The Forest Unseen A Year's Watch in Nature

by Haskell, David George

• ISBN13: 9780670023370
• ISBN10: 067002337X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-15
• Publisher: Viking Adult

Summary

A biologist reveals the secret world hidden in a single square meter of forest. In this wholly original book, biologist David Haskell uses a one- square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest as a window onto the entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one year to trace nature's path through the seasons, he brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life. Each of this book's short chapters begins with a simple observation: a salamander scuttling across the leaf litter; the first blossom of spring wildflowers. From these, Haskell spins a brilliant web of biology and ecology, explaining the science that binds together the tiniest microbes and the largest mammals and describing the ecosystems that have cycled for thousands- sometimes millions-of years. Each visit to the forest presents a nature story in miniature as Haskell elegantly teases out the intricate relationships that order the creatures and plants that call it home. Written with remarkable grace and empathy, The Forest Unseenis a grand tour of nature in all its profundity. Haskell is a perfect guide into the world that exists beneath our feet and beyond our backyards.

Author Biography

David Haskell is a professor of biology at the University of the South and was named the Carnegie- CASE professor of the year in Tennessee in 2009. In addition to his scholarly work, he has published essays and poetry. He lives with his wife in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
January 1st-Partnerships	p. 1
January 17thùKepler's Gift	p. 8
January 21stùThe Experiment	p. 12
January 30thùWinter Plants	p. 21
February 2ndùFootprints	p. 25
February 16thùMoss	p. 35
February 28thùSalamander	p. 41
March 13thùHepatica	p. 46
March 13thùSnails	p. 51
March 25thùSpring Ephemerals	p. 54
April 2ndùChainsaw	p. 63
April 2ndùFlowers	p. 68
April 8thùXylem	p. 73
April 14thùMoth	p. 78
April 16thùSunrise Birds	p. 81
April 22ndùWalking Seeds	p. 86
April 29thùEarthquake	p. 93
May 7thùWind	p. 97
May 18thùHerbivory	p. 102
May 25thùRipples	p. 109
June 2ndùQuest	p. 117
June 10thùFerns	p. 122
June 20thùA Tangle	p. 127
July 2ndùFungi	p. 131
July 13thùFireflies	p. 137
July 27thùSunfleck	p. 141
August 1st-Eft and Coyote	p. 147
August 8thùEarthstar	p. 156
August 26thùKatydid	p. 160
September 21stùMedicine	p. 164
September 23rdùCaterpillar	p. 169
September 23rdùVulture	p. 174
September 26thùMigrants	p. 180
October 5thùAlarm Waves	p. 184
October 14thùSamara	p. 188
October 29thùFaces
November 5thùLight	p. 199
November 15thùSharp-shinned Hawk	p. 207
November 21stùTwigs	p. 213
December 3rdùLitter	p. 222
December 6thùUnderground Bestiary	p. 230
December 26thùTreetops	p. 236
December 31stùWatching	p. 239
Epilogue	p. 243
Acknowledgments	p. 247
Bibliography	p. 249
Index	p. 261
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