Shyness

Did you know that some trees practice social distancing? They do it for more of less the same reason that we do. Margaret Lowman, a forest canopy specialist, theorises that these gaps between treetop foliage – called crown shyness – are a way to prevent insect ‘pests’ and diseases spreading. It’s a tree-version of self-isolation. The social distancing also minimises storm damage from the branches of adjacent trees knocking or falling against one another. Dendrologists have observed this in forests around the world: in lodgepole pines in British Columbia, Australian eucalyptus, Malaysia’s Borneo camphor, Sitka spruce and Japanese larch.

— Wayne Visser

From Purpose Inspired: Reflections on Conscious Living, Volume 4. Buy on Lulu ↗