If you close your eyes on a breezy day, you can identify trees just by the rustle of their leaves. Are they singing to each other? For David G. Haskell, ecologist and author of The Songs of Trees, listening closely to the distinctive voices in a forest “can ignite our curiosity and get our minds into the lives of trees.”
Climate Change: Trust But Verify
Is climate change just a hoax? It’s not … but why not follow Ronald Reagan’s advice and “trust but verify” by looking for evidence — pro or con — in your own backyard? If you pay attention to animals, plants and weather, you may discover that your neighborhood really is getting warmer.
Lichen Partnerships
Those splotches on rocks, tree trunks and twigs? Lichens! Lichens are actually a symbiosis between two major divisions of life, neither of which is a plant. And you can find them everywhere, as long as the air is not polluted.
Birdsong Baby Babble
Songbirds aren’t born with the ability to sing proper songs. Instead, they have to listen to adults in order to learn their songs, and then they need to practice. Adult females can distinguish the perfected songs of experienced males from the “baby babble” of young birds. If you listen carefully, so can you.
Faith in Trees
Trees provide us shelter, fuel, food, protection from climate change, and beauty. But they also have deep spiritual importance. In a treetop conversation, forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni points out the connection between trees and religion.