The Hidden Forest

When Jon Luoma wrote The Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem (1999), he opened new ways of thinking about our forests for many including me. Luoma writes of many of the living beings that make up a forest, not just the trees.

Living adult trees are only one part of what makes a forest a forest. Other integral parts include the dead trees, the young and baby trees, the specialized insects and invertebrates that eat dead trees helping them to decompose and become food for others, the fungi (read truffles!) that work in symbiosis with the trees for mutual growth and health, and so many more beings. Luoma writes of the naturalists who study the forest, specifically Andrews in Washington, USA, and their scientific discoveries of the interconnectedness of the forest.

I like this book because it brings to the fore the interconnectedness of forests, one of our world treasures. The book scientifically explains how important balance is for the living forest and how each is dependent upon others for health and continuance.

Labels: environment, Luoma, nonfiction, trees

posted by reader kay at 9:34 PM