Trees, Truffles, and Beasts: How Forests Function
Chris Maser, Andrew W. Claridge (With), James TrappeBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
In today's world of specialization, people are attempting to protect the Earth's fragile state by swapping limousines for hybrids and pesticide-laced foods for organic produce. At other times, environmental awareness is translated into public relations gimmicks or trendy commodities. Moreover, simplistic policies, like single-species protection or planting ten trees for every tree cut down, are touted as bureaucratic or industrial panaceas.Because today's decisions are tomorrow's consequences, every small effort makes a difference, but a broader understanding of our environmental problems is necessary to the development of sustainable ecosystem policies. In Trees, Truffles, and Beasts, Chris Maser, Andrew W. Claridge, and James M. Trappe make a compelling case that we must first understand the complexity and interdependency of species and habitats from the microscopic level to the gigantic. Comparing forests in the Pacific Northwestern United States and Southeastern mainland of Australia, the authors show how easily observable speciesùtrees and mammalsùare part of a complicated infrastructure that includes fungi, lichens, and organisms invisible to the naked eye, such as microbes.
Eminently readable, this important book shows that forests are far more complicated than most of us might think, which means simplistic policies will not save them. Understanding the biophysical intricacies of our life-support systems just might.
Synopsis
In Trees, Truffles, and Beasts, Chris Maser, Andrew W. Claridge, and James M. Trappe make a compelling case that in order to develop sustainable ecosystem policies, we must first understand the complexity and interdependency of species and habitats. Comparing forests in the Pacific Northwestern United States and Southeastern mainland of Australia, the authors show how easily observable species-trees and mammals-are part of an infrastructure that includes fungi, lichens, and organisms invisible to the naked eye, such as microbes.
Eminently readable, this important book shows that forests are far more complicated than most of us might think, which means simplistic policies will not save them. Understanding the biophysical intricacies of our life-support systems just might.
About the Author:
Chris Maser is a writer, environmental consultant, and master's level zoologist who has written over twenty books
About the Author:
Andrew W. Claridge is a research scientist with the Department of Environment and Climate Change in New South Wales, Australia
About the Author:
James M. Trappe is a professor of forest science specializing in forest fungi at Oregon State University, Corvallis