Title: The Hidden Life of Trees
Author: Peter Wohlleben
Genre: Nonfiction, Nature
Published: 2016 (English translation)
Pages: 245
Goodreads Rating: 4.07
Rating: 6/10
“… a tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it.”
In The Hidden Life of Trees, Wohlleben enlightens you with a look into the quiet life of trees. Readers will walk away with a new appreciation and respect towards the unassuming elders.
Pros:
Fascinating facts and shocking details
Get ready to be amazed by what trees are capable of. This book will teach you about how trees help other trees in need, the incredible partnership they have with fungi, and their amazing ability to taste and smell. And it doesn’t stop there. Do you know how many seeds it takes to result in one full grown tree? Trust me – you’re not thinking high enough. Can trees disinfect the air around them? RAFO.
Still so much to learn
It’s shocking how little we know about our own planet’s inhabitants – including trees. More research is needed and trees add the extra challenges of slower growth and larger bodies limiting our ability to conveniently research them. I look forward to following tree research in the future!
Makes you rethink how you treat trees
About two years ago, my husband and I had our backyard oak tree trimmed up… The tree trimmers chopped off five huge lower limbs to raise the crown. At the time, I didn’t consider (or even know to consider) the potential impact to the health of the tree. While reading this book, I realized just how dangerous the trimming was. We opened up huge wounds that the tree would need years to heal. Not only that, we substantially increased the risk of fungal invaders. All of this to say… we might have unintentionally killed our tree which we won’t be able to confirm for decades.
Cons:
Writing style
It took me a while to get used to Wohlleben’s writing style. It just didn’t flow well. Chapter content frequently jumps around, some chapters just cut off lacking a clear wrap-up, and the organization of the overall content could have been better.
Facts or assumptions?
Do trees feel pain? Maybe… honestly, we don’t know yet and more research is needed. What we do know is that trees have reactions to physical stimuli. But the author seems adamant that trees feel pain. So, for example, every time a leaf is eaten or a woodpecker makes a nest, the tree feels pain. He even goes so far as to say… “When the logs in the fireplace crackle merrily, the corpse of a beech or oak is going up in flames. The paper in the book you are holding in your hands right now is made from the shavings of spruce, and birches were expressly felled (that is to say, killed) for this purpose.” The guilt trip is laid on thick.
Here’s my issue… trees are, for better or for worse, participants in the circle of life. They provide homes for a variety of birds. Their leaves provide food for a variety of bugs and animals. Remove the human from the equation and those two statements are still facts. So at no point can humans change the fact that the life of a tree is a life of (some amount of) pain. Are there things we can do to improve the quality of life? Sure. Do I expect all vegans to suddenly denounce the act of eating plants? No.
Overall…
This was an interesting book… Some statements the author says are still clearly assumptions that he’s taken as fact. Until more research is done, we won’t know. Do I appreciate him representing trees? Yes. I just wish he had done it in a bit more scientific way.
Caroline’s Library 