num_pages: 176
description: In this collection of natural-history essays biologist Joan Maloof embarks on a series of lively fact-filled expeditions into forests of the eastern United States. Through Maloofs engaging conversational style each essay offers a lesson in stewardship as it explores the interwoven connections between a tree species and the animals and insects whose lives depend on it--and who in turn work to ensure the trees survival.Never really at home in a laboratory Maloof took to the woods early in her career. Her enthusiasm for firsthand observation in the wild spills over into her writing whether the subject is the composition of forest air the eagles preference for nesting in loblolly pines the growth rings of the bald cypress or the gray squirrels fondness for weevil-infested acorns. With a storytellers instinct for intriguing particulars Maloof expands our notions about what a tree is through her many asides--about the six species of leafhoppers who eat only sycamore leaves or the midges who live inside holly berries and somehow prevent them from turning red.As a scientist Maloof accepts that trees have a spiritual dimension that cannot be quantified. As an unrepentant tree hugger she finds support in the scientific case for biodiversity. As an activist she cant help but wonder how much time is left for our forests.
language: English
title: Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest
publisher: University of Georgia Press