THE HIDDEN TREE

THE HIDDEN TREE

Trees do not stand alone: they are part of an ecosystem and they coexist with hundreds or even thousands of soil fauna and flora, including mycorrhizal symbionts. Some species in an ecosystem have an exclusive relationship with each other, others are less specific. These associations can be used to assess the state of a tree or a stand of trees. As an example, the Mycological Tree Assessment methodology developed by the Dutch mycologist and forest ecologist Gerrit Jan Keizer, uses the presence or absence of certain fungi to determine the condition, life stage, and life expectancy of the tree.
The Tree Species Specific Ecosystem (Keizer, 2012) clearly and comprehensively explains the link between the tree and the various tree-associated fungi. It is increasingly being used amongst arborists to assess tree stand and condition through a Mycological Tree Assessment (Keizer, 2015). By the Tree Species Specific Ecosystem, also called the Hidden Tree (Keizer, 2021), the mycologist actually means the complex soil food web of soil flora and fauna around the tree. The web protects the fine root parasites and intersively exchanges nutrients and carbohydrates between mycorrhizal symbionts and fine roots. The core idea is that the tree (or sugar daddy), is at the centre of its own species specific ecosystem, which it itself influences in return. Each tree species possesses, roughly its own typical soil food web, which is dynamic throughout its successive life stages.
Study Guide European Tree Technician, page 84.

Edited by Bregt Roobroeck