The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees

by Douglas W. Tallamy

Overview

Discover the complex and fascinating inner world of the mighty oak tree with this engaging nature book!

The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars,  Doug Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. He also shares practical advice about how to plant and care for an oak, along with information about the best oak species for your area. 

The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.

“With our hearts and minds focused on the stewardship of the only planet we have, the best way to engage in a hopeful future is to plant oaks! Let this book be your inspiration and guide.” —The American Gardener

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643260440
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 107 research publications and has taught insect-related courses for 44 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the 2018 AHS B. Y. Morrison Communication Award, and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. Doug is author of Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope, and The Nature of Oaks; and co-founder with Michelle Alfandari of HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK®. Learn more at HNPARK.org. 

Table of Contents

Prologue 9

October 13

November 21

December 27

January 31

February 44

March 51

April 59

May 71

June 88

July 102

August 121

September 142

Epilogue 152

Acknowledgments 157

References 159

How to plant an oak 163

Best oak options for your area 167

North American native oaks 179

Index 185

Editorial Reviews

There’s a payoff for the environment, yes, but also for each of us, in the bonds of personal connection. Tallamy feels it, down to the last acorn.” —The New York Times

“The sturdy, steadfast oak is the perfect tree for troubled times.” —Washington Post

“An affectionate yet scientifically rich look at an essential ingredient of the environment… A welcome addition to any tree hugger’s library.” —Kirkus

“An excellent companion to Nature’s Best Hope” —Booklist

“Douglas W. Tallamy has spread a message of people-powered biodiversity, to say that if humans have crowded out nature across the world, they can also invite it back in at close range.” —Landscape Architecture Magazine

“The Nature of Oaks reads like a biography, chronicling the life of these symbols of strength and their relationships over the seasons with numerous characters of nature… It’s also practical, offering advice on selecting the best oak species for your area, and planting and caring for America’s National Tree.” —The Oregonian

“Doug Tallamy’s personal detail and his conversational writing style keep the book relatable and readable while it delves into scientific matters.” —Horticulture

“Packed with fascinating stories of ecological connections and wonders, this beautiful book is a hymn to the keystones of the forest, the oaks. A timely and much needed call to plant, protect, and delight in these diverse, life-giving giants.” —David George Haskell, author of Pulitzer finalist, The Forest Unseen, and Burroughs Medalist, The Songs of Trees; Professor, University of the South
 
"Powerfully engaging from start to finish, The Nature of Oaks is joyful, scientific storytelling at its best." —Rick Darke, landscape designer, lecturer, photographer, and coauthor of Gardens of the High Line

“A fascinating and compelling book devoted to native oaks… With our hearts and minds focused on the stewardship of the only planet we have, the best way to engage in a hopeful future is to plant oaks, lots of them! Let this book be your inspiration and guide.” —The American Gardener

“In this new and enlightening book, New York Times bestselling author Douglas W. Tallamy focuses his attention on the great monolith of the arboreal world: the mighty oak! It’s a rich explanation of exactly what oaks are and how they thrive, plus it’s got a bunch of tips for how you can maintain your own oaks!” —LitHub
 
“You will not finish the book without realizing how important oak trees are to our ecosystem and the hundreds of animals that rely on them.” —The Scholar

“An essential resource on protecting and preserving the most important tree.” —The Advocate

"The Nature of Oaks expounds on the importance of incorporating oak trees into our gardens, highlighting how oaks are integrally intwined in all cogs of nature.” —Winston-Salem Journal

“This book is an essential read for anyone interested in the natural world, engagingly written and dense with insights and fascinating facts.” —The Los Altos Town Crier

“The Nature of Oaks describes the rich web of life around one of our most loved trees and tells how people can bring this into their own yards and communities.” —Yahoo!News

“Tallamy has long been advocating for homeowners to take conservation into their own hands. With this latest publication, he provides a guide to the mighty oak: from their place in the ecosystem to how to care for those in your own backyard.” —The Wolf River Conservancy

From the Publisher

2020-12-23
Affectionate yet scientifically rich look at an essential ingredient of the environment.

When he and his family moved to a 10-acre spread in southeastern Pennsylvania, writes Tallamy, he noted that after decades of hay mowing, there were just a few trees and a concomitant shortage of wildlife. Enter the oak, 500-odd species of which cover the world, trees that “produce enormous root systems over their lifetimes, and these help make them champions when it comes to soil stabilization, carbon sequestration, and watershed management.” Humans need as much help as they can get in such matters, but that doesn’t keep them from felling vast forests of oaks for pasturage, fuel, and other uses. In this guided tour of a year in the life of the oaks around him, Tallamy enumerates all the useful and interesting work that they do. Homeowners, for instance, are likely to cut down oaks on their property because they’re such messy trees, leaving great piles of leaves underneath in season. Yet those leaves form an ecosystem of their own, sheltering insects, seeds, fungi, mycorrhizae, and other desirable things. When they are in mast, oak trees provide “unlimited food for acorn predators,” and oak litter helps battle invasive species on forest floors, such as Japanese stiltgrass. As the author makes clear, preserving oaks and other native tree species is an essential act in supporting migratory bird species, for those tree species, to varying degrees, produce great populations of caterpillars on which the birds feed. “Any birder worth her salt already knows where to look for spring migrants,” he exults, “look to the oaks!” There’s a biology textbook packed away inside these graceful, appreciative essays, full of notes on marcescence, the mating habits of katydids, and the urgent work of saving oaks, once “ancient cornerstones of ecosystems throughout the United States”—and indeed the world.

A welcome addition to any tree hugger’s library.

Kirkus Reviews