Not only does the forest operate on the principle of abundance for all and communal resource sharing to maintain health and vitality; the forest has also evolved since Devonian days to optimize for the production and exchange of these resources. There lives a lot of wisdom in the forest. Depending on the age of the tree and their position/role in the canopy community—the production, use, and exchange of resources has ecologically evolved (via natural selection) to optimize energy and access to resources. So, this part of the tree’s story seems best told in a life linear way–from the time the tree was just a seed until it grew to be quite old and gray.

The Seedling

Beginning with the beginning of life, the seed- whether literally blasting forth from a heated (serotinous) cone or traveling in the gut of a bird or a squirrel who calls the tree home; or following the wind currents of a maple wing on the winds of a prayer, the self-sustaining seed will finally find ground to settle somewhere. Quite a miracle indeed, the seed contains all the energy and nutrient resources, to sprout life below ground that it would need. And imagine this, many trees will mass coordinate their seeding and fruiting activity as a forest—all for one and one for all… all at the right spring time (or if the species only fruits every few years, all in the same year to preserve precious resources in harsh or limited environmental conditions), when the light and seasonal conditions are prime. Why? Again, the trees know that we be forest. We are family … and when we all thrive, the forest stays alive.