Will I love The Nature of Oaks?

You will never look at an oak tree in the same way after reading The Nature of Oaks.

Tallamay shares so much fascinating info about a tree most of us take for granted. No other tree species supports so many different kinds of animals. From tiny wasps to white-tailed deer, everyone in the forest relies on oak trees.

Whenever I walk past a tall oak tree, I feel like I know so much more about its life and the hidden world it supports. I’m in on a huge secret that started with a tiny acorn.

There is so much well-intentioned but misinformed writing about ecology and the environment, it was a pleasure to read a solidly written book by an expert entomologist who speaks with authority and personal experience about native trees. This book follows oaks through the year, describing their remarkable biology and many interacting organisms. We get clear illustrations of changing seasons, environments, and stresses, along with co-evolutionary partners that form the web of life around this remarkable tree. It covers many foundational concepts in ecology—mutualism, keystone plants, mimicry, predation, competition, and more. I never before appreciated the essentiality of oaks, a tree… show more.