62 pages • 2 hours read
Peter WohllebenThe Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
IntroductionChapter Summaries & Analyses
Introduction Summary
Wohlleben is a professional forester who helps to manage a forest in the Eifel mountains in Germany. The author recounts how, at the beginning of his career as a forester, he viewed trees and forests through the narrow lens of commercial profit. His training and work experience required him to be able to judge the profitability of different types of lumber, and he explains that this greatly impacted the way he viewed the trees he worked with every day. He explains that forests planted by people for commercial gain differ greatly from natural forests, which plant and maintain themselves. He impresses upon readers how important trees are to the world and writes that his book will show why forests matter on a global scale. He also claims that it is crucial for humans to have an appreciation for trees in order to leave some forests undisturbed by human activity.
Wohlleben’s career became more varied as he guided survival tours, started an alternative ecological graveyard, and established a forest preserve for ancient trees. He also began learning more about the forest he worked in from other professionals from Aachen University who began to regularly conduct research in the forest. He explains how this newfound appreciation inspired him to change his forest management style, and he reports that his former employer, the town of Hummel, has banned large machines from the forest. Instead, Wohlleben tries to maintain the forest’s health while using horses to conservatively remove trees when necessary. The author concludes the introduction by inviting readers to share the joy that forests provide people and encouraging them to remain observant of natural wonders in their next walk in the forest.
Introduction Analysis
Wohlleben introduces the theme of human interactions with forest environments, and human perceptions of nature. He notes that over the course of his forestry career, he became increasingly interested in how trees function and realized how much more he had to learn about them. He describes how by discovering more about trees’ lives his perception of the forest changed immensely, and he no longer viewed trees through a commercial lens, but instead began to appreciate them in a new way. By revealing some of his own personal journey Wohlleben hints at how human understanding of nature can greatly impact how we manage and interact with the natural world.
To illustrate how each actor is an essential part of an ecosystem, Wohlleben relates the story of how wolves, once plentiful in Yellowstone Park, had disappeared by the 1920s. Without this valuable predator, Wohlleben explains, the park’s elk herds became overpopulated and overgrazed the park’s trees and other vegetation. Without so many trees growing along the river, Yellowstone’s river was altered, its faster flow and fewer trees making it less habitable for other creatures, like beavers. The author explains that when the wolves returned, these changes were reversed. The wolves decreased the elk population. This allowed more trees and vegetation to grow, which in turn supported a wider biodiversity of animals as the park had in the past. Wohlleben’s example helps him communicate that trees, too, are crucial actors in their ecosystems and interact with their environments in complex and consequential ways.
