Book Description
An original portrait of New England's forests, tracing their evolution from precolonial days to the present through a study of the patterns we see today.
Landscape is much more than scenery to be observed or even terrain to be traveled, as this fascinating and many-layered book vividly shows us. Etched into the land is the history of how we have inhabited it, the storms and fires that have shaped it, and its response to these and other changes.
An intrepid sleuth and articulate tutor, Wessels teaches us to read a landscape the way we might solve a mystery. What exactly is the meaning of all those stone walls in the middle of the forest? Why do beech and birch trees have smooth bark when the bark of all other northern species is rough? How do you tell the age of a beaver pond and determine if beavers still live there? Why are pine trees dominant in one patch of forest and maples in another? What happened to the American chestnut? Turn to this book for the answers, and no walk in the woods will ever be the same. 60 black & white illustrations, index.
Customer Reviews:
The woods are lovely..........2007-01-09
Before I read this book, I knew the woods had stories to tell; now, I can begin to understand them. This book is a forensic reference demystifying the clues the forest has to reveal. Each chapter describes, in depth, a particular setting and the clues found there. The drawings, unfortunately, are not as good or helpful as the writing. I would have preferred photographs, but it's only a small drawback.
Reading the Forested landscape..........2006-11-10
...makes more sense after reading this book. The chapters give an introductory look at what you see when you walk through a forest and what it means to the ecosystem and to you if you're just curious or you are in wildlife management.
reading the forested landscape.......2006-08-26
I have grown up in new england and studied the biological sciences for 20 years and Tom Wessel knowledge and wonderful insight to the natural world is amazing. the book is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the outdoors and natures beauty.
Read this book and then Read the Landscape!.......2006-01-06
See that tree? - that stone wall? - How about that mound of earth in the woods? Never noticed them before? Well this book will help you to discover all kinds of 'hidden' clues that help us to understand how the land was used in the past and what forces helped to make it the way it is today.
This is a wonderful book to read and then put into practice as you ramble around the wonderful landscapes of New England.
Great book.......2003-08-19
This book provides an excellent introduction to forest ecology. Wessels begins each chapter with an etching that captures a typical feature of northern forest. He then guides us to understanding what one can learn from the etching through asking key questions and making more detailed observations. The book focuses on central New England forests, which he defines as reaching roughly from the Southern half of Vermont to the Northern half of Massachusetts, and stretching eastwards to the coast of Maine. The book will help even beginners understand more about the forests surrounding them, although it helps if readers can at least recognize a beech tree from a maple or a pine before they start. The book is full of so many details that one reading through it is not enough; this is a book to dip into over and over again as one explores the forest. The book includes a number of useful appendices, covering such varied topics as a chronology of New England history, key kinds of evidence to look for in the woods, common woody and non-woody plants, a glossary, and a bibliography.
Book Description
This important book relates the history of natural and human-induced changes that have occurred in the past one thousand years in New England and explores the modern ecology of this largely forested landscape. Written by leading biological, physical, and social scientists, the book uniquely demonstrates that an understanding of landscape history is essential for the study of ecology and environmental management. After a discussion of the elements that initially shaped the land, the authors describe how the New England landscape changed drastically with the arrival of European settlers nearly four hundred years ago, as they cleared the land of forest and extensively farmed it. Observed patterns of forest regrowth following a shift in agriculture to the midwest form the basis for explanations of changes in native wildlife populations and, more fundamentally, ecosystem structure and function.
Customer Reviews:
Mmmm..........2007-01-19
This book got here with a speed comprable to the starship enterprise entering warp speed. You know with the blurry stars.
Book Description
A beautifully written natural history of the more than seventy tree species that grow in New England. Includes detailed illustrations and range maps.
Customer Reviews:
Great foundation knowledge and more.......2007-02-19
When looking for a New England tree field guide, I chose this book over "Native and Naturalized Trees of New England and Adjacent Canada: A Field Guide" by DeGraaf and Sendak because "Trees of New England" appeared to have more and better illustrations. A closer inspection proved that "Trees" didn't have as many as I thought. While this is my biggest criticism of the work, they can be forgiven because this book isn't primarily a field guide, but a natural history book. Also, what illustrations it does have are of exceptional quality. Amelia Hansen should be commended. I will look for other books that she has worked on.
One thing that struck me was frequent references to other books that I have read, like Tom Wessels' "Reading the Forested Landscape" and Bernd Heinrich's "The Trees in my Forest", both very special works. "Trees", however, should have come first. While Wessels, Heinrich, and others will layer rich detail about specific trees or situations, they don't give the reader an overall picture of area trees. Hence, I needed a field guide.
Charles Fergus lists 75 native trees and 15 common introduced species, tells us about their size, range, and other basic information, then gives us some history and maybe tells us about his personal experience with it. I much appreciated the inclusion of lumber uses of the tree. This information is given primarily in paragraph form rather than chart form, which can make a quick lookup difficult. He will repeat himself from section to sections, which can be a little annoying if you read the book cover to cover like I did, but necessary for those who read the sections reference style.
If I were to nitpick, I would have grouped the Populus trees together (aspens, cottonwoods, and poplar), included the introduced trees in the main section rather than in a chapter in the back, and included more of Amelia's wonderful illustrations. The first two nits, I realize, are personal preference, and the last might have made the book larger and more expensive than the publisher might have wanted. This book offers great foundation knowledge and more. Not entirely a natural history book, not exactly a field guide, but a great balance between them.
Book Description
A diverse array of native coniferous and deciduous trees and, in some places, naturalized exotics comprises majestic northeastern forests and woodlands. Naturalists of all ages and abilities will celebrate the publication of Native and Naturalized Trees of New England and Adjacent Canada: A Field Guide. This authoritative guide offers taxonomy, range, detailed notes on botanical features (leaves, buds, bark, twigs, flowers, and fruit), and a general description for each of eighty-two species of forest trees and twenty common shrubs found in the region. Identification is simplified: trees are grouped by leaf shape and arrangement and are keyed to symbols in the text. The authors supplement these comprehensive entries with a wealth of further information on species' habitats, associated trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, historical details, wildlife values, and uses.
Line drawings accompany each entry, and distribution maps are provided for all native species. The book includes an instructive glossary, a list of references, and a metric rule on the inside back cover that will facilitate identification of trees. Native and Naturalized Trees of New England and Adjacent Canada is destined to become a classic field guide on northeastern forest trees.
Book Description
New England Trees & Wildflowers, An Introduction to Familiar Species, is a must-have, reference guide for beginners and experts alike. Whether you're on a nature hike or taking a stroll in your neighborhood, you'll want to take along a copy of this indispensable guide featuring familiar species that are widespread in New England.
The Pocket Naturalist(tm) series is an introduction to common plants and animals and natural phenomena. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map identifying prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Each is laminated for durability.
Average customer rating:
- Get this book!
- Diana Appelbaum thanks her readers
- Giants in the Land
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Giants in the Land
Diana Appelbaum
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
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ASIN: 0395647207 |
Book Description
A story of the human ingenuity needed to turn the Giant Pines of New England into masts for the great British Navy.
Customer Reviews:
Get this book!.......2001-11-21
An absolutely superb book about the 18th century process of selecting, felling and transporting enormous New England hardwood trees so that they might be fashioned into masts for the king's ships. This book is filled with wonderfully detailed drawings and fascinating information. An example: "A first-class British warship was larger than Faneuil Hall in Boston. It was larger than the State House at Williamsburg in Virginia, larger than any building in the colonies from Maine to Georgia." If only there were more books like this! A must for any classroom.
Diana Appelbaum thanks her readers.......2000-10-30
I have been delighted with the wonderful response that this book has elicited from readers, as well as by the generous reception that it has had among teachers, librarians and reviewers. Most recently, it has been honored by YANKEE MAGAZINE, where the editorial staff has included GIANTS IN THE LAND on a list of the best 100 books ever written for children about New England. I hope that parents who enjoy reading GIANTS IN THE LAND with their children will also enjoy reading BULLOUGH'S POND, a book for grownups published under my childhood name, Diana Muir.
Giants in the Land.......2000-02-01
I really like this book because all of it is true and it happened where I live. I like to think that the giants once grew where my house is. It is also special that the giants only grew in New England. The story is good to listen to or to read because it is telling real things in a way that is fun to hear. I particularly like the part about having to put smaller trees and branches underneath to keep it from breaking when the giant falls. My Dad and I have cut down small trees it is exciting when they fall. Learning history through books like this is great.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Wild Shrub Book, Revised at Last!.......2001-09-11
I wore out two copies of the 1980 paperback edition of this book and for ten years I've had to refer to my tattered collection of unbound pages secured by paperclips! I'm thrilled to see this revised edition. As New England natural history enthusiasts know, there are very few identification guides which cover native and wild-growing shrubs of the northeast - even the latest Peterson Field Guide now only treats trees and not shrubs. This book is thorough, treating even willows with enough depth to aid the amateur naturalist, and has detailed illustrations which beautifully capture the colors and textures of shrubs' leaves, flowers and fruits. My botanist friends have pointed out that the book is not wholly consistent or thorough in delineating botanical features, but unweildy technical books such as Britain and Brown's volumes are available for such detail. I have searched the market for years and have never found a better all around guide to shrubs for the not quite professional naturalist than Marilyn Dwelley's. The descriptions of tree species are also excellent, and full of fascinating, not commonly known, bits of information, but good tree books are much easier to find. If you want to learn New England Shrubs, a challenging, rewarding, and not impossible task, this is the book!
Book Description
Over the past three hundred years New England's landscape has been transformed. The forests were cleared; the land was farmed intensively through the mid-nineteenth century and then was allowed to reforest naturally as agriculture shifted west. Today, in many ways the region is more natural than at any time since the American Revolution. This fascinating natural history is essential background for anyone interested in New England's ecology, wildlife, or landscape. In New England Forests through Time these historical and environmental lessons are told through the world-renowned dioramas in Harvard's Fisher Museum. These remarkable models have introduced New England's landscape to countless visitors and have appeared in many ecology, forestry, and natural history texts. This first book based on the dioramas conveys the phenomenal history of the land, the beauty of the models, and new insights into nature.
Customer Reviews:
Missing piece.......2005-11-10
Major overlook. The Indians did not cut down many trees, but changed the forest ecology dramatically by burning out the underbrush once or twice a year in massive fires, so that they could move and hunt more freely (and move silently). This omission spoils the understanding of forest life by injecting a modern political angle of environmentalism that would be better left out.
A Long-term View of Cultural and Natural History.......2002-12-04
This book is the result of a three-way collaboration between a scientist, a philanthropist and artist dedicated to producing a diorama depicting 300 years of New England's natural and cultural history.
The work, started in the late 1920, captures the essence of the Harvard Forest approach to environmental science, in which a solid understanding of the landscape history provides a basis for interpretation and conservation of nature.
Lifelike and detailed, the dioramas' historical and ecological approach remains relevant today as it becomes more apparent that changes in nature can only be assessed through long-term perspectives.
Liked Bullough's Pond? Are You Ready for Harvard's Forest?.......2001-02-06
Many people do not realize that Harvard University has its own forest in New England. The forest has been a source of study for silviculture since its founding in 1907 for almost 100 years.
In the late 1920s, Harvard professor Richard T. Fisher joined with a philanthropist, Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, and talented artisans in the studio of Guernsey and Pitman in Harvard Square to develop a remarkable series of dioramas to capture conservation issues for future generations of silviculture students to study. These dioramas are the basis for the text and illustrations in this book.
New England was mostly ancient forest when the European settlers arrived. The small Native American population cleared only a modest portion of the forests, and used the game from the forests rather more than the timber. With immigration, New England rapidly became one big farm. So much for the original forests. Next, the New England farms were put out of business by richer, midwestern farms shipping their goods to the east. Within a few decades, new forests arose to cover the temporarily cleared and abandoned fields. With rapid growth in pines, a second wave of clearing occurred about a hundred years ago, leaving the forests to start to regrow again. The current hardwood-dominated forests are a result of this man-driven process. These experiences provide many lessons for understanding the impact that people have on forests, and for suggesting better practices for the future.
In one sequence of seven dioramas depicting the same place over time, you can see the whole historical process take place. I found it fascinating. I recognized in each image places that I had visited in New England. Now I can connect each site to what it represents in terms of environmental circumstances. That is like learning to read nature in the way I can read a book to get a message.
Today, we think ahead further (but probably not yet far enough) to consider the implications of our actions on future generations and other species. These dioramas show the importance of capturing the natural history of an area to begin to draw those lessons.
Another set of dioramas were designed to exemplify the conservation issues in New England forests, including loss of old-growth forests, habitat needs for wildlife, natural losses due to hurricanes, erosion from cutting forests, imported pests that feed on forests, and the impact of natural fires and fighting forest fires.
To me the most fascinating part was in the suggested good principles of forestry management. Each stage of forest growth and regrowth is displayed, along with what needs to be done for each stage. This reminded me of being asked about what to do by a client with very large holdings of forests in Maine a few years ago. If I had known about these dioramas, I could have given much more appropriate and valuable advice. I do feel quite a pang of regret at the missed opportunity, as a result.
The final section of the book shows the detail of how the dioramas were created.
The book also tells you about the history of the Harvard Forest and how to reach the Fisher Museum where the dioramas are displayed. I recommend the visit!
The reference to Bullough's Pond in the title of this review is for the highly regarded book that slightly preceded this one, about the ecological history of a man-made pond in Newton, Massachusetts. If you have not yet read that fine work, you have a real treat ahead of you. Anyone who is interested in understanding the rhythms between humans and nature can learn much from these two books.
Having read these two books, a new question occurs to me. At one time, forest fires were aggressively avoided in New England. The current view is that these are a natural process and should not be so aggressively countered. Where else do our views need to be shifted to reflect the long-term best interests of all?
How should use of forests and water reserves be adjusted to reflect optimum benefits for the next ten generations? How would our use change if this question were stretched to cover twenty generations? Do we even know how to think about these questions? Do we have plans to be able to learn how?
Overcome the presumption that only the here and now is important. What we do here and now is very important, but our decisions need to be much more independent of momentary needs and perspectives.
fascinating microcosm.......2000-06-21
Perhaps microcosm is not quite the world, Forests Through Time offers a fascinating angle of insight into one aspect of the ecological development of New England. For a wider angle, one reads Bullough's Pond, and for the complete picture of the land in colonial times, Changes in the Land. This however is a fascinating view and well worth perusing.
Virtual Land-use History of New England.......2000-04-23
Imagine yourself transported back in time to an ancient forest in central New England prior to settlement. As in a time lapsed movie, the ecosystem is transformed before your eyes into a subsistence farm surrounded by forest, to one dominated by prosperous farms with only remnant patches of forest dotting the land, to the forest reclaiming the abandoned farm landscape. This was part of an ubiquitous land use history that was replicated througout much of New England. The history is superbly depicted in Foster's and O'Keefe's "New England Forest Through Time: Insights from The Harvard Forest Dioramas". The narrative and photographs of the breath-taking dioramas capture the economic and natural forces that shaped the New England Landscape. The description and pictorials cover the abuses the land suffered from deforestation, overgrazing, and widespread clearcutting, and exacerbated by unnaturally high incidence of fire. The book expounds upon the different wildlife habitat associated with the changes that have occured as well as forest management techniques and current forestry issue. This book is an excellent tool for natural resource managers and educators as well as the layman who wants to know why there are apple trees, stone walls, cellar holes in the middle of the woods.
Book Description
This charming and profusely illustrated guide is now back in print. The authors describe in a color-coded section each tree species and the autumn colors they produce. The book includes 65 walking tours in Vermont with 9 full-color maps.
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