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

(Hardback)

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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 worlds leading naturalists

'[A] wonderful book...[This] timely and beautifully written work has the potential of enlightening potential learners on all levels.' Steve Dixon, Library Journal, starred review

Reviews

"[A] wonderful book. . . . [This] timely and beautifully written work has the potential of enlightening potential learners on all levels."---Steve Dixon, Library Journal, starred review
"[A] magnificently-illustrated portal to the secret lives of microbes, fungi, and mosses, squirrels, insects, and lizards alike."---Mike Lunsford, Tribune-Star
"[The] illustrations are beyond charming and its just so packed with information."---Margaret Roach, A Way to Garden
"In a word, it is superb. James Nardi has done a magnificent job."---David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds

Author Bio

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.