Trees and other plants exchange sugars through their respective root and mycelial structures to share and trade micronutrients.

Simard presents her research that fungi physically and chemically connect with the root systems of multiple trees, across species, to create micronutrient pipelines of exchange within a forest community to share these nutrients as well as other molecules.

[1] These large-scale, old "mother trees" serve as hubs within the forest network, to deliver carbon to young seedlings through their roots underground in cooperation with fungi.

[6] Simard faced ridicule and gendered attacks by male colleagues during her younger years; however her research became "critical to addressing problems in the timber industry" that led to reforms in sustainable forestry.

[1] In a paper published in Trends in Plant Science, numerous botanical researchers criticized the claims made in the book, some of which are not based on scientific data and contradict established knowledge in many respects, in order to promote a misleading anthropomorphization of trees.