Forest Forensics A Field Guide to Reading

by Tom Wessels

Thousands of readers have had their experience of being in a forest changed forever by
reading Tom Wessels’s Reading the Forested
Landscape. Was this forest once farmland?
Was it logged in the past? Was there ever a
major catastrophe like a fire or a wind storm
that brought trees down?


Now Wessels takes that wonderful ability
to discern much of the history of the forest
from visual clues and boils it all down to a
manageable field guide that you can take out
to the woods and use to start playing forest
detective yourself. Wessels has created a key—a fascinating series of either/or questions—to guide you through the process of analyzing what you see. You’ll feel like a woodland
Sherlock Holmes. No walk in the woods will
ever be the same.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Ecology, Reference, Science, Natural History, Environment

Paperback

First published September 20, 2010

Reviews

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great companion to “Reading the Forested Landscape”. However, I’m not sure this text would be as useful without having read RTFL first. Yet, the pictures and short descriptions provide excellent insight for deciphering the history of a forest.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forest Forensics is a pretty slim book, but it's extremely rich and well put-together. As I read more, I am ever more astonished when I learn a whole new way of looking at nature. Wessels is interested in tree life histories, in fire ecology, in restoration and historical ecology. But none of the books on those fields I've read ever approached the most simple, and in retrospect obvious, way of studying forests. As long-lived perennial ecosystems, forests wear their history on their sleeve, and there are many intuitive and simple pieces of evidence you can use to deduce, on the spot, the disturbance history of a forest fragment. That's extremely valuable, the sort of thing any aspiring ecologist should have to learn. I am looking forward to using Forest Forensics on local forest patches in the future. While the content is rich, there is not so much of it that the lessons would take long to internalize. Also, the pictures show what he's describing far better than any field guide I've ever seen. Really well done.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice little pocket guide. It focuses on New England forests and identifying old crop/pastureland reclaimed by woodlands, but with pictures and a nicely formatted flow chart, it seems like it would be helpful as a rough guideline for most east coast forests. Especially the fire/storm identifiers.

It's not a tracking guide, and doesn't have plant identification in it, but does point out one or two symbiotic relationships between plants and insects that can give insight to the history of the spot.

It tickles the tiny itch in my brain that wants to be an RPG ranger.

[Tam G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, a little bit forest ecology, a little bit human effect on its environment. It should be of interest for hikers, ecologists, biologists, or serious historians.

Very well organized. Useful photos to understand everything. Its fairly easy to flip back and forth when necessary to visualize things. Helpful flow chart, outline, and dot charts.

I think the author was right to limit the information to New England (his area of expertise) but I found it to also be true for forest/agriculture/pastoral areas of the upper Midwest. Definitely there is a lot of good basic information here (how trees affect the ground and the growth of each other, how humans affect their environment) which should be accurate for many areas.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was an amateur archaeologist at a very young age. The forest preserves near my house were my laboratories, and my specimens were soda cans buried under leaves, decomposing papers and magazines that had most likely blown away from a nearby home, and various other pieces of what a normal person would consider garbage. I considered them treasure.

It was interesting to me to try to figure out who had been in the woods and what they were doing there (this in the late 70's before I hit puberty and realized what was really going on down in the sinkholes).

These days I walk and find a rotting hay bale hidden among the understory, and once again become intrigued by the forgotten details of the land.

This book appeals to the part of me that is visual and loves to see photos, because it is filled with them. That makes it dummy-proof as far as I'm concerned, so even the layperson can learn to "read" the forest.

Not only that, but at the beginning there is an easy to follow key to help you determine what could have caused the trees to grow or fall the way they do, for example.

The natural history of the land is just as important as the human history, and I love how this book helps me to weave those narratives together.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize that this is actually a companion field guide to the author's earlier book. Even on its own it is full of information. I don't particularly like how it is laid out with the photos and information being in separate sections, but it is small enough to be able to flip around. Most of the photos are very helpful. Others could be better as it is hard to see what the author is describing. The features he is trying to explain are certainly hard to take photos of, but perhaps some notations right on the photo would help clarify them a little. Despite these quibbles the book is very interesting. I'll certainly be picking up the original book to read.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this easy-to-follow guide, however I was hoping for something that would help identify overgrown homesteads as we have many such sites near my hometown. It did do an excellent job in identifying different agricultural land as well as weather damaged areas.

[Tiffany Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in learning more about the history of a forest. This guide was written for the New England region, but I reached out to the author who told me “the evidence for wind, logging, and fire disturbances are the same in any forested region” and explained that decay rates are the only thing that will vary based on region. Here in North Carolina the rate of decay would be faster, for example. I learned a lot of terminology I wasn’t familiar with and quickly realized that our forest was most likely pasture at one point. Another thing to keep in mind is that this is a companion book to Reading the Forested Landscape - A Natural History of New England. I was able to use this book without having read that one, so it’s useful either way.

[Catherine Edmundson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first recommended to me by a Door County Land Trust docent, during a guided hike.
I've found the book useful, and have been referencing the book's material to identify various land markings around Door County to better understand the history of the lay of the land on my property and other areas I regularly hike.

[Cstanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's a bit difficult to just sit down and read. It is a field guide that you need to take with you to the woods. There's a lot of flipping back and forth to get the full amount of info from each set of circumstances, but it is worth the flipping. It has given me a great appreciation of the forest of New England and the settlers that came before us.

[Fred Leland · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting and informative

This is not my normal read but I have been hiking a lot in the woods and a friend recommended Tom Wessels video series which is where I discovered this book. It very informative but I will have refer to this often as a reference on my explorations. If you what to learn more about the woods this book is a great place to start.

[Kiril Przo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is a literature assistance for the book "Reading the Forested Landscape" it still can be seen as a separate peace of writing that can be used on the field. I have my doubts about the inside layout and the photos used as a example - I think adding illustrations with clean lines would help as much as photos.

[Charlotte Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forest Forensics was an easy quick read, a book designed as a reference for identifying the land and what it was used for in the past. Definitely going to take this book with me on hikes and the like so I can make good use out of it.

[Dan Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and well-thought-out field guide. I look forward to trying it out.

[Robert Lewter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A handy guide to understand the history and goings on in the woods that you are wandering. Nice for people who love it in the woods.

[Curtis Hohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat little field guide for identifying the history of a forest from visible clues. Will be taking this down to Pierce Run!

[Kyle Rusnak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good little book with lots of pictures. Very informative.

[Bette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great field guide. Going to get my own copy!

[Kay Rahardjo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for avid New England hikers. It helps you to imagine and realize what happened long, long ago in the forest where you're currently standing. Note that the observations and photographs presented in this book are specific to Central New England, but those living elsewhere can likely find similar types of books about their region.

This book is mostly a picture book with easy to understand explanations. I now know what a pasture tree, nurse log, and limb whorl are! I was out in the woods with two hiking friends yesterday regaling (torturing?) them with my newfound knowledge!

Note that there is a glossary of somewhat obscure terms in the back of the book. I Googled terms a few times and realized at the end that the glossary is there and it explains it better than what I found on Google.

I'd love to meet Tom Wessels someday!

[Narr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before this book, I had no idea how much humans have shaped and reshaped what I thought were natural landscapes or that a tree just cannot keep its past a secret. Wessels gives you all of the tools you need to read the landscape and understand its recent history.

My only complaint is that, while well illustrated, they should have put the explanations directly on the image rather than in a caption.

There is one other drawback to this book; it will slow down all your hikes almost to the point of stopping, forcing your friends to abandon you in the wilderness.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion to “Reading the Forested Landscape”. I have not read "Reading the Forested Landscape" and I really enjoyed this little book anyway. I don't think there is another book like it. It is a guide to the forest's past. He offers good tips and plenty of photos to guide your discovery. I find that as I am hiking I now look at the landscape with different eyes. I think back to what he has taught me as I walk. If you have the printed version it is small and can easily be taken on the trail.

[Sarina Bosco · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect little book. I love that it's set up like a dichotomous key, and I loved Wessels' introduction, which was just enough info before digging in. I live in New England and am now understanding the trees and landscape around me. It's literally eye-opening. The photos are a definite plus; they show you what to look for and are easily recognizable once you start seeing the forest through the trees ;)

[Wes · Rating 5 out of 5]

found and read this at the lonesome lake hut in new hampshire. i have read of 'the myth of progress' and enjoyed how it read like listening to a great lecture, this followed the convention, with more pictures. the landscape examples were familiar. the book gave a background and history to their memories.

the text-heavy version is up next.

[Steve Paulson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is oriented to the northeast United States so it may not precisely fit your local forests/plantations.

Nevertheless, it is chock full of information that you can use in any forest and suggests that its parent book Reading the Forested Landscape will be even richer.

It could be better organized (thus the 4).

[Rick Reno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool book. The blurb says that the book has changed thousands of people's experiences n the woods and at least in my case that's true. If you spend much time in the woods, Drop $10 on this book and you'll get your money's worth...

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary of field marks, good photo examples. Very new-england centered, without much mention of that or advice for those outside the region on where to learn location-specific info. Well worth the short time required to browse and read it.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Wessels provides a collection of photographs which illustrate the clues to reading forested landscapes, as well as a key that can be used to interpret the details of what is seen.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very narrow in scope. Now I must plan a trip to Vermont!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A guide to damaged tree trunks and disrupted ground in forest landscapes in New England. Illustrated with full-color photographs.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this, fascinating