05/13/2026
We hope all of you mothers out there felt loved and appreciated this Mother’s Day weekend. On the sunset of Mother’s Day weekend we thought it would be fun to share some facts about Mother Trees, aka hub trees.
These are the oldest, tallest, and most connected trees in a forest and were coined Mother Trees by the Canadian ecologist, Dr. Suzanne Simard,because they act like, well, mothers. These trees are able to communicate to the other trees and seedlings throughout the forest through mycorrhizal fungi, creating an underground information highway.
Throught this network they can send excess carbon, nitrogen, and water to understory seedlings, significantly increasing their chances of survival.
Recognizing their own kin, they prioritize transferring more nutrients to their genetic offspring compared to strangers.
They also communicate with other trees, sending warnings about environmental threats like insect attacks, allowing neighbors to raise their defenses.
Mother Trees are vital to the health of the entire forest and are crucial for forest recovery and climate change resilience. Losing them can drastically reduce the survival chances of younger trees and weaken the forest ecosystem.
