I’d written back with an idea that had been germinating since the insect outbreaks had transformed our forests into oceans of dead trees: If dying trees communicate with incoming species, we might use this knowledge to better assist the migration of tree species as the old forests become maladapted to their native places. A warning-and-aid system—those infested Douglas firs telling pines to upgrade their defense arsenal, for instance—might be important for the growth of the new species or races (genotypes) as the old forests were dying back. As the injured Mother Trees slowly folded their
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