For several years, many have been captivated by the fascinating idea of the Wood-Wide Web originally coined by Suzanne Simard. Through extensive fungal networks, mature trees are believed to help each other and protect one another from enemies, danger or attack.

Recent scientific revelations, however, are raising big questions about this relationship. Biologist professor Jason Hoeksema and ecologist Justine Karst have published a paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution that debunks this theory, after scrutinising 25 years of studies carried out on mycorrhizal fungi networks and their relationship to trees.

Some are also claiming that Simard purposely used anthropomorphism, the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to animals or objects, because we tend to care more about something if we can relate to it.

Despite recent studies, scientists still disagree on this issue, with one faction claiming that debunking such a theory might endanger old-growth forests.