Trees

Rating:
Summary: good on tree mechanics but weak on biology
Review: A book that purports to explain everything about trees from how they evolved to how modern forests are managed had better have an author of broad knowledge and experience with a multitude of tree subjects. Unfortunately that is not the case here. Had this been a book on "The Biomechanics of Trees", or "Tree and Wood Structure", it would be a very good book indeed, as these topics are competently handled, and fall within the author's expertise. But in broadening his treatment, the author has had to wander onto the kind of thin ice that produces many, many mistakes, inaccuracies, and even blunders. And if the facts in a factual book cannot be relied upon, the reader cannot be expected to take any of the book's assertions on faith.
Here are some of these errors of fact, many of which could have been caught if standard references were consulted: Trees are very vulnerable to drought; root systems of young trees are "dominated" by their tap roots; a tree's roots extend only as far out as the tree's crown; bristlecone pines grow from the Mexican border to Colorado, the tallest ones are found above 10,000 feet elevation, and the bristlecone species in Colorado is Pinus longaeva; coast redwood grows only to 335 feet in height, and giant sequoia to 317 feet; tall Koompassia trees can only supply water to relatively few leaves because they are so tall (though much taller redwoods support great masses of leaves); Siberian larches are deciduous because the winters are too harsh for survival of evergreen leaves (though their associated pines and spruces seem not to know that); coast redwood seedlings cannot grow in the shade of a redwood canopy, and their "cones have to wait until the forest is destroyed by fire, before they open"; silviculture is the extraction of trees one at a time or in small clearings to be replaced naturally by saplings that then spring up in the light gap; and one of the disadvantages of plantations is that "because the young trees are not sheltered by mature ones, they can easily lose their leading shoot...."
I can't find a reference on my shelf to tell me how many tree species there are in the world, but I am very dubious about Ennos' claim (stated multiple times) that there are about 80,000. If so, North America has fewer than 1% of the world's tree diversity, which seems ridiculous on its face.

Rating:
Summary: An unsual biology book: reasons why, not just descriptions
Review: This book explains why differnt trees are designed differently to meet different living conditions. The book answers questions such as: Why be a tree? How did trees evolve? How do trees lift water? How do trees stand up? Survival strategies in different parts of the ecosystem.

This book is both simple and detailed, very approachable and well illustrated. While not particularly excited over biology topics, I find myself unable to put this book down. For a reader like me, it has a great quality: it is free of jargon and comprehensive inventory of species.