A review by inquiry_from_an_anti_library
The Secret Network of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things― Stories from Science and Observation by Peter Wohlleben

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Is This An Overview?

Everything in nature is interconnected.  A species effects the ecosystem around them.  A cycle of life as nutrients from the dead feed the living.  Many animals fight for nutrients provided by other dead animals.  Nitrogen is a reactive compound that enables the growth of vegetation, but is rare in nature.  Nitrogen can be provided by dead animals around them, or alternatively, the winds can carry it.  Nitrogen is a by-product of burning fossil fuels that can be carried long distances on the wind, to come down when it rains.  Trees have been aware of the emissions as they have been growing faster when emissions rose.  But growing too fast makes them vulnerable to fungi and other predators.  Fires have been a way to recycle dead biomass, but that also incinerates the natural sanitation army of animals that decompose and release nutrients.  Rain can provide sustenance, but heavy rain can carry away valuable soil and nutrients.

Animals communicate, between their own species and other animals.  Even vegetation has a communication method, a wood wide web.  Much like animals have defenses against predators, vegetation has defenses on those that prey on them.  Reproduction is attuned to winter losses, but humans can intervene to feed animals and prevent losses, which means more animals available after winter.  Increased population of a species effects how they compete with other animals, and how much vegetation there is.  Hunters have participated in feeding animals, to have more animals to hunt.  People can also protect animals, a desire usually fostered when people engage and connect with animals, such as through zoos. 

 

Caveats?

The ecosystem is complex.  Complexity that makes it difficult to understand how everything is interconnected.  This book shares some connections that are known, with different interpretations.  There are many connections not yet known or understood.