A trillion tiny lives in one tree

A black oak in the Yale-Myers Forest of northern Connecticut that was felled for study (centre), surrounded by mixed species including sugar maple (yellow leaves), in October 2022. — Jon Gewirtzman/ The New York Times

A FOREST is a complex, dynamic ecosystem in which a rich array of living things, from old-growth trees to microscopic fungi, interact and depend on one another for survival.

So is the inside of a tree, it turns out.