The Elder Network

You’ve probably heard that old trees feed their young through underground fungi. It’s the most-shared forest fact of the last decade. In 2023, researchers read through more than 1,500 papers looking for the evidence—and didn’t find it. The fungal networks are real. The mother-tree story got ahead of them.

Have you ever learned something from an elder tree? 🌳

Sources

• Positive citation bias and overinterpreted results lead to misinformation on common mycorrhizal networks in forests — Karst, Jones & Hoeksema 2023, Nature Ecology & Evolution
• Belowground carbon transfer across mycorrhizal networks among trees—facts, not fantasy — the reply arguing the transfer evidence is stronger than Karst et al. allow
• Common Mycorrhizae Network—a review of the theories and mechanisms behind underground interactions — Frontiers in Fungal Biology 2021, on what the networks are and what they do

Sources checked 2026-08-12.