The Hidden Company That Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips

by James B. Nardi

Overview

A spectacularly illustrated journey into the intimate communities that native trees share with animals, insects, fungi, and microbes

You can tell a lot about a tree from the company it keeps. James Nardi guides you through the innermost unseen world that trees share with a wondrous array of creatures. With their elaborate immune responses, trees recruit a host of allies as predators and parasites to defend against uninvited advances from organisms that chew on leaves, drain sap, and bore into wood. Microbial life thrives in the hidden spaces of leaf scales, twigs, and bark, while birds, mammals, and insects benefit from the more visible resources trees provide. In return, animals help with pollination, seed dispersal, and recycling of nutrients. The Hidden Company That Trees Keep blends marvelous storytelling with beautiful illustrations and the latest science to reveal how the lives of trees are intertwined with those of their diverse companions.

• Features a wealth of richly detailed drawings accompanied by breathtaking images of microscopic landscapes on leaf, bark, and root surfaces
• Includes informative fact boxes
• Draws on new discoveries in biology and natural history
• Written by one of the world’s leading naturalists

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691238159
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	226,129
File size:	256 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

James B. Nardi is a research scientist in the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His books include Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, Discoveries in the Garden, and Close Encounters with Insects and Spiders.

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2022

“You can tell a lot about a tree by the company it keeps,” contends Nardi (Discoveries in the Garden), a research scientist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in this scattered volume. Nardi explores how animals and insects interact with and shape the health of trees, describing how beetles pollinate flowers, birds disperse seeds, and parasitic larvae protect trees by debilitating other insects that feast on leaves. Trees are more complex than one might think, he suggests, noting that they have an “elaborate immune system” that emits chemicals to attract wasps and other predatory insects who hunt bugs that eat leaves and wood. Unfortunately, the author spends disappointingly little time examining these kinds of cross-species interactions, instead training the bulk of his attention on profiling dozens of insect species that depend on trees, which will be a slog for anyone who’s not an entomologist. Tidbits about, for instance, “leaf mining” caterpillars that eat only the insides of leaves and daddy longlegs that use noxious chemicals to repel predators intermittently intrigue, but they’re stranded in a sea of insect descriptions that resembles a field guide, despite not being useful as such because of its unintuitive organizational scheme. This doesn’t quite come together. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Ideal for naturalists and examines these relationships [between trees and ecosystems] in an insightful way."

English Garden Magazine

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

From the Publisher

★ 12/02/2022

In this wonderful book researcher Nardi (biology, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Life in the Soil) depicts the fascinating story of the world that exists on, inside, below, and outside of a tree. This contributes not only to vivid details about the survival and quality of life of a tree but, ultimately, the effects on the environment and consequently the standard of living for people. Researched thoroughly and full of clear illustrations and details that will satisfy any biologist, this timely and beautifully written work has the potential of enlightening potential learners on all levels about the intricate world of microbial life and the myriad of creatures and critters that interwork to contribute to the survival of all of Earth's species. VERDICT This one belongs in every academic library and in most public libraries. Highly recommended. —Steve Dixon

Library Journal