Suzanne Simard is the tree professor at the University of British Columbia.[1] She discovered through her research that yew trees communicate chemically through fungi with their neighboring trees for mutual defense. Trees are connected below ground through a fungi network that resembles the human brain’s neural networks. For example, Simard observed a Douglas fir injured by insects that seemingly passed chemical warning messages to a nearby ponderosa. The pine tree produced defense enzymes that protected it against insects. Similarly, birch trees protected fir from Armillaria root disease. When trees are dying, they pass off as much as 40% of their carbon to their neighboring trees.

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/04/993430007/trees-talk-to-each-other-mother-tree-ecologist-hears-lessons-for-people-too

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