The Last Stand: A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment

by Peter E. Kelly, Douglas W. Larson, Sarah Harmer (Foreword)

The most ancient and least disturbed forest ecosystem in eastern North America clings to the vertical cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment. Prior to 1988 it had escaped detection even though the entire forest was in plain view and was being visited by thousands upon thousands of people every year. The reason no one had discovered the forest was that the trees were relatively small and lived on the vertical cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment. The Last Stand reveals the complete account of the discovery of this ancient forest, of the miraculous properties of the trees forming this forest (eastern white cedar), and of what is was like for researchers to live, work and study within this forest. The unique story is told with text, with stunning colour photographs and through vivid first-hand accounts. This book will stand the test of time as a testament to science, imagination and discovery.

Genres: Nature, History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Peter E. Kelly completed his M.Sc. at the University of Western Ontario before joining the Cliff Ecology Research Group in the Department of Botany at the University of Guelph. He has devoted the last fifteen years to studying the ecology of the old-growth cedar forests of the Niagara Escarpment. He is co-author, with Douglas W. Larson of Cliff Ecology, published in 2000 by Cambridge University Press.

Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colourful story-telling that brings the ancient cliff-dwelling trees on the Niagara Escarpment to life. The authors seamlessly blend their own findings with archival research and humourous anecdotes to gift to the reader a beautiful, compelling book about what appears on the surface to just be some scraggly old trees. Highly recommend.

[Dunrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich with science, cultural history, natural history, and the specific stories of the scientists who discovered a hidden old growth "forest" on the face of the Niagara Escarpment and several of the long-lived trees they study.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niche story about the cliff cedars along the Niagara Escarpment that becomes a record as well of how humans have destroyed the forests.