Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem

A masterful work of natural history points the way to a new conservation model.

From the leaves at the top of the canopy to the insects living deep beneath the soil, a forest is a complete, unified ecosystem. Each event, from the growth of a single sapling to a cataclysmic fire, is critical to the life of the forest as organism.

Veteran science writer Luoma here chronicles the work of a unique and fascinating scientific research project that, over the course of several decades, will bring together scientists from almost every discipline-botanists, entomologists, wildlife ecologists, soil biologists, etc.-to piece together the long-term natural history of a single forest ecosystem, in this case a majestic old-growth forest of the Pacific Northwest.

What emerges is a wealth of information that even now is pointing the way to a new approach to forest management, one that will allow for the cutting of trees for timber, while preserving the beauty and integrity of these proud woods.