Nature

  • Oak trees support 2,300 species, including 326 which depend solely on oaks for survival. The true numbers are larger as the figures don’t include bacteria and other microorganisms. (From UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s research published 2019)
  • Each parts of trees have value in supporting animals and plants, from the top of the canopy to the tip of the roots.
  • As trees grow and age, they develop cavities, crevices, dead wood and other features loved by plants and animals, e.g. cobweb beetle and blue ground beetle shelter beneath oak bark.
  • Trees share water and nutrients through fungal networks and use them to communicate
  • Trees send distress signals along these fungal networks about drought, disease and insect attacks. Other trees alter their behaviour when they receive these messages.
  • Fungi consume about 30 per cent of the sugars that trees photosynthesize from sunlight.
  • This fuels the fungi as they scavenge for nutrients which are absorbed by the trees.
  • Trees communicate through the air using pheromones and other scent signals.
  • When elms and pines come under attack by leaf-eating caterpillars, they detect the caterpillar’s saliva and release pheromones that attract wasps which parasitize the caterpillars.