstory (Review)|last=Fabiani|first=Louise|date=2018|website=Earth Island Journal|language=en-US|access-date=February 1, 2021}}</ref>

Simard's work was referenced in Season 2, Episode 11 of the [[Apple TV+]] series ''[[Ted Lasso]]'' when Coach Beard says:

"You know, we used to believe that trees competed with each other for light. Suzanne Simard’sSimard's field work challenged that perception, and we now realize that the forest is a socialist community. Trees work in harmony to share the sunlight."

In 2022 sheSimard is slated to appearappeared as a panelist in ''[[Canada Reads]]'', advocating for [[Clayton Thomas-Müller]]'s book ''Life in the City of Dirty StreetsWater''.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2022-contenders-1.6326413 "Meet the Canada Reads 2022 contenders"]. [[CBC Books]], January 26, 2022.</ref>

[[Category:Year1960 of birth missing (living people)births]]

[[Category:UniversityOregon ofState British ColumbiaUniversity facultyalumni]]