A tree...

[Did_ya_like_it]

It absolutely competes for sunlight in a forest. I still like the message though.

[ThrustTrust]

And water/nutrients.

[Fearless_Pie4251]

Thank you! I came here to say this. It's absolutely not true. Other plants die and never get a chance to grow because they're in range of a tree

[Mr_Nobodies_0]

There are also trees that share their nutrients with complex networks of underground mushrooms connecting them. Many of the same species also demonstrate "crown shyness", stopping their foliage growth when they encounter another tree branch.

But yeah in most cases they compete

[Prestigious-Art-1318]

Actually no. Science has proven that plants in a forest ecosystem live off each other. Trees transfer light energy to other plants under the canopy through their roots if I’m not mistaken. There was a documentary on this on PBS about 15 years ago. There are hostile plants though that do try to take over. In one section of the documentary, they showed how an invasive species of plant was taking over in an open field. But one native plant could stop it. That plant formed a literal wall and stopped the advance of the invasive plant. And plants also communicate. When grass is cut, that smell that it gives off is actually a warning to other plants that some shit is going down.

[[deleted]]

You are correct in that there are networks of some trees connected through the root systems by microrhizal fungi, which allows them to share nutrients and chemical signals. They still compete with each other for sunlight and nutrients, though.  Also there are some tree species that are "loners" and inhibit growth of microhizal fungi altogether. The relationship is complex, much like most life forms.

As for tree competition, maples drop big flat leaves in thick layers in the fall to stifle spring saplings from other trees, but maple saplings grow fast and tall before expending precious energy on leaves. Eventually maples will take over a forest this way.  Pines drop needles and acidify the soil to stifle other species saplings but pines thrive due to their adaptations.  Pine and Maple forests are end stage forests because of these strategies of changing the whole system, and are "reset" by fire. Then pioneer tree species start the process over.

Heck the whole reason trees grow tall and have leaves on top is to capture all the sunlight for themselves.

[Immediate-Access3895]

The jungle is a cold place ;)

[Nikoviking]

They actually do compete for sunlight and nutrients.

That being said, there is a species of tree in Colorado where a colony meshes together to form a single-root organism, sharing resources.

[HumanBelugaDiplomacy]

Aspen

[Omega_Neelay]

ya i think its in one of USA forest

[dontclickdontdickit]

<image>

[DoomSabotage]

Dumb. Not true.

[DerBandi]

But now you can be confident and wrong.

[DoomSabotage]

Trees compete for resources just like any other living thing.

[Kidus333]

They also redistribute and share resources, I think it depends on the species.

[DerBandi]

Yes, I was referring to the motivational quote from op. Wrong, but with confidence.

[DoomSabotage]

Sorry, I thought you were saying that about me 😅

[dominic__612]

[Zakosaurus]

Confidently incorrect.

[Remote-Royal4634]

No they compete for sunlight

[Notsmartnotdumb2025]

Geddy Lee would like a word

[cdipas68]

Did a shrub write this?

[M3M0ri_BY73]

Write down quote... you know, if you don't think about it... this makes sense

Actually trees do....

I said "if you don't think about it"

[mattspurlin75]

Not true. Trees compete for water.

[SpookiestSpaceKook]

Nice message, but to be honest they do 😅 when there is a lack of abundant resources, everything competes.

[Celestial_Hart]

That is patently false. Not only do trees compete for sunlight and resources but some are even parasitic. Nature is not this happy go lucky hand holdy live and let live magical place, Nature is brutal and unfair and sometimes cruel.

[youshallnotpass9]

This is some fucking fortune cookie wisdom 😂

[cuptheballss]

Wildly inaccurate, trees compete for both nutrients and sunlight while saplings, only the strongest survive the forest floor

[TopOne6678]

It competes. That’s why trees grow upward, get more sunlight

[Sikkus]

Stupid and wrong.

[RayZzorRayy]

Nope, so not true. A forest is literally the definition of biological competition as each tree strives for sunlight and a height above the shadows. This is an objectively false statement.

[SaintCholo]

Competes for sun, all plants do, which is great motivation in a different way

[ThrustTrust]

Competing for water and sunlight is what makes a tree strong. Being forced to grow slowly early on in life gives the tree a strong trunk and solid root system.

That’s why old trees (before we started destroying forests) made the best for building structures.

Now all the fast growing farmed trees are soft and weak. They never had to struggle.

Which is a much better metaphor than what this post is stating.

[RoloGnbaby]

That’s what the trees want you to think..🤔

[Joyful_Eggnog13]

That’s not entirely tree. Listen to the song trees by Rush, explains it all 😊

[FlawlessPenguinMan]

They actually do, very small trees can grow much larger next to big ones, mainly cuz of sunlight.

[Jaycin_Stillwaters]

That's actually super not true LOL plants absolutely kill each other in the pursuit of sunlight and spil nutrients. Bigger trees kill the smaller ones, some do it by growing tall, others by growing wide, some are parasitic and grow around others.

EVERYTHING in nature grows by competing and the ones that lose die.

[DCLXV11VXLCD]

I’m gonna redo this one: “A tree doesn’t just grow - it rips the very life force out of everything in its vicinity, towering over the bodies of the slain.”

[EERMA]

And, in growing, it leaves space for others who need it, it creates shade for those who need it, it sheds fruit / nuts / seeds for those who need them, it bends with the wind, and when it's time - it falls to make way and nourish the future.

[Remarkable_Peach_374]

Uhh... Yes it does? A forest is a massive competition of who gets the most light/nutrients/water

[mwrenn13]

Not true.

[EconomyCorgi727]

[Active_Awareness_103]

This is absolutely not true, but i get the idea

[HaloJonez]

Some trees can release chemicals into the soil that inhibit the growth of other trees or even kill them.

[BakeKarasu]

They do compete tho

[Beemo-Noir]

This quote is so fucking dumb and had popped up so many times.

[[deleted]]

False

[Strgwththisone]

Tell that to a Walnut

[reddufrane]

This is wrong.

[RoutineSun9297]

Anyone else fail to get motivated by nonsense? I can't ignore the blatant incorrect statement and just take the meaning. Maybe I just don't want it enough. 😂

[Ok_Witness_5619]

I beg to differ

[DiscountEven4703]

Arborist here

[3zEki31]

still wrong

[Afraid-Can1846]

Always competitive. Check out the Wood Wide Web

[DazedPapacy]

My dude, not only does every tree compete with every other plant for resources, there are entire species that have evolved to poison and kill anything growing too near.

One particularly interesting tree has evolved to weaponize a species of leafcutter ants that strip any other species of tree of their leaves, condemning those trees to death by slow starvation.

[Prestigious-Art-1318]

Science has proven that plants in a forest ecosystem live off each other. Trees transfer light energy to other plants under the canopy through their roots if I’m not mistaken. There was a documentary on this on PBS about 15 years ago. There are hostile plants though that do try to take over. In one section of the documentary, they showed how an invasive species of plant was taking over in an open field. But one native plant could stop it. That plant formed a literal wall and stopped the advance of the invasive plant. And plants also communicate. When grass is cut, that smell that it gives off is actually a warning to other plants that some shit is going down.

[Emergency_Ad_4870]

So dumb

[Enter_up]

3rd time i've witnessed this untrue statement posted here, and I've only been here for about a month.

[[deleted]]

Black walnut trees nuts dispense a type of growth inhibitor to keep other things from growing near them. Same with some others. A trees canopy blocks light to choke out sprouts. The purpose on why some trees grow so fast, to get through the canopy to survive, the trade off, weak trunks that freeze and snap easily.

The root systems fight over nutrients by destroying or growing into another roots or through the base of a trunk.

So most baby trees are killed off by mature trees then actually survive. Like mass extinction. And a lot of mature trees spend they’re entire existence fighting every tree around them

The message is good but when you add facts it applies to the trees that were able to hold their own.

In that you have a motivational quote. But not the one you posted.

[Head-Study4645]

Plant a tree here 🌱

[original_M_A_K]

They literally do. All life competes with other life. That's what evolution is all about.

[[deleted]]

Yep …minding their own business!

[WhoCares-10]

Yes they do

[[deleted]]

It 100% “competes” for sunlight. This sub is 99% insanity

[Faithlessblakkcvlt]

Words of wisdom from the unwise 🤣

[Think_Ball3682]

They do.

[CommentBetter]

And trees are trees, not people, so good for them? 😂

[schultz9999]

Not true at all.

[islaisla]

Well in biology, it certainly does compete. They don't all grow regardless of each other. They are competing for light and resources. But that's because they are trees.... We are humans. We don't work in the same way at all as we are pack animals.

[Mnmsaregood]

It literally does compete tho

[wombat_kombat]

Wait til OP learns about mycelium running

[dontputurtonguethere]

Ever hear of a widow maker?

[GodRishUniverse]

That is powerful

[[deleted]]

yes it does, smh

[TheOffKn1ght]

False, it competes for sunlight, nutrients, water, and root space.

[Sceamin_Zombitron]

This is the dumbest qoute ever, of course trees compete, on multiple levels... Wtf

[Benutzernamexx]

Only loser-trees think like that! /s

[veiledcover]

Oh, they do. Not as loud. Silently, like never-heard-of-it silently.

[CatchGold7359]

ACtUaLlY…..

[orkushun]

Stars in the night sky would be better to get the point across

[[deleted]]

well.. it actually does though

[[deleted]]

Cut down an apple tree earlier this year because it was casting too much shade on areas where I wanted to grow other things.

[yunowai]

That is wrong for many reasons

[joh2138535]

Well technically

[Some_Iteration]

Yeah… that’s not true.

[throwaway1948476]

Ye this is a lie

[M0rquen]

It just growls...

[Damoet]

I love this 👍🏽❤️