The Journeys of Trees
A Story about Forests, People, and the Future
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4.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An urgent and illuminating portrait of forest migration, and of the people studying the forests of the past, protecting the forests of the present, and planting the forests of the future.
Forests are restless. Any time a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it has shifted. When new trees sprout in the same direction, the whole forest begins to migrate, sometimes at astonishing rates. Today, however, an array of obstacles—humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade—threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before, and forests are struggling to keep up.
A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing, The Journeys of Trees explores the evolving movements of forests by focusing on five trees: giant sequoia, ash, black spruce, Florida torreya, and Monterey pine. Journalist Zach St. George visits these trees in forests across continents, finding sequoias losing their needles in California, fossil records showing the paths of ancient forests in Alaska, domesticated pines in New Zealand, and tender new sprouts of blight-resistant American chestnuts in New Hampshire. Everywhere he goes, St. George meets lively people on conservation’s front lines, from an ecologist studying droughts to an evolutionary evangelist with plans to save a dying species. He treks through the woods with activists, biologists, and foresters, each with their own role to play in the fight for the uncertain future of our environment.
An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present, The Journeys of Trees examines how we can all help our trees, and our planet, survive and thrive.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The word “migration” usually makes us picture flocks of birds or mammals, or the journey of refugees. But it turns out that trees, which seem so stationary, are some of Earth’s most migratory life-forms. Journalist Zach St. George’s fascinating book explains how forests naturally propagate in one direction as saplings take root along a path toward better conditions within the changing landscape. So what happens when cities block a forest’s path? Or when climate change transforms conditions too fast for trees to keep up? St. George embeds himself with ecologists throughout North America, giving us mind-blowing insights into how forests are supposed to move—and why many can’t. Like Bill Bryson, St. George is a curious everyman rather than a scientific expert, so he’s learning right along with us about how today’s botanists are helping set our majestic woods back on course.
