The Mother Tree Project (MTP) is a groundbreaking research initiative investigating forest renewal practices that aim to safeguard biodiversity, carbon storage, and forest regeneration as climate changes. The project assesses how seedlings from local, warmer, and colder climates respond to different levels of overstory tree retention, with a focus on seedling survival and growth.
Learn MoreAbout Mother Trees
Trees are connected
Through their research, Dr. Simard and others have discovered that trees are connected below-ground via a vast fungal network.
Trees communicate and share resources
Trees use the mycorrhizal network that connects them together to send and receive chemical messages to one another.
Mother Trees and the Forest
Trees are part of a large, interconnected community
Trees interact with their own and other species, including forming kin relationships with their genetic relatives.
Tree regeneration is more dependent on connections in drier climates
As forests become stressed, seedlings are more dependent on mycorrhizal networks for establishment and survival.
Forests where the natural connections between trees are maintained should help enhance regeneration, support biodiversity, and conserve carbon storage
About the Mother Tree Project
Watch this short film produced by filmmaker Bill Heath to learn more about the Mother Tree Project.
WatchResearch
The Mother Tree Project explores how connections and communication between trees, particularly below-ground connections between Douglas-fir Mother Trees and seedlings, could influence forest recovery and resilience following various harvesting and regeneration treatments. The project was designed to explore these relationships across different climates, in order to understand how climate change could influence these processes and affect the outcomes of the treatments.
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THE TEAM
Led by Dr. Suzanne Simard, forest ecology professor at the University of British Columbia, the Mother Tree Project brings together academia, government, forestry companies, research forests, community forests and First Nations to identify and design successful forest renewal practices.
Meet the Team
