Walking through a quiet forest setting, the landscape can seem so peaceful and static that it’s hard to even imagine the flurry of activity and strife going on beneath the soil and at scales smaller than we can see. At the centre of it all is the individual tree, struggling to get enough light, water, and nutrients to survive while vying against competing plant species, invasive insects, and furious winter storms.
The Hidden Life of Trees is a rambling journey through the various aspects of the life of a tree in the forest and focusses on the species common to Central European mixed deciduous–coniferous forests such as those found in Germany, where the book was originally published. In his conversational, easy-to-read style, author Peter Wohlleben discusses everything from mycorrhizal connections to how trees sense the passing of seasons. Each of the 36 short chapters covers a different topic. There is no overarching narrative, so each chapter feels like a standalone essay, which introduces a certain repetitiveness to some of them, but makes for easy bite-size consumption.
The author attempts to elucidate what is hidden to the naked eye: the complex interplay of different organisms that make up this ecosystem… trees, birds, mammals, fungi, insects, bacteria, and so forth. Wohlleben not only wants his readers to think about the lives of trees, but also to understand them in terms similar to our own.
A German forester-turned-conservationist who has been observing trees for over 20 years, Wohlleben has a great many anecdotes and observations to convey. Unfortunately, too often, the book relies on stating Wohlleben’s opinions and observations as facts—mixed in with supported scientific knowledge, but not distinguished from it. The book’s citations for scientific claims are sometimes problematic as well, citing corporate websites and seminars in place of peer-reviewed research.