Funny, I thought they were supposed to be the facts and logic crowd, but all their facts and logic come from outdated Nazi pseudoscience
Plants and fungi will not only share resources, but if one is sick or damaged, they will typically get extra help from neighbours. Theory is that some also feign sickness for free resources at times.
They're in a voluntary symbiotic relationship that generates surplus wealth for their employer, God.
Reminds me of "The Trees" by Rush, who are a good band but I really can't get over the libertarianism. Plus the song about trees is wrong, because trees cooperate
There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
“The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light”
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw
I never put two and two together on that one when I was a kid. Seesh, glad I don't listen to Rush anymore.
But which one is the Alpha Tree? Which one is the Cuck Tree?? Which fucking one
This gets wrestled with in the literature a lot. Some researchers view the mycorrhizal relationship as a "mutual parasitism" where both partners are in an evolutionary arms race to extract resources from the other that (so far) has resulted in a balanced relationship.
I think the "carbon flows between trees" stuff has been overplayed a bit in the popular press and is probably largely a reflection of source/sink dynamics.