When trees grow together, nutrients and water can be optimally divided among them all so that each tree can grow into the best tree it can be. If you “help” individual trees by getting rid of their supposed competition, the remaining trees are bereft. They send messages out to their neighbors unsuccessfully, because nothing remains but stumps. Every tree now grows on its own, giving rise to great differences in productivity. ( ① ) Some individuals photosynthesize like mad until sugar positively bubbles along their trunk. ( ② ) This is because a tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it. ( ③ ) And there are now a lot of losers in the forest. ( ④ ) Weaker members, who would once have been supported by the stronger ones, suddenly fall behind. ( ⑤ ) Whether the reason for their decline is their location and lack of nutrients, a passing sickness, or genetic makeup, they now fall prey to insects and fungi.