What this site is not
We are not a university, conservation authority or species-identification service. References to researchers and institutions do not imply their endorsement or affiliation. Our notes are educational, not forestry, legal, medical or foraging advice.
Conceptual renders are labeled as illustrations. Supporting woodland photographs show habitat context; they are not evidence for an experimental mechanism. We do not use a photograph of roots as proof that particular trees exchange resources.
A starting source trail
Read primary studies alongside reviews, especially when a finding has become a popular story. These references offer different kinds of evidence and background:
- Simard and colleagues, Nature, 1997: a field study of carbon transfer involving ectomycorrhizal trees.
- Karst, Jones and Hoeksema, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2023: a critical review of evidence and interpretation concerning common mycorrhizal networks.
- Mark Brundrett’s Mycorrhizal Associations resource: illustrated explanations of different association types.
- Smithsonian ForestGEO: long-term forest monitoring and research across sites.
- Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study and Harvard Forest: long-term ecosystem perspectives.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Plants of the World Online: botanical research, names and distributions.
Not every linked reference supports every sentence on this site. Topic-page source lists indicate the closest starting points. Research disagreements should be resolved by examining methods and evidence, not by treating any individual source as infallible.
THE EDITORIAL TEST
Can a reader tell what was observed, what was inferred and what remains uncertain? If not, the explanation needs work.