Interactive Reading

Read the passage and answer the question.

Some plants communicate underground using a vast web of fungthreads connected to their roots. Through this network, a tree under attack by insects can send chemical warnings to its neighbors, which then begin producing defensive substances before the pests arrive. Older, larger trees often act as hubs, sharing nutrients with smaller seedlings that grow in their shade. Scientists who study these connections sometimes call them a 'wood wide web.' The discovery has changed how researchers think about forests, suggesting they function less like a collection of separate individuals and more like a cooperative community.