The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate-Discoveries from A Secret World

by Peter Wohlleben, Tim Flannery (Foreword by), Jane Billinghurst (Translator), Suzanne Simard (Contribution by)

Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • One of the most beloved books of our time: an illuminating account of the forest, and the science that shows us how trees communicate, feel, and live in social networks. After reading this book, a walk in the woods will never be the same again.

“Breaks entirely new ground ... [Peter Wohlleben] has listened to trees and decoded their language. Now he speaks for them.”—The New York Review of Books

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BRAINPICKINGS • HONORABLE MENTION: SEJ Rachel Carson Environment Book Award • Shortlisted: Audible International Book of the Year Award • Books For a Better Life Award • Indie Choice Award—Nonfiction Book of the Year

Are trees social beings? In The Hidden Life of Trees forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration that he has observed in his woodland.

“A declaration of love and an engrossing primer on trees, brimming with facts and an unashamed awe for nature.”—Washington Post

“Heavily dusted with the glitter of wonderment.”—The New Yorker

Includes a Note From a Forest Scientist by Dr.Suzanne Simard

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771642484
Publisher:	Greystone Books
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Series:	The Mysteries of Nature , #1
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1110L (what's this?)

About the Author

Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally-friendly woodland in Germany, where he is working for the return of primeval forests. He is the author of numerous books about the natural world including The Hidden Life of Trees, The Inner Lives of Animals, and The Secret Wisdom of Nature, which together make up his bestselling The Mysteries of Nature Series. He has also written numerous books for children including Can You Hear the Trees Talking? and Peter and the Tree Children. To learn more about Peter and his books, visit his website at peterwohllebenbooks.com.

Tim Flannery is a scientist, explorer and conservationist. He is a leading writer on climate change and his books include Atmosphere of Hope and The Weather Makers.

Jane Billinghurst’s career has been in book publishing in the UK, the US, and Canada, as an editor, publisher, writer, and translator. She is the translator of the New York Times-bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees by German forester Peter Wohlleben.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tim Flannery vii

Introduction to the English Edition x

Introduction xiii

1 Friendships 1

2 The Language of Trees 6

3 Social Security 14

4 Love 19

5 The Tree Lottery 25

6 Slowly Does It 31

7 Forest Etiquette 37

8 Tree School 43

9 United We Stand, Divided We Fall 49

10 The Mysteries of Moving Water 56

11 Trees Aging Gracefully 60

12 Mighty Oak or Mighty Wimp? 68

13 Specialists 73

14 Tree or Not Tree? 79

15 In the Realm of Darkness 85

16 Carbon Dioxide Vacuums 93

17 Woody Climate Control 99

18 The Forest as Water Pump 105

19 Yours or Mine? 113

20 Community Housing Projects 125

21 Mother Ships of Biodiversity 131

22 Hibernation 136

23 A Sense of Time 147

24 A Question of Character 151

25 The Sick Tree 155

26 Let There Be Light 162

27 Street Kids 169

28 Burnout 180

29 Destination North! 186

30 Tough Customers 195

31 Turbulent Times 201

32 Immigrants 211

33 Healthy Forest Air 221

34 Why Is the Forest Green? 227

35 Set Free 233

36 More Than Just a Commodity 241

Note from a Forest Scientist Dr. Suzanne Simard 247

Acknowledgments 251

Notes 252

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

07/25/2016
This fascinating book will intrigue readers who love a walk through the woods. Wohlleben, who worked for the German forestry commission for 20 years and now manages a beech forest in Germany, has gathered research from scientists around the world examining how trees communicate and interact with one another. They do so using a variety of methods, including the secretion of scents and sound vibrations to warn neighboring plants of potential attacks by insects and hungry herbivores, drought, and other dangers. The book includes a note from forest scientist Suzanne Simard of the University of British Columbia, whose studies showed that entire forests can be connected by “using chemical signals sent through the fungal networks around their root tips” and led to the term “the wood-wide web.” Wohlleben anthropomorphizes his subject, using such terms as friendship and parenting, which serves to make the technical information relatable, and he backs up his ideas with information from scientists. He even tackles the question of whether trees are intelligent. He hopes the day will come “when the language of trees will eventually be deciphered.” Until then, Wohllenben’s book offers readers a vivid glimpse into their secret world. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Warmly avuncular, storybook simple, and heavily dusted with the glitter of wonderment.”
—The New Yorker

“The matter-of-fact Mr. Wohlleben has delighted readers and talk-show audiences alike with the news — long known to biologists — that trees in the forest are social beings.”
—Sally McGrane, The New York Times

“This fascinating book will intrigue readers who love a walk through the woods.”
—Publishers Weekly

“If you read this book, I believe that forests will become magical places for you, too.”
—Tim Flannery

“In this spirited exploration, [Wohlleben] guarantees that readers will never look at these life forms in quite the same way again.”
—Library Journal

“A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement that will make you joyously acknowledge your own entanglement in the ancient and ever-new web of being.”
—Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast: Adventures Across the Species Divide

“Soon after we begin to recognize trees for what they are—gigantic beings thriving against incredible odds for hundreds of years—we naturally come to ask, 'How do they do it?' This charming book tells how—not as a lecture, more like a warm conversation with a favorite friend.”
—Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl

“A powerful reminder to slow down and tune into the language of nature.”
—Rachel Sussman, author of The Oldest Living Things in the World

“Charming, provocative, fascinating. In the tradition of Jean-Henri Fabre and other great naturalist story-tellers, Wohlleben relates imaginative, enthralling tales of ecology.”
—David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen, Pulitzer finalist

“Wohlleben’s book is at once romantic and scientific, beautifully articulating his personal relationship with the trees he has dedicated his life to. His view of the forest calls on us all to reevaluate our relationships with the plant world.”
—Daniel Chamovitz, PhD, author of What a Plant Knows

“With colorful and engaging descriptions of little-known phenomena in our natural world, Wohlleben helps readers appreciate the exciting processes at work in the forests around them.”
—Dr. Richard Karban, University of California, Davis, author of Plant Sensing and Communication

“You will never look at a tree the same way after reading Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees, which reveals the mind-boggling properties and behavior of these terrestrial giants. Read this electrifying book, then go out and hug a tree—with admiration and gratitude.”
—David Suzuki

From the Publisher

07/01/2016
After a lifetime managing and studying forests in his native Germany, Wohlleben shares his distinct perspective on trees in this heartfelt homage. He traces the life cycles of typical trees in central European forests, combining his personal observations with elements of folkloric wisdom and the latest scientific research. In a touch of whimsy, the author likens plant behavior to familiar aspects of human actions: tree species nourishing members of the younger generation by feeding them soil nutrients are tree "mothers"; individual trees that protect and communicate with one another via a rich underground network have formed "friendships"; and urban trees growing up miles from traditional forests are dubbed "street kids." Wohlleben laments the many failings of traditional forest management practices, arguing that patience and ecological balance are essential to maximizing trees' beneficial role in the global ecosystem. In this spirited exploration, he guarantees that readers will never look at these life forms in quite the same way again. VERDICT Those with some background in biology or ecology will be best positioned to glean insight here, but even general readers will gain a rich appreciation of a forest's dynamism.—Kelsy Peterson, Forest Hill Coll., Melbourne, Australia

Library Journal