Hidden Forest, The
248 pages, 6 x 9
Paperback
Release Date:01 Apr 2006
ISBN:9780870710940
CA$28.95 Back Order
Ships in 4-6 weeks.
GO TO CART

Hidden Forest, The

The Biography of an Ecosystem

Oregon State University Press

The tallest species of spruce, hemlock, fir, cedar, and pine trees on earth coexist in the old growth of the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon’s Cascade Range. Set aside as a living laboratory by the U.S. Forest Service in 1948, the 16,000 acres represent a vital scientific endeavor: the long-term study of a single contained ecosystem. Here, for the first time, researchers from an enormous range of disciplines—forest scientists, botanists, entomologists, wildlife ecologists, soil biologists, and others—have assembled to examine the role of every working element in the life of a forest.

In The Hidden Forest, veteran science writer Jon Luoma offers an absorbing account of how these scientists came to recognize the importance of natural forest ecosystems and how their research is revolutionizing forest management.

Luoma takes readers into the hidden forest where researchers have discovered a host of species previously unknown to science, and interactions in the forest ecosystem that no one previously imagined. He describes projects dealing with the forest canopy, rotting logs, insects, fungi, wildlife, streams, and the effects of flood, fire, clear cutting, and volcanic eruption. And he tells the human story behind the research, capturing the shared excitement and wonder of scientific discovery. Along the way, Luoma provides a short course in such complex issues as forest succession, biodiversity, and the politics of forestry.

In a new foreword, Jerry Franklin discusses the importance of dedicated, long-term research sites and comments on new discoveries that have emerged from forest ecosystem research since The Hidden Forest was first published.

This may be the single best general-reader introduction to the startling discoveries and developments of recent decades that have come to be called the New Forestry. Luoma is great on the rich, dense, slow, huge, networked processes that make up a robust, fully-functioning, old forest. In particular, he shows how essential death and decay is for continued forest health and how much bearing that has on forest management. Read this to learn how truly social trees are and how complex a forest ‘superorganism’ can be.’ —Richard Powers, author of The Overstory
Jon R. Luoma is a contributing editor to Audubon magazine, a contributor to the Science Times section of the New York Times, and the author of two previous books, A Crowded Ark and Troubled Skies, Troubled Waters. He lives in southern New Jersey.
Find what you’re looking for...

Free shipping on online orders over $40

Stay Informed

Receive the latest UBC Press news, including events, catalogues, and announcements.


Read past newsletters

Publishers Represented
UBC Press is the Canadian agent for several international publishers. Visit our Publishers Represented page to learn more.