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Sweet in Tooth and Claw: nature is more cooperative than we think
Ever since Darwin, science has enshrined competition as biology’s brutal architect. But this revelatory new book argues that our narrow view of evolution has caused us to ignore the generosity and cooperation that exist around us, from the soil to the sky.
In Sweet in Tooth and Claw, Kristin Ohlson explores the subtle ways in which nature is in constant collaboration to the betterment of all species. From the bear that discards the remainders of his salmon dinner on the forest ground, to the bright coral reefs of Cuba, she shows readers not only the connectivity lying beneath the surface in natural ecosystems, but why it’s vital for humans to incorporate that understanding into our interactions with nature, and also with each other.
Much of the damage that humans have done to our natural environment stems from our ignorance of these dense webs of connection. As we struggle to cope with the environmental hazards that our behaviour has unleashed, it’s more important than ever to understand nature’s billions of co-operative interactions. This way, we can not only stop disrupting them, but rely on them to renew ecosystems.
In reporting from the frontlines of scientific research, regenerative agriculture, and urban conservation, Ohlson shows that a shift from focusing on competition to collaboration can not only heal our relationships with the natural world, but also with each other.
In Sweet in Tooth and Claw, Kristin Ohlson explores the subtle ways in which nature is in constant collaboration to the betterment of all species. From the bear that discards the remainders of his salmon dinner on the forest ground, to the bright coral reefs of Cuba, she shows readers not only the connectivity lying beneath the surface in natural ecosystems, but why it’s vital for humans to incorporate that understanding into our interactions with nature, and also with each other.
Much of the damage that humans have done to our natural environment stems from our ignorance of these dense webs of connection. As we struggle to cope with the environmental hazards that our behaviour has unleashed, it’s more important than ever to understand nature’s billions of co-operative interactions. This way, we can not only stop disrupting them, but rely on them to renew ecosystems.
In reporting from the frontlines of scientific research, regenerative agriculture, and urban conservation, Ohlson shows that a shift from focusing on competition to collaboration can not only heal our relationships with the natural world, but also with each other.
304 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2022
39 people are currently reading
878 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 15, 2022
I have not stopped talking about this book since I started reading it. Thank you to Patagonia, Kristin Ohlson, and NetGalley for the ARC. I will be buying a copy to reread and highlight and annotate as soon as it is published later this year.
Sweet in Tooth and Claw is about the climate crisis and yet, unlike so much written on the subject, it is a deeply hopeful book. I finished feeling more connected and empowered after reading about the ubiquity of cooperation throughout the natural world and how humanity is reinserting itself into that web of mutuality. The writing gets four stars from me, not because it isn't good but because so many writers in this field write so beautifully (Rachel Carson, Robin Wall Kimmerer) the bar is impossibly high. The content is where the book shines. It is as if Ohlson has read all the scientific papers and talked to all the experts and then distills the information into an easily consumable format for lay people. Her translation services are priceless.
I continue to think about the ideas and examples presented in Sweet in Tooth and Claw. As a reader, it has stayed with me, evolving as I wrestle with the problems and possibilities it presents. A new perspective is a rare and startling gift. I often read to get a glimpse of someone else's point of view. This book changed my own point of view. Where I once saw competition, I see cooperation. Where I saw humanity as the villain, I now see we have the opportunity to be co-creators of a thriving ecosystem. Co-creation has been an import part of my theology so I am not sure why the idea of being co-creators in a physical sense was surprising, but it was. This book provided me an opportunity to weave together my understanding of the spiritual and physical world. Provides me, present tense, because I continue to chew on the rich gift of Ohlson's research and writing.
Thanks again to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC. Please pre-order the book from your favorite indie bookstore today.
Sweet in Tooth and Claw is about the climate crisis and yet, unlike so much written on the subject, it is a deeply hopeful book. I finished feeling more connected and empowered after reading about the ubiquity of cooperation throughout the natural world and how humanity is reinserting itself into that web of mutuality. The writing gets four stars from me, not because it isn't good but because so many writers in this field write so beautifully (Rachel Carson, Robin Wall Kimmerer) the bar is impossibly high. The content is where the book shines. It is as if Ohlson has read all the scientific papers and talked to all the experts and then distills the information into an easily consumable format for lay people. Her translation services are priceless.
I continue to think about the ideas and examples presented in Sweet in Tooth and Claw. As a reader, it has stayed with me, evolving as I wrestle with the problems and possibilities it presents. A new perspective is a rare and startling gift. I often read to get a glimpse of someone else's point of view. This book changed my own point of view. Where I once saw competition, I see cooperation. Where I saw humanity as the villain, I now see we have the opportunity to be co-creators of a thriving ecosystem. Co-creation has been an import part of my theology so I am not sure why the idea of being co-creators in a physical sense was surprising, but it was. This book provided me an opportunity to weave together my understanding of the spiritual and physical world. Provides me, present tense, because I continue to chew on the rich gift of Ohlson's research and writing.
Thanks again to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC. Please pre-order the book from your favorite indie bookstore today.
January 12, 2024
wowie. I really recommend this book to any stem nature loving girlie or really just anybody who wants a more intimate view of the natural world around us. I learned so much and this book gave me hope in a world that always seems like it’s on fire. I love connecting with native wildlife and this book just validated that but also taught me a lot about farming, deforestation, and urban spaces.
the world is not all on fire!! Nature is beautiful and often self-correcting!! We share this planet with all of its species and we should be kind to our both inter and intra species neighbors!!
one star off because I got kinda in a slump through the middle and there were one off sentences or vibes that I didn’t necessarilyyyyy agree with but who cares. also I weirdly picked up on a lot of religious analogies? not in a pushing religion kinda way (the author states she’s irreligious) but just in an “lol were u raised Catholic or something bc ur using those kinda words” but that part doesn’t really matter either hahaha just something that stood out to me
the world is not all on fire!! Nature is beautiful and often self-correcting!! We share this planet with all of its species and we should be kind to our both inter and intra species neighbors!!
one star off because I got kinda in a slump through the middle and there were one off sentences or vibes that I didn’t necessarilyyyyy agree with but who cares. also I weirdly picked up on a lot of religious analogies? not in a pushing religion kinda way (the author states she’s irreligious) but just in an “lol were u raised Catholic or something bc ur using those kinda words” but that part doesn’t really matter either hahaha just something that stood out to me
February 26, 2023
I just finished Sweet In Tooth And Claw by Kristin Ohlson. The cover of the book is absolutely beautiful! I thought I was going to sit down one afternoon and read through the book. That didn’t happen! Most of the information in each chapter was new to me. I’d read a chapter, view the photos that helped me understand the discussion, and then spend a day thinking about what was explained.
K. Ohlson’s writing creates a picture in your mind as you read her detailed research and interviews. I’m not an environmentalist. Gosh, I’m not even a gardener, but I have a new respect for the cooperation taking place between plants, animals, and people.
My husband heard me say, “I did not know…” so many times when telling him about what I had learned that he’s decided to read, Sweet In Tooth And Claw. He’s the horticulturalist in the family!
Well done, Kristin Ohlson!
K. Ohlson’s writing creates a picture in your mind as you read her detailed research and interviews. I’m not an environmentalist. Gosh, I’m not even a gardener, but I have a new respect for the cooperation taking place between plants, animals, and people.
My husband heard me say, “I did not know…” so many times when telling him about what I had learned that he’s decided to read, Sweet In Tooth And Claw. He’s the horticulturalist in the family!
Well done, Kristin Ohlson!
December 15, 2024
Trodde du «survival of the fittest» er hva som dominerer i naturen? Tro om igjen. Naturen er full av bevis på samarbeid, «fittest» handler ikke om å vinne over andre, men å passe inn i komplekse puslespill. Fitting into the puzzle. God bok med konkrete eksempler og historier. Inspirerende lesning, vi har mye å lære av naturen!
January 1, 2024
Was a little skeptical going into it because it opened with a quote of the author's yoga teacher's favorite translation of a meditation chant, but after the introduction this really hooked me with the actual citations and science of it all.
Pull quotes/notes
"Many scientists are learning from the ways in which older cultures understood their place within nature and how they balanced human needs with the needs of the other living things. I'm convinced that if we can learn to respect, not ravage, the rest of nature, we'll also become more generous and nurturing with each other." (26/775) 3%
"'This is a common concept across many Indigenous and land-based traditions.'" (26-27/775) 3%
"For those readers interested in the sources this book draws from, please visit the book's page on patagonia.com." (30/775) 4%
"'This was not a eureka moment," says ecologist Sharon Doty. 'It was a "what the hell?" moment.'" (82/775) 11%
"Is there living memory and DNA for wholeness everywhere, even in our most degraded landscapes? Even in our most degraded relationships, including those with each other" (99/775) 13%
"Boucher, now retired from the Union of Concerned Scientists" (124/775) 16%
"'During the Second World War and after, people lived in a social world in which competition was an overwhelming fact of life," [Douglas Boucher] told me back in 2015 (notably, before the nastiness of the 2016 United States presidential election and the seething social divisions that continue unabated)." (124-125/775) 16%
"'Evolution isn't just selecting for bodies,' [Kelly] Clancy explained to me. 'It's selecting for behaviors, postures, mating dances, habitats. It's beavers making dams, and humans making cities. It operates on a cultural level.'" (185/775) 24%
"In late 2018, a group announced the discovery of a vast underground ecosystem containing an estimated twenty-three billion tons of microbes—weighing hundreds of times the collected weight of humanity—three miles under the Earth's surface. They survive in extreme heat, with no light, under intense pressure, and without much to eat. Some breathe uranium. Some seem to live in this hot, dark world indefinitely, in a sort of suspended animation. 'The strangest thing for me is that some organisms can exist for millennia," University of Tennessee scientist Karen Lloyd told the Guardian." (213/775) 27%
"On the other hand, a slew of physical ills are tied to disturbances and lack of diversity in the gut microbiota, including allergies, autoimmune diseases, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, and central nervous system dysfunctions like learning and memory impairment, anxiety, depression, and autism." (254-255/775) 33%
"And how much damage can the many nested macrobiota of the world sustain before they stop functioning? If microbes speak to each other in chemicals, then what are the chemicals coming out of our smokestacks and drainpipes and crop dusters telling them? How are the fragrances from my neighbor's dryer vent and the combustive stink from Fourth of July fireworks constraining them? What orders or disorders are barked at my skin microbiota by the transformative stench my hairdresser uses to turn my hair from gray to brown? That, not the cost, is what made me give it up." (274-275/775) 35%
"The entomologist Jonathan Lundgren and I stand at the edge of Roger's cornfield on a cool August morning in the Prairie Pothole Region of South Dakota. We're supposed to meet a group of his students, but there is no sign of them. Perhaps they are on their way, I think, then Lundgren cups his hands around his mouth and sings out, 'Marco!'
No one answers, but he nonetheless springs off the graveled edge of the road and strides into the field next to the corn, carpeted with a tangle of low-growing greens and golds, which I try not to crush as I follow. "Marco!" he calls again, and then again. Finally a voice responds from deep within the muffled confines of the cornfield itself. 'Polo!'" (354-355/775) 46%
"[Jonathan] Lundgren left the government in 2016 to start the fifty-acre Blue Dasher Farm-named for his favorite dragonfly-as well as Ecdysis Foundation, a nonprofit research lab located on the farm and named for the stage of metamorphosis when insects shed their skin." (367-368/775) 47%
"Buz Kloot is another champion and helper." (385/775) 50%
"Newmark first visited the Luna Nueva farm when he worked for the New Chapter supplement company and needed an organic source of ginger and turmeric for its products." (560/775) 72%
"...the forest alongside North Creek will benefit from the renewed flow of marine nitrogen provided by the dying salmon. 'Minks, dippers, coyotes, river otters, and so many others will be pulling those salmon carcasses out of the stream and into the woods,' Engelmeyer said. 'Things want to heal so much.'" (613/775) 79%
"When I straighten up to admire the mountains in the distance—Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters, still swirled in snow" (657/775) 85%
"To create biophilic cities—and we are so accustomed to bleak and dystopian visions of cities that it's hard for us to believe that there can be soft and verdant ones" (703-704/775) 91%
Pull quotes/notes
"Many scientists are learning from the ways in which older cultures understood their place within nature and how they balanced human needs with the needs of the other living things. I'm convinced that if we can learn to respect, not ravage, the rest of nature, we'll also become more generous and nurturing with each other." (26/775) 3%
"'This is a common concept across many Indigenous and land-based traditions.'" (26-27/775) 3%
"For those readers interested in the sources this book draws from, please visit the book's page on patagonia.com." (30/775) 4%
"'This was not a eureka moment," says ecologist Sharon Doty. 'It was a "what the hell?" moment.'" (82/775) 11%
"Is there living memory and DNA for wholeness everywhere, even in our most degraded landscapes? Even in our most degraded relationships, including those with each other" (99/775) 13%
"Boucher, now retired from the Union of Concerned Scientists" (124/775) 16%
"'During the Second World War and after, people lived in a social world in which competition was an overwhelming fact of life," [Douglas Boucher] told me back in 2015 (notably, before the nastiness of the 2016 United States presidential election and the seething social divisions that continue unabated)." (124-125/775) 16%
"'Evolution isn't just selecting for bodies,' [Kelly] Clancy explained to me. 'It's selecting for behaviors, postures, mating dances, habitats. It's beavers making dams, and humans making cities. It operates on a cultural level.'" (185/775) 24%
"In late 2018, a group announced the discovery of a vast underground ecosystem containing an estimated twenty-three billion tons of microbes—weighing hundreds of times the collected weight of humanity—three miles under the Earth's surface. They survive in extreme heat, with no light, under intense pressure, and without much to eat. Some breathe uranium. Some seem to live in this hot, dark world indefinitely, in a sort of suspended animation. 'The strangest thing for me is that some organisms can exist for millennia," University of Tennessee scientist Karen Lloyd told the Guardian." (213/775) 27%
"On the other hand, a slew of physical ills are tied to disturbances and lack of diversity in the gut microbiota, including allergies, autoimmune diseases, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, and central nervous system dysfunctions like learning and memory impairment, anxiety, depression, and autism." (254-255/775) 33%
"And how much damage can the many nested macrobiota of the world sustain before they stop functioning? If microbes speak to each other in chemicals, then what are the chemicals coming out of our smokestacks and drainpipes and crop dusters telling them? How are the fragrances from my neighbor's dryer vent and the combustive stink from Fourth of July fireworks constraining them? What orders or disorders are barked at my skin microbiota by the transformative stench my hairdresser uses to turn my hair from gray to brown? That, not the cost, is what made me give it up." (274-275/775) 35%
"The entomologist Jonathan Lundgren and I stand at the edge of Roger's cornfield on a cool August morning in the Prairie Pothole Region of South Dakota. We're supposed to meet a group of his students, but there is no sign of them. Perhaps they are on their way, I think, then Lundgren cups his hands around his mouth and sings out, 'Marco!'
No one answers, but he nonetheless springs off the graveled edge of the road and strides into the field next to the corn, carpeted with a tangle of low-growing greens and golds, which I try not to crush as I follow. "Marco!" he calls again, and then again. Finally a voice responds from deep within the muffled confines of the cornfield itself. 'Polo!'" (354-355/775) 46%
"[Jonathan] Lundgren left the government in 2016 to start the fifty-acre Blue Dasher Farm-named for his favorite dragonfly-as well as Ecdysis Foundation, a nonprofit research lab located on the farm and named for the stage of metamorphosis when insects shed their skin." (367-368/775) 47%
"Buz Kloot is another champion and helper." (385/775) 50%
"Newmark first visited the Luna Nueva farm when he worked for the New Chapter supplement company and needed an organic source of ginger and turmeric for its products." (560/775) 72%
"...the forest alongside North Creek will benefit from the renewed flow of marine nitrogen provided by the dying salmon. 'Minks, dippers, coyotes, river otters, and so many others will be pulling those salmon carcasses out of the stream and into the woods,' Engelmeyer said. 'Things want to heal so much.'" (613/775) 79%
"When I straighten up to admire the mountains in the distance—Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters, still swirled in snow" (657/775) 85%
"To create biophilic cities—and we are so accustomed to bleak and dystopian visions of cities that it's hard for us to believe that there can be soft and verdant ones" (703-704/775) 91%
April 25, 2022
Read a free ARC from NetGalley.
Kristin Ohlson's Sweet in Tooth and Claw takes the old adage of "...Nature, red in tooth and claw" and provides several examples of cooperation rather than competition in the natural world. From the Pacific Northwest the the Great Barrier Reef, there are lots of ways that nature has evolved to support cooperative growth.
Ohlson is not a scientist herself and credits those scientists whom she interviewed with endless patience for her many questions, and the resulting work is very accessible for the average person with an interest in nature but no PhD.
Kristin Ohlson's Sweet in Tooth and Claw takes the old adage of "...Nature, red in tooth and claw" and provides several examples of cooperation rather than competition in the natural world. From the Pacific Northwest the the Great Barrier Reef, there are lots of ways that nature has evolved to support cooperative growth.
Ohlson is not a scientist herself and credits those scientists whom she interviewed with endless patience for her many questions, and the resulting work is very accessible for the average person with an interest in nature but no PhD.
March 27, 2023
The author is an English major who wrote so well about science subjects in this book it was a pleasure to read. There is a chapter on riparian areas that mentions people I worked with that I loved reading. The others chapters were so interesting, and I learned a lot. I also absorbed some of the author's excitement about generosity and cooperation in the natural world.
Currently reading
March 9, 2023my hs outdoor leadership/ creative nonfiction teacher (who published his own book 2 summers ago) j posted abt this book on fb so i had to add it to my list 😌
July 17, 2023
3.5 stars. Not particularly deep or groundbreaking, but well written and has a refreshing optimism.
July 26, 2025
Inspired
June 13, 2022
I received an ARC from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This is interesting but definitely not casual reading. I've slowly been chugging away at it for several weeks but the information is a little dense (as in a lot packed in) & that makes it hard to read more than a chapter or two at once.
Not quite what I expected in terms of how it's written. It's not poorly written by any means, it just isn't quite for me.
This is interesting but definitely not casual reading. I've slowly been chugging away at it for several weeks but the information is a little dense (as in a lot packed in) & that makes it hard to read more than a chapter or two at once.
Not quite what I expected in terms of how it's written. It's not poorly written by any means, it just isn't quite for me.
January 12, 2025
We humans have prospered as a species for a number of reasons, but one is certainly the marvelous inventions that have allowed us to relax selection. Agriculture and medicine, buildings and heating systems, and traffic signals and bike helmets-all allow us to thrive. Our problem now is that many of these inventions and our resulting abundance increases the pressure on the rest of nature, rupturing ecosystems and driving other species to extinction.
And the abundance itself doesn't even nurture everyone within our own species, with some so wealthy they have gold toilets and others so poor they squat in ditches. We need to relax our pressure on the rest of nature, guided by new metaphors for our relationships with other species-metaphors that will hopefully spill over into our relationships with each other. We need to be sweeter.
This was a beautiful book in many ways, and one I got in hardcover from the library so I was able to appreciate the paper and photos; the paper is sustainably made from post-consumer waste, 100% with no new wood. The pictures varied from just illustrating a point in the text in a journalistic way to true art.
From cities to old-growth forests, from ranches reforming their practices to renew the landscape to microscopic organisms, the author lays out the case for rejecting the metaphor of the survival of the fittest in a competitive, cutthroat way, to “survival of the friendliest.” A lot of this has been covered by other ecological thinkers and writers, but I loved the juxtaposition of coffee growing in the rain forest to creating vertical gardens in cities. Perfect, relevant, interesting storytelling here that could find a wide audience and make change.
After years of working to support and expand nature in Singapore, Lena Chan has come up with her own set of down-to-earth metrics. She says that a city becomes more biophilic when the area of green cover and tree canopy increases every year; when more natural and human-created habitats are enhanced and restored with native species; when the known number of native species escalates due to discovery of new species and rediscoveries of species thought to be extinct; when the participation rate of citizen scientists expands; and when more than 50 percent of the residents can name and recognize at least ten native plants, birds, and butterflies.
Chan's final point about the importance of humans having their heart in this movement-you can't help but care about other species if you recognize them and know their names-was made over and over at the conference. Honestly, I hadn't thought of this before. I assumed that if urban areas created the conditions for the rest of nature to thrive, humans would eventually notice and be jazzed by it. Instead, many of the visionaries at the conference talked about taking active steps to jolt public interest and build a constituency for nature in their midst.
Facts and dire predictions about the bleak state we'd be in without the rest of nature don't necessarily motivate, but a bunch of cute otters on Facebook or some great storytelling or fabulous art might help. One of the first presenters, in fact, showed how a group in New York has brilliantly incorporated the arts into their campaign to have a Bronx waterway called Tibbetts Brook "daylighted" -a term that refers to the various ways people around the world are uncovering and unleashing creeks and other waterways buried by decades of urban development.
Most cities were built on top of thriving ecosystems near rivers, lakes, or oceans, lush confluences of land and water that have long attracted communities of living things. In his marvelous book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, ecologist Eric W. Sanderson recounts just how richly biodiverse the island once was. "If Mannahatta [the name given to the island by the Lenape people who lived there when Henry Hudson's Dutch and English sailors arrived in 1609] existed today it would be a national park-it would be the crowning glory of American national parks," Sanderson writes. "Mannahatta had more ecological communities per acre than Yellowstone, more native plant species per acre than Yosemite, and more birds than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mannahatta housed wolves, black bears, mountain lions, beavers, mink, and river otters; whales, porpoises, seals, and the occasional sea turtle visited its harbor."
Sanderson goes on listing the wonders of the island's flora and fauna, and later notes that "... Mannahatta was copiously well-watered, with over twenty ponds, sixty-six miles of streams, and, it has been estimated, three hundred springs." The nearby Bronx-and most other cities-was also well-watered with ponds, creeks, streams, brooks, and springs that squiggled and squirted through the greater watershed and later became inconvenient to the burgeoning settlement of humans. Tibbetts Brook was one of these. Water from twenty-five hundred acres drain into the brook, which back then meandered toward the Harlem River. But in the early twentieth century, the last mile of the brook was diverted into the city sewers. Now, up to five million gallons of fresh water from Tibbetts passes daily through the Wards Island water treatment plant. Every time there's a heavy rain, Tibbetts' fresh water overflows its underground confines and floods streets.
But what if we're applying Darwin's insights wrongly to the world and thus missing the generosity and cooperation that exist in the natural world? That's what Simard's research suggested to me.
And if we are missing the generosity and cooperation in the greater world, we are likely also missing these harmonious connections in ourselves. Because we are part of nature, of course. We exist because of complex, vibrant, creative relationships with the rest of nature and are as much a part of it as the raccoon lounging in the tree near my front door or the grasses growing along the highway. How might our behavior change if we understood the extent to which cooperation within and among species undergirds the natural world and makes it thrive? If we looked for that cooperation, just as I was instructed to look for the blue things in that gallery? Could we begin to see ourselves as partners and helpers, part of a greater fabric of giving, instead of exploiters and colonizers and wreckers?
“Mutualism is very puzzling, because it's easy to see how partners could exploit each other," Bronstein explained. "It's costly for plants to make nectar, and they could make less of it and still get as much attention from bees-so why do they make so much nectar? And the bees we're studying can just chew a hole through the plant to get nectar-it's sometimes faster than entering through the floral opening. Why don't they all just cheat? Why do they cooperate as much as they do when it doesn't seem to be in their interest?" But most mutualist partners persist in offering the goods, even when their counterparts fail to reciprocate. That appears to fly in the face of mainstream scientific thinking, which has cleaved to a belief in competition and selfishness ever since the time of Darwin.
We Need Better Metaphors of life, much more important than competition because it happens at all levels, all the time, from minuscule intracellular spaces to grander ecosystems, instantaneously as well as over evolutionary time. Your body is made of billions and billions of cells that have to interact for a common cause, and I would call that cooperation. Without that, you wouldn't be a multicellular organism." Certainly, some members of species fail to survive because they are ill-suited to withstand the demands of their environment, but Weiss and Buchanan call this the "failure of the frail'-meaning that an organism doesn't have to be the fittest to survive and repro-duce. In fact, organisms in the same species can have a range of variation and all still be fit enough to survive and reproduce.
And the abundance itself doesn't even nurture everyone within our own species, with some so wealthy they have gold toilets and others so poor they squat in ditches. We need to relax our pressure on the rest of nature, guided by new metaphors for our relationships with other species-metaphors that will hopefully spill over into our relationships with each other. We need to be sweeter.
This was a beautiful book in many ways, and one I got in hardcover from the library so I was able to appreciate the paper and photos; the paper is sustainably made from post-consumer waste, 100% with no new wood. The pictures varied from just illustrating a point in the text in a journalistic way to true art.
From cities to old-growth forests, from ranches reforming their practices to renew the landscape to microscopic organisms, the author lays out the case for rejecting the metaphor of the survival of the fittest in a competitive, cutthroat way, to “survival of the friendliest.” A lot of this has been covered by other ecological thinkers and writers, but I loved the juxtaposition of coffee growing in the rain forest to creating vertical gardens in cities. Perfect, relevant, interesting storytelling here that could find a wide audience and make change.
After years of working to support and expand nature in Singapore, Lena Chan has come up with her own set of down-to-earth metrics. She says that a city becomes more biophilic when the area of green cover and tree canopy increases every year; when more natural and human-created habitats are enhanced and restored with native species; when the known number of native species escalates due to discovery of new species and rediscoveries of species thought to be extinct; when the participation rate of citizen scientists expands; and when more than 50 percent of the residents can name and recognize at least ten native plants, birds, and butterflies.
Chan's final point about the importance of humans having their heart in this movement-you can't help but care about other species if you recognize them and know their names-was made over and over at the conference. Honestly, I hadn't thought of this before. I assumed that if urban areas created the conditions for the rest of nature to thrive, humans would eventually notice and be jazzed by it. Instead, many of the visionaries at the conference talked about taking active steps to jolt public interest and build a constituency for nature in their midst.
Facts and dire predictions about the bleak state we'd be in without the rest of nature don't necessarily motivate, but a bunch of cute otters on Facebook or some great storytelling or fabulous art might help. One of the first presenters, in fact, showed how a group in New York has brilliantly incorporated the arts into their campaign to have a Bronx waterway called Tibbetts Brook "daylighted" -a term that refers to the various ways people around the world are uncovering and unleashing creeks and other waterways buried by decades of urban development.
Most cities were built on top of thriving ecosystems near rivers, lakes, or oceans, lush confluences of land and water that have long attracted communities of living things. In his marvelous book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, ecologist Eric W. Sanderson recounts just how richly biodiverse the island once was. "If Mannahatta [the name given to the island by the Lenape people who lived there when Henry Hudson's Dutch and English sailors arrived in 1609] existed today it would be a national park-it would be the crowning glory of American national parks," Sanderson writes. "Mannahatta had more ecological communities per acre than Yellowstone, more native plant species per acre than Yosemite, and more birds than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mannahatta housed wolves, black bears, mountain lions, beavers, mink, and river otters; whales, porpoises, seals, and the occasional sea turtle visited its harbor."
Sanderson goes on listing the wonders of the island's flora and fauna, and later notes that "... Mannahatta was copiously well-watered, with over twenty ponds, sixty-six miles of streams, and, it has been estimated, three hundred springs." The nearby Bronx-and most other cities-was also well-watered with ponds, creeks, streams, brooks, and springs that squiggled and squirted through the greater watershed and later became inconvenient to the burgeoning settlement of humans. Tibbetts Brook was one of these. Water from twenty-five hundred acres drain into the brook, which back then meandered toward the Harlem River. But in the early twentieth century, the last mile of the brook was diverted into the city sewers. Now, up to five million gallons of fresh water from Tibbetts passes daily through the Wards Island water treatment plant. Every time there's a heavy rain, Tibbetts' fresh water overflows its underground confines and floods streets.
But what if we're applying Darwin's insights wrongly to the world and thus missing the generosity and cooperation that exist in the natural world? That's what Simard's research suggested to me.
And if we are missing the generosity and cooperation in the greater world, we are likely also missing these harmonious connections in ourselves. Because we are part of nature, of course. We exist because of complex, vibrant, creative relationships with the rest of nature and are as much a part of it as the raccoon lounging in the tree near my front door or the grasses growing along the highway. How might our behavior change if we understood the extent to which cooperation within and among species undergirds the natural world and makes it thrive? If we looked for that cooperation, just as I was instructed to look for the blue things in that gallery? Could we begin to see ourselves as partners and helpers, part of a greater fabric of giving, instead of exploiters and colonizers and wreckers?
“Mutualism is very puzzling, because it's easy to see how partners could exploit each other," Bronstein explained. "It's costly for plants to make nectar, and they could make less of it and still get as much attention from bees-so why do they make so much nectar? And the bees we're studying can just chew a hole through the plant to get nectar-it's sometimes faster than entering through the floral opening. Why don't they all just cheat? Why do they cooperate as much as they do when it doesn't seem to be in their interest?" But most mutualist partners persist in offering the goods, even when their counterparts fail to reciprocate. That appears to fly in the face of mainstream scientific thinking, which has cleaved to a belief in competition and selfishness ever since the time of Darwin.
We Need Better Metaphors of life, much more important than competition because it happens at all levels, all the time, from minuscule intracellular spaces to grander ecosystems, instantaneously as well as over evolutionary time. Your body is made of billions and billions of cells that have to interact for a common cause, and I would call that cooperation. Without that, you wouldn't be a multicellular organism." Certainly, some members of species fail to survive because they are ill-suited to withstand the demands of their environment, but Weiss and Buchanan call this the "failure of the frail'-meaning that an organism doesn't have to be the fittest to survive and repro-duce. In fact, organisms in the same species can have a range of variation and all still be fit enough to survive and reproduce.
April 21, 2022
Expecting a science book, this is not exactly what I anticipated. The book description mentioned cooperation in nature, so I looked at the cover photo, and misunderstood the subject. I envisioned creatures helping each other live and survive--something showcasing species that work together. (A one bird species helping another, or helping another species; squirrels perhaps.)
Instead, this follows a journey of discovery by the author, Kristin Ohlson, as she learns about studies that lead her across the map and from one associated subject to another.
The author's interest was captured by a (friend) Canadian forest ecologist who has been uncovering the hidden cooperation among trees and other living things in the forest--so that is where this story begins. The entire book follows that journey in a travel journal-like form. It's unusual, but after the first chapter, the style makes much more sense.
The book is about interconnectedness, codependence, symbiosis, and sometimes cooperation. Observers around the world are finding that living things can--at times--go about their lives in a way that's part of a string of behaviors showing a clear chain for survival. Not cooperation in the strictest sense (working together by choice), but the opposite of competition (re: Darwin), and each link in the chain is important for a strong ecosystem.
A good chain example; a particular species of coffee plant is successful because birds eat spiders, which increases wasp populations, which reduces insects that eat coffee plants. Coral hold algae inside for mutual benefit, and other things work side by side.
The final chapters describe how countries to residents can honor nature by creating ecosystems instead of just "green spaces," so animals and creatures can be supported (and thrive) while our living spaces and our lives are improved in multiple ways!
I considered including highlights of the subjects covered, because they get more exciting (literally exciting) as the book progresses, but that makes a long review! I recommend this book, and suggest taking notes and/or using a highlighter.
How You Can Help: A community becomes biophilic (nature loving) when "...more than 50% of the residents can name and recognize at least 10 native plants, birds, and butterflies."
4/5 Stars
-1 Star for mild swearing.
#SweetinToothandClaw #NetGalley
#PatagoniaBooks #Ecology #Science
#Environmentalism #Nonfiction #OutdoorsNature #Forestry #Mutualism
#Farming #Interconnected #Cooperation
#Codependence #TenNativePlantsBirdsButterflies
Instead, this follows a journey of discovery by the author, Kristin Ohlson, as she learns about studies that lead her across the map and from one associated subject to another.
The author's interest was captured by a (friend) Canadian forest ecologist who has been uncovering the hidden cooperation among trees and other living things in the forest--so that is where this story begins. The entire book follows that journey in a travel journal-like form. It's unusual, but after the first chapter, the style makes much more sense.
The book is about interconnectedness, codependence, symbiosis, and sometimes cooperation. Observers around the world are finding that living things can--at times--go about their lives in a way that's part of a string of behaviors showing a clear chain for survival. Not cooperation in the strictest sense (working together by choice), but the opposite of competition (re: Darwin), and each link in the chain is important for a strong ecosystem.
A good chain example; a particular species of coffee plant is successful because birds eat spiders, which increases wasp populations, which reduces insects that eat coffee plants. Coral hold algae inside for mutual benefit, and other things work side by side.
The final chapters describe how countries to residents can honor nature by creating ecosystems instead of just "green spaces," so animals and creatures can be supported (and thrive) while our living spaces and our lives are improved in multiple ways!
I considered including highlights of the subjects covered, because they get more exciting (literally exciting) as the book progresses, but that makes a long review! I recommend this book, and suggest taking notes and/or using a highlighter.
How You Can Help: A community becomes biophilic (nature loving) when "...more than 50% of the residents can name and recognize at least 10 native plants, birds, and butterflies."
4/5 Stars
-1 Star for mild swearing.
#SweetinToothandClaw #NetGalley
#PatagoniaBooks #Ecology #Science
#Environmentalism #Nonfiction #OutdoorsNature #Forestry #Mutualism
#Farming #Interconnected #Cooperation
#Codependence #TenNativePlantsBirdsButterflies
July 9, 2022
NETGALLEY ARC
Writing Style: 5
Cover: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Buyable/Re-readable?: YES!!
I want to thank everyone involved in getting this book made and to whomever allowed me the honor of reading it.
Yes.
Just yes.
Read this book, devour it, soak it in, listen to it.
We need this research and information out there, because Kristin Ohlson reveals how everything is literally connected and amazing. Animals and bacteria and urban spaces and people and on and on, that we are not red in tooth in claw, but the opposite. It will resonate with those who appreciate and revere nature, those who respect and love it, those who feel a connection to flora and fauna and Earth and life, it'll resonate with farmers and scientists and just...yes.
The photos are a wonderful compliment to the text, some being downright stunning. The people Ohlson chose to interview, follow, include, etc are essential and so very important, the kind of not-all-heroes-wear-capes sort. They're the people we need for the change(s) we need and they're doing such phenomenal work already. This book simply instills HOPE. She gives proper credit, extensive amounts of material, and writes in such a fashion that the book isn't dry or dull; her personality and vivacious passion sing though the pages (I want to meet her. I need to meet her.). The pace, the style, the content, they're all A+, *chef's kiss*, perfect. Important and vital and magical. I geeked out over parts (tree language, hello??) and was constantly chattering about what I was reading to my husband. There were fun quotes at the beginning of each chapter and a well-deserved near novella's work list of names of all involved. Honestly, I feel like I could write a novella myself about how much I appreciate and adore Sweet in Tooth and Claw. This book makes Top Ten of 2022.
I will buy this book.
I would buy this book for library or classroom if I had one, I'll buy it for my nephew or niece.
p.s. Bonus points for zero typos! :D
Writing Style: 5
Cover: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Buyable/Re-readable?: YES!!
"So that we encourage and bolster the world’s hunger to thrive. And not just because that would benefit us, although it certainly would, but because other life-forms have as much right to flourish as we do and don’t exist for our use." - Kristin Ohlson
I want to thank everyone involved in getting this book made and to whomever allowed me the honor of reading it.
Yes.
Just yes.
Read this book, devour it, soak it in, listen to it.
We need this research and information out there, because Kristin Ohlson reveals how everything is literally connected and amazing. Animals and bacteria and urban spaces and people and on and on, that we are not red in tooth in claw, but the opposite. It will resonate with those who appreciate and revere nature, those who respect and love it, those who feel a connection to flora and fauna and Earth and life, it'll resonate with farmers and scientists and just...yes.
The photos are a wonderful compliment to the text, some being downright stunning. The people Ohlson chose to interview, follow, include, etc are essential and so very important, the kind of not-all-heroes-wear-capes sort. They're the people we need for the change(s) we need and they're doing such phenomenal work already. This book simply instills HOPE. She gives proper credit, extensive amounts of material, and writes in such a fashion that the book isn't dry or dull; her personality and vivacious passion sing though the pages (I want to meet her. I need to meet her.). The pace, the style, the content, they're all A+, *chef's kiss*, perfect. Important and vital and magical. I geeked out over parts (tree language, hello??) and was constantly chattering about what I was reading to my husband. There were fun quotes at the beginning of each chapter and a well-deserved near novella's work list of names of all involved. Honestly, I feel like I could write a novella myself about how much I appreciate and adore Sweet in Tooth and Claw. This book makes Top Ten of 2022.
I will buy this book.
I would buy this book for library or classroom if I had one, I'll buy it for my nephew or niece.
"The whole point of our evolution, it seems to me, is for us to find a way to fit back into the world as it is, rather than try to remake the world to fit us." - Brian Doyle
p.s. Bonus points for zero typos! :D
April 22, 2023
This book has been a revelation. In fact, make that plural - so many revelations I simply couldn’t keep track. I’ve always heard of anecdotal knowledge that the natural world around us humans is symbiotic, and almost everyone studies those symbiosis-defining relationships in middle school, between cattle and birds, and some such.
The first chapter starts right off by going to an amazing level of detail in describing a world consisting of billions of microbial life forms that, along with the macroscopic life forms, maintain a level of harmony that most of us humans have trouble even believing, leave aside actually living it. There are degrees of connections that are impossible to imagine, and yet once known equally hard to overlook, that hold up the circle of life on this planet. There are universes-worth of life forms and instances of cohabitation that have been around long before the first humans roamed the Earth, and are likely to outlive our species as well, irrespective of humanity’s fate.
The mycorrhizal network opens up the first chapter, and you get an insider’s view of the field research that’s currently going on, to demonstrate beyond doubt how plants interact and have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other, and with a vast underground fungal network that spreads for miles under each unit of land. It is less surprising and more humbling to understand and appreciate the connections these species not just sustain but in fact seem to actively seek out and thrive on with each other, connections that are invisible to most humans, and that while seeming extremely delicate, yet have been shown to be resilient and self-sustaining beyond anything man-made. Life has been around for billions of years, and carboniferous nature as we’ve come to know and rely on, has also been around for billions of years, and clearly has had a head start in figuring out and establishing these mutually beneficial relationships. Unfortunately, humanity’s insistent approach to high yield crops and efficiency and other essentially human wants have led to harmful side effects, which are taking years to identify and understand. Of course, like all man-made problems, knowing it won’t be enough for overcoming it. That’s going to be a whole separate struggle of its own.
Which brings me to the second achievement of this book. In addition to identifying nature’s best practices and how we’re damaging them, the book covers, albeit in limited but extremely focused instances, ways to restore that balance without sacrificing human sustenance needs. Sure change is going to be needed, and it won’t be easy or welcome, but the book demonstrates how it could be done successfully.
There’s a quote later on in the book from Paul Engelmeyer, a birder credited with being the last (latest) to discover and photograph the nest of a North American bird - a small, brown-speckled seabird called the marbled murrelet - for the first time. In effect, he is the last discoverer of a brand new nest of a North American bird. He says “Things want to heal so much.” In essence, that’s what’s most amazing about the numerous natural habitats examined and interpreted in this book. Nature has a way of finding a balance between species as distinct as salmon on the one hand and minks, dippers, coyotes and river otters on the other, not to say anything of the bears! When everyone takes what they need from each other and from around them, everyone has a better chance of filling in a natural niche and not just surviving but thriving. Taking what we want, instead of just what we need, is the single biggest trait that in my opinion separates us from the rest of the living beings on Earth, and will continue to make it increasingly difficult and dangerous for us to even survive.
Elsewhere, there’s a chapter dedicated to regenerative agriculture and farming techniques that nurture and feed the surrounding natural habitat and other species, in a virtuous circle of symbiotic coexistence and cooperation. It seeks to further reinforce the idea that many living things are able to establish connections that elude us humans. Still elsewhere, there’s a stunning and detailed scientific account of how restoring beavers back into natural habitats from where they had previously been hunted out has near-magical restorative benefits, observed not over generations or decades, but literally over a span of a couple of years and seasons.
We have trouble living together across man-made national boundaries and barriers of language, religion and customs. We can’t seem to come to a collective understanding that this is a shared planet, and - in fact - as of now, is our only planet.
A third special insight the book carried for me is the origin story of the phrase somewhat misleadingly attributed to Darwin, “survival of the fittest”. The author traces how Darwin was a creation of his times and the influences and inspirations he was driven by, and how ultimately Darwin’s words were interpreted after his death, by the nineteenth century philosopher Herbert Spencer, now widely recognized as the creator of the modern view of free-for-all capitalism. It was Spencer who developed the eponymous phrase after reading “Origin of Species”, and that interpretation has single-handedly been responsible for almost the entire breadth and depth of explanations and justifications we have developed over years when exploiting natural resources, and underestimating the complex relationships of other mutualist species. And then, there’s this guy most of us have never heard of - Kropotkin, a Russian aristocrat, an anarchist and a scientist, who was the earliest to actually put down in writing thoughts on the mutually beneficial nature of relationships in the wild, and in fact also tried to reinterpret Darwin’s “fittest” phrase, but due to a number of reasons his findings didn’t get the attention and recognition they deserved. It’s all coming back full circle now, and there’s a renewed interest in how Darwin may not have meant “fittest” in the way we have thought of - at all.
The last chapter is where all the preceding knowledge comes together with places that most of us live in - cities. How cities can and in some exemplary cases have successfully managed to blend and weave mini-habitats into and in-between our living spaces is clearly only the first and the most immediate frontier as we try and move towards a more mutualist world-view.
Ultimately, the book is a kaleidoscopic reminder that we have much to learn before we can call ourselves a mature, confident and truly intelligent species. Sure we’ve discovered the space-time continuum, the number Pi, and we’ve invented sliced bread, the wheel, and the printing press to store all the rest of our knowledge, we’ve invented the automobile and the automatons, there’s still so much more we have to know and learn and understand. And almost all of that doesn’t involve humans, and in fact predates anything remotely sapient.
One bonus - the print edition of this book has gorgeous pictures of some of the vistas and natural spaces described in the book, and the full color photographs help imagining and at times just comprehending what’s happening. It makes for an even richer reading experience!
Thanks to NetGalley, Patagonia and the author for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest and original review.
The first chapter starts right off by going to an amazing level of detail in describing a world consisting of billions of microbial life forms that, along with the macroscopic life forms, maintain a level of harmony that most of us humans have trouble even believing, leave aside actually living it. There are degrees of connections that are impossible to imagine, and yet once known equally hard to overlook, that hold up the circle of life on this planet. There are universes-worth of life forms and instances of cohabitation that have been around long before the first humans roamed the Earth, and are likely to outlive our species as well, irrespective of humanity’s fate.
The mycorrhizal network opens up the first chapter, and you get an insider’s view of the field research that’s currently going on, to demonstrate beyond doubt how plants interact and have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other, and with a vast underground fungal network that spreads for miles under each unit of land. It is less surprising and more humbling to understand and appreciate the connections these species not just sustain but in fact seem to actively seek out and thrive on with each other, connections that are invisible to most humans, and that while seeming extremely delicate, yet have been shown to be resilient and self-sustaining beyond anything man-made. Life has been around for billions of years, and carboniferous nature as we’ve come to know and rely on, has also been around for billions of years, and clearly has had a head start in figuring out and establishing these mutually beneficial relationships. Unfortunately, humanity’s insistent approach to high yield crops and efficiency and other essentially human wants have led to harmful side effects, which are taking years to identify and understand. Of course, like all man-made problems, knowing it won’t be enough for overcoming it. That’s going to be a whole separate struggle of its own.
Which brings me to the second achievement of this book. In addition to identifying nature’s best practices and how we’re damaging them, the book covers, albeit in limited but extremely focused instances, ways to restore that balance without sacrificing human sustenance needs. Sure change is going to be needed, and it won’t be easy or welcome, but the book demonstrates how it could be done successfully.
There’s a quote later on in the book from Paul Engelmeyer, a birder credited with being the last (latest) to discover and photograph the nest of a North American bird - a small, brown-speckled seabird called the marbled murrelet - for the first time. In effect, he is the last discoverer of a brand new nest of a North American bird. He says “Things want to heal so much.” In essence, that’s what’s most amazing about the numerous natural habitats examined and interpreted in this book. Nature has a way of finding a balance between species as distinct as salmon on the one hand and minks, dippers, coyotes and river otters on the other, not to say anything of the bears! When everyone takes what they need from each other and from around them, everyone has a better chance of filling in a natural niche and not just surviving but thriving. Taking what we want, instead of just what we need, is the single biggest trait that in my opinion separates us from the rest of the living beings on Earth, and will continue to make it increasingly difficult and dangerous for us to even survive.
Elsewhere, there’s a chapter dedicated to regenerative agriculture and farming techniques that nurture and feed the surrounding natural habitat and other species, in a virtuous circle of symbiotic coexistence and cooperation. It seeks to further reinforce the idea that many living things are able to establish connections that elude us humans. Still elsewhere, there’s a stunning and detailed scientific account of how restoring beavers back into natural habitats from where they had previously been hunted out has near-magical restorative benefits, observed not over generations or decades, but literally over a span of a couple of years and seasons.
We have trouble living together across man-made national boundaries and barriers of language, religion and customs. We can’t seem to come to a collective understanding that this is a shared planet, and - in fact - as of now, is our only planet.
A third special insight the book carried for me is the origin story of the phrase somewhat misleadingly attributed to Darwin, “survival of the fittest”. The author traces how Darwin was a creation of his times and the influences and inspirations he was driven by, and how ultimately Darwin’s words were interpreted after his death, by the nineteenth century philosopher Herbert Spencer, now widely recognized as the creator of the modern view of free-for-all capitalism. It was Spencer who developed the eponymous phrase after reading “Origin of Species”, and that interpretation has single-handedly been responsible for almost the entire breadth and depth of explanations and justifications we have developed over years when exploiting natural resources, and underestimating the complex relationships of other mutualist species. And then, there’s this guy most of us have never heard of - Kropotkin, a Russian aristocrat, an anarchist and a scientist, who was the earliest to actually put down in writing thoughts on the mutually beneficial nature of relationships in the wild, and in fact also tried to reinterpret Darwin’s “fittest” phrase, but due to a number of reasons his findings didn’t get the attention and recognition they deserved. It’s all coming back full circle now, and there’s a renewed interest in how Darwin may not have meant “fittest” in the way we have thought of - at all.
The last chapter is where all the preceding knowledge comes together with places that most of us live in - cities. How cities can and in some exemplary cases have successfully managed to blend and weave mini-habitats into and in-between our living spaces is clearly only the first and the most immediate frontier as we try and move towards a more mutualist world-view.
Ultimately, the book is a kaleidoscopic reminder that we have much to learn before we can call ourselves a mature, confident and truly intelligent species. Sure we’ve discovered the space-time continuum, the number Pi, and we’ve invented sliced bread, the wheel, and the printing press to store all the rest of our knowledge, we’ve invented the automobile and the automatons, there’s still so much more we have to know and learn and understand. And almost all of that doesn’t involve humans, and in fact predates anything remotely sapient.
One bonus - the print edition of this book has gorgeous pictures of some of the vistas and natural spaces described in the book, and the full color photographs help imagining and at times just comprehending what’s happening. It makes for an even richer reading experience!
Thanks to NetGalley, Patagonia and the author for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest and original review.
July 25, 2024
This book had a lot of potential. I'd definitely recommend it as an introduction to some of the topics she writes about, but in the end I know too much about them. The book starts with a long introduction to Suzanne Simard's work. I would highly recommend Simard's memoir, Finding the Mother Tree, and her academic journal articles. Chapter two was the chapter that excited me the most- I've been reading Darwin and Malthus and Kropotkin, and it was really nice to see a summary of the thought around cooperation and competition laid out very clearly. I also bookmarked some authors to read, so that was very exciting! Ohlson doesn't synthesize really tightly, it's more like one mini book/author review after another. Which, again, great for people interested and new to the topic.
I found the end of chapter 2 to be a little lackluster- the takeaway is that we "need to be sweeter?" without a continuation of the analysis of the structural issues?? (She does get into these a bit, but then shies away and the rest of the book is just nice stories.) I really wanted to go further into the implications of cooperation vs competition in terms of the way we think about our current society/make sense of the world. She even touches on the theory of evolution as a foundation of capitalism and cites David Graeber (!!), but that ended (disappointingly) after chapter 2. I was hoping for more like this article: https://aeon.co/essays/biology-is-not...
I thought the rest of the book was, well, interesting, but it seemed like a bit of a tangent? Ohlson goes off into the human body (I'd recommend the book 10% Human, although it's from 2015) and regenerative agriculture, which is nice and pleasant and all, but seemed a bit unfocused. I thought we were focusing tightly on cooperation in animals/plants, which we weren't, but then to only expand it to cooperation between humans and plants in terms of agriculture but not to expand it to cooperation between humans and other humans was a little odd. I think the book needed to be a little more clearly bounded- cooperation is a huge topic. In the end, I'm glad I read it. It was an easy read, very clear, and I got some good citations from it to track down on my hunt for what I'm actually looking for. I did go to the Patagonia website and get the full list of citations.
I found the end of chapter 2 to be a little lackluster- the takeaway is that we "need to be sweeter?" without a continuation of the analysis of the structural issues?? (She does get into these a bit, but then shies away and the rest of the book is just nice stories.) I really wanted to go further into the implications of cooperation vs competition in terms of the way we think about our current society/make sense of the world. She even touches on the theory of evolution as a foundation of capitalism and cites David Graeber (!!), but that ended (disappointingly) after chapter 2. I was hoping for more like this article: https://aeon.co/essays/biology-is-not...
I thought the rest of the book was, well, interesting, but it seemed like a bit of a tangent? Ohlson goes off into the human body (I'd recommend the book 10% Human, although it's from 2015) and regenerative agriculture, which is nice and pleasant and all, but seemed a bit unfocused. I thought we were focusing tightly on cooperation in animals/plants, which we weren't, but then to only expand it to cooperation between humans and plants in terms of agriculture but not to expand it to cooperation between humans and other humans was a little odd. I think the book needed to be a little more clearly bounded- cooperation is a huge topic. In the end, I'm glad I read it. It was an easy read, very clear, and I got some good citations from it to track down on my hunt for what I'm actually looking for. I did go to the Patagonia website and get the full list of citations.
August 24, 2022
Rather than accepting that nature and creatures competing with each other for survival, why not observe other angles such as mutually beneficial interactions? Author Kristin Ohlson examines said interactions which are necessary to life such as my favourite, the mycorrhizae whose tiny filaments underneath our feet number in the hundreds of km per step. She also discusses bee and flower mutualism. As she says, the goal should be to use our observations from beneficial partnerships in nature to change our behaviours.
Though a nature fiend and a master gardener, I found there is so much to learn in this book from "salmon shadow" to infection genomics to saltiness of irrigation vs. microbes which makes plants more salt tolerant to animalcules to shortcut bees to evidence of animals seeking out others for company and pleasure. I had forgotten that ground cover can offer up to 15 degrees' cooler temperature. Science greats such as Leeuwenhoek, Koch and Pasteur are mentioned. And, as evidenced in my own energetic life as a child raised on a farm, when children are exposed to nature their immunity is more robust. What an interesting topic to mull over. Sparing vs sharing is mentioned as is myrmecophily. I love that larvae on Heliconia flowers work in tandem. The Sponge Park pilot project blew me away!
Nonfiction lovers intrigued by Science (including symbiotic relationships) ought to read this. It will challenge you and make you curious. I am not a believer in Darwinism and evolution but this book has plenty to warrant reading it. The photographs are awesome as well.
My sincere thank you to Patagonia Works and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fascinating book which caused goosebumps at our wondrous Creation in a different way!
Though a nature fiend and a master gardener, I found there is so much to learn in this book from "salmon shadow" to infection genomics to saltiness of irrigation vs. microbes which makes plants more salt tolerant to animalcules to shortcut bees to evidence of animals seeking out others for company and pleasure. I had forgotten that ground cover can offer up to 15 degrees' cooler temperature. Science greats such as Leeuwenhoek, Koch and Pasteur are mentioned. And, as evidenced in my own energetic life as a child raised on a farm, when children are exposed to nature their immunity is more robust. What an interesting topic to mull over. Sparing vs sharing is mentioned as is myrmecophily. I love that larvae on Heliconia flowers work in tandem. The Sponge Park pilot project blew me away!
Nonfiction lovers intrigued by Science (including symbiotic relationships) ought to read this. It will challenge you and make you curious. I am not a believer in Darwinism and evolution but this book has plenty to warrant reading it. The photographs are awesome as well.
My sincere thank you to Patagonia Works and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fascinating book which caused goosebumps at our wondrous Creation in a different way!
October 21, 2025
Charles Darwin’s theory of "survival of the fittest" introduced a competitive mindset about nature—the strongest survive at the expense of the weak. In Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Nature Is More Cooperative Than We Think, author Kristin Ohlson offers a different model, one of mutual support. Those plants and animals that are allowed to live in a spirit of mutualism—you help me, I’ll help you—are the ones who thrive. And it’s not just one species that ends up the victor; it’s all of us.
Published by Patagonia, this is a gorgeous book, full of color photos of natural systems, some that are working, some that have been dangerously changed—a lush rebuilt waterway in Nevada that replaced an arid landscape; sheep chomping on weeds, then fertilizing a California orchard; tiny Peruvian tomatoes that can be used to develop new varieties; parts of the Amazon rain forest destroyed for agriculture.
Readers who loved The Overstory and Braiding Sweetgrass will see some familiar names and themes here. The book is solidly researched, enjoyable to read, and packed with innovation and hope for the future of humans and the planet. I thank Patagonia and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. See full review on Psychology Today:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
Published by Patagonia, this is a gorgeous book, full of color photos of natural systems, some that are working, some that have been dangerously changed—a lush rebuilt waterway in Nevada that replaced an arid landscape; sheep chomping on weeds, then fertilizing a California orchard; tiny Peruvian tomatoes that can be used to develop new varieties; parts of the Amazon rain forest destroyed for agriculture.
Readers who loved The Overstory and Braiding Sweetgrass will see some familiar names and themes here. The book is solidly researched, enjoyable to read, and packed with innovation and hope for the future of humans and the planet. I thank Patagonia and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. See full review on Psychology Today:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
May 4, 2022
I found Sweet in Tooth and Claw enthralling. I had previously read a book about trees “talking” to each other and this book started in the same vein. Trees, we learn, are connected underground by mycorrhizae, or “fungus roots”, which are a composite structure of the fungi and the roots. And not just trees are connected this way. Ninety percent of land plants are connected by mycorrhizae! These connections are of mutual benefit to the plants and the fungi. The plants trade their carbon fuel to the fungi in exchange for water and nutrients.
Kristin Ohlson reveals mutualism of this sort throughout the book, giving examples of symbiosis and interconnectedness in several varied species. I found the book becoming more and more fascinating as it unfolded. Ohlson also describes ways in which we can become part of these relationships and benefit not only nature, but ourselves as well.
The book is well researched and written in an engaging style that makes its scientific material easy and enjoyable to read.
Thank you to Kristin Ohlson, Patagonia Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC.
Kristin Ohlson reveals mutualism of this sort throughout the book, giving examples of symbiosis and interconnectedness in several varied species. I found the book becoming more and more fascinating as it unfolded. Ohlson also describes ways in which we can become part of these relationships and benefit not only nature, but ourselves as well.
The book is well researched and written in an engaging style that makes its scientific material easy and enjoyable to read.
Thank you to Kristin Ohlson, Patagonia Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC.
April 16, 2023
My mental model of nature is, basically, a vast hellscape of overwhelming suffering. I was hoping this book would give me reasons to doubt that. Alas, most of the cooperation and harmony that the book highlights is among plants, fungi, and microbes, and I wasn’t particularly worried about them to begin with.
There’s fascinating information in here nonetheless. I didn’t know how literally interconnected plant and fungi are. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, for example, link the roots of some trees together; one experiment revealed that “the birch shared carbon fuel through its ectomycorrhizal connection to the fir based on the amount of shade the birch cast on the fir…” Some research found that trying to shield trees from competition with other plants actually resulted in less productive plantations—the trees were being deprived of beneficial mutualisms.
Chapter 2 includes a mini biography of Peter Kropotkin who, apparently, was famed for his scientific contributions, not just his political ones. (He sounds like a very interesting person.) His own observations led him to resist the idea that competition was the primary force in nature:
Chapter 3 discusses microbiota, and suggests that our society’s tendency to cloister ourselves in increasingly sterile environments results in us having inferior microbiota:
(I am unclear if they are implying that we ought to just let babies eat dirt.)
Chapter 4 is an inspiring account of how some ranchers, regulators, and scientists have learned to cooperate to improve cattle grazing practices in ways that have dramatically rehydrated and revitalized land that had been declining for decades.
In chapter 5 there’s a discussion of concerns about GMOs; I think this is the first time I’ve read something that seemed scientifically-informed and was still negatively disposed toward GMO crops. The concerns it emphasized have to do not so much with the safety of the crops for consumption as with their fragility and the trend toward monocultures.
Chapter 6 describes the “sharing versus sparing” debate, and takes the side of the former. It throws cold water on the idea that just setting aside wildlife preserves (which end up subject to some of the same dynamics as islands) and wildlife corridors will preserve an adequate amount of biodiversity, arguing instead that we can and must do agriculture in ways that allow the land being used for agriculture to simultaneously be part of a healthy ecosystem.
(crosspost)
There’s fascinating information in here nonetheless. I didn’t know how literally interconnected plant and fungi are. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, for example, link the roots of some trees together; one experiment revealed that “the birch shared carbon fuel through its ectomycorrhizal connection to the fir based on the amount of shade the birch cast on the fir…” Some research found that trying to shield trees from competition with other plants actually resulted in less productive plantations—the trees were being deprived of beneficial mutualisms.
Chapter 2 includes a mini biography of Peter Kropotkin who, apparently, was famed for his scientific contributions, not just his political ones. (He sounds like a very interesting person.) His own observations led him to resist the idea that competition was the primary force in nature:
Instead, Kropotkin was struck immediately by how valiantly living things had to struggle against the ferocity of nature and how they often clustered together to withstand it. He observed warfare and extermination among animals but was surprised to see “there is, at the same time, as much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, and mutual defense amidst animals belonging to the same species or, at least, to the same society….”
Chapter 3 discusses microbiota, and suggests that our society’s tendency to cloister ourselves in increasingly sterile environments results in us having inferior microbiota:
As soon as they’re old enough, babies put everything in their mouths, from their toes to dead flies to the contents of a litter box if they get the chance; according to one group of researchers, they’d eat twenty grams of soil a day if adults didn’t keep swooping in to interfere. It seems that this is part of a biological strategy to build a robust microbiota and immune system. By the age of three the child has a stable signature microbiota as large and diverse as that of an adult.
(I am unclear if they are implying that we ought to just let babies eat dirt.)
Chapter 4 is an inspiring account of how some ranchers, regulators, and scientists have learned to cooperate to improve cattle grazing practices in ways that have dramatically rehydrated and revitalized land that had been declining for decades.
In chapter 5 there’s a discussion of concerns about GMOs; I think this is the first time I’ve read something that seemed scientifically-informed and was still negatively disposed toward GMO crops. The concerns it emphasized have to do not so much with the safety of the crops for consumption as with their fragility and the trend toward monocultures.
Chapter 6 describes the “sharing versus sparing” debate, and takes the side of the former. It throws cold water on the idea that just setting aside wildlife preserves (which end up subject to some of the same dynamics as islands) and wildlife corridors will preserve an adequate amount of biodiversity, arguing instead that we can and must do agriculture in ways that allow the land being used for agriculture to simultaneously be part of a healthy ecosystem.
(crosspost)
February 19, 2024
The common narrative describes evolution as a competition, a struggle in which all parts of nature fight all other parts. Ohlson argues in this book that we see the natural world as such because that's what we've gone looking for. If we switch our perspective, though, to looking for cooperation, we can find just as much evidence to support a view that nature and evolution are a story of mutualisms, of diverse, complex, cooperative, polycultural ecosystems where lifeforms depend upon and help each other, stronger together. Cooperation is as much the norm as competition, if only we can see it.
This book is Ohlson's attempt to shift the narrative. Each chapter demonstrates a different realm of natural cooperation, where science has only recently come to understand the dynamics of the beneficial relationships at work--and of people putting that science into action in new and dynamic ways. Of how humans are learning to be cooperative partners with nature for mutual benefit. Her accounts are personal and narrative, as she spent time with each of those she writes about, even as she delves into the science involved. Her writing is meant to inspire readers to join in seeing and acting differently, and in that she succeeds eloquently.
This book is Ohlson's attempt to shift the narrative. Each chapter demonstrates a different realm of natural cooperation, where science has only recently come to understand the dynamics of the beneficial relationships at work--and of people putting that science into action in new and dynamic ways. Of how humans are learning to be cooperative partners with nature for mutual benefit. Her accounts are personal and narrative, as she spent time with each of those she writes about, even as she delves into the science involved. Her writing is meant to inspire readers to join in seeing and acting differently, and in that she succeeds eloquently.
How might our behavior change if we understood the extent to which cooperation within and among species undergirds the natural world and makes it thrive? If we looked for that cooperation? Could we begin to see ourselves as partners and helpers, part of a greater fabric of giving, instead of exploiters and colonizers and wreckers?
-----
Scientists now find that just about every complex plant, fungus, and animal hosts a dynamic microbiota--a community of bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, and other microorganisms that live in us and on us and are essential to our health, just we are essential to theirs. We are not individuals but ecosystems, each of us hosting a whirl of organisms busily interacting with us and with each other in a complex web of connection. The ecosystem of us lives within larger ecosystems--our gardens, our neighborhoods, our farms, our cities, whatever wilderness we have left--where we interact and overlap with other animal-plant-fungal ecosystems and the invisibles inside them as well as free-living microbes throughout the environment that aren't associated with hosts. Those larger ecosystems are nested within and interacting with even larger ones, on and on until they encompass the entire planet.
And if the rub-your-stomach, pat-your-head mental exercise of picturing those nested ecosystems isn't mind-boggling enough, consider that even our microbiota have a microbiota. Viruses and even small mobile "genetic elements" (meaning, things that move bits of genetic material around but don't meet the traditional definitions of life) weave in and among the bacteria in our guts, changing the affected bacteria's own genetic potential for harm or good.
May 18, 2025
Review: Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World by Kristin Ohlson
Overview
Kristin Ohlson’s Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a revelatory ode to nature’s overlooked alliances, challenging the “survival of the fittest” narrative with a tapestry of symbiotic relationships. Through lyrical prose and meticulous research, Ohlson unveils a world where wolves nurture forests, microbes broker peace between plants, and even predators operate as reluctant partners in life’s grand dance. This book is a quiet manifesto—a call to see nature not as a battlefield but as a collaborative masterpiece.
Key Strengths
-Fresh Perspective: Ohlson dismantles Darwinian clichés with stories of mutualism, offering a hopeful counterpoint to ecological despair.
-Narrative Grace: Scientific rigor meets storytelling charm; chapters unfold like ecological fables, rich with vivid detail (e.g., fungi as underground diplomats).
-Timely Relevance: In an era of climate anxiety, the book reframes conservation as a celebration of nature’s innate generosity.
-Accessible Depth: Complex concepts (e.g., trophic cascades) are distilled with clarity, inviting both science enthusiasts and casual readers.
Considerations
-Niche Appeal: Readers seeking hard-hitting environmental polemics may crave sharper urgency.
-Structural Repetition: Some themes recur across chapters, occasionally diluting their impact.
-Emotional Weight: The tone leans optimistic; those drawn to darker ecological narratives (e.g., The Sixth Extinction) might miss deeper stakes.
Score Breakdown (0–5 Stars)
-Originality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) – A paradigm-shifting lens on nature’s interconnectedness.
-Prose: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) – Elegant and engaging, though occasionally meandering.
-Research: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) – Masterful synthesis of science and anecdote.
-Impact: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) – Leaves readers awestruck by nature’s quiet collaborations.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.5/5) – A honeyed antidote to the myth of nature’s cruelty.
Who Should Read This?
-Fans of Entangled Life or Braiding Sweetgrass seeking more science-forward storytelling.
-Environmentalists weary of doom-scrolling; this book is a balm.
-Anyone curious about ecology’s unsung heroes (yes, even parasites get love).
Final Thoughts
Ohlson’s work is a reminder that cooperation is not just a human ideal—it’s life’s ancient blueprint. By turns tender and enlightening, Sweet in Tooth and Claw reenchants the natural world.
Gratitude
Thank you to NetGalley and Kristin Ohlson for the advance review copy. This book is a testament to the power of stories to reshape how we see the world—and our place within it.
(Note: Review based on an uncorrected proof; final publication may vary.)
Overview
Kristin Ohlson’s Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a revelatory ode to nature’s overlooked alliances, challenging the “survival of the fittest” narrative with a tapestry of symbiotic relationships. Through lyrical prose and meticulous research, Ohlson unveils a world where wolves nurture forests, microbes broker peace between plants, and even predators operate as reluctant partners in life’s grand dance. This book is a quiet manifesto—a call to see nature not as a battlefield but as a collaborative masterpiece.
Key Strengths
-Fresh Perspective: Ohlson dismantles Darwinian clichés with stories of mutualism, offering a hopeful counterpoint to ecological despair.
-Narrative Grace: Scientific rigor meets storytelling charm; chapters unfold like ecological fables, rich with vivid detail (e.g., fungi as underground diplomats).
-Timely Relevance: In an era of climate anxiety, the book reframes conservation as a celebration of nature’s innate generosity.
-Accessible Depth: Complex concepts (e.g., trophic cascades) are distilled with clarity, inviting both science enthusiasts and casual readers.
Considerations
-Niche Appeal: Readers seeking hard-hitting environmental polemics may crave sharper urgency.
-Structural Repetition: Some themes recur across chapters, occasionally diluting their impact.
-Emotional Weight: The tone leans optimistic; those drawn to darker ecological narratives (e.g., The Sixth Extinction) might miss deeper stakes.
Score Breakdown (0–5 Stars)
-Originality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) – A paradigm-shifting lens on nature’s interconnectedness.
-Prose: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) – Elegant and engaging, though occasionally meandering.
-Research: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) – Masterful synthesis of science and anecdote.
-Impact: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) – Leaves readers awestruck by nature’s quiet collaborations.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.5/5) – A honeyed antidote to the myth of nature’s cruelty.
Who Should Read This?
-Fans of Entangled Life or Braiding Sweetgrass seeking more science-forward storytelling.
-Environmentalists weary of doom-scrolling; this book is a balm.
-Anyone curious about ecology’s unsung heroes (yes, even parasites get love).
Final Thoughts
Ohlson’s work is a reminder that cooperation is not just a human ideal—it’s life’s ancient blueprint. By turns tender and enlightening, Sweet in Tooth and Claw reenchants the natural world.
Gratitude
Thank you to NetGalley and Kristin Ohlson for the advance review copy. This book is a testament to the power of stories to reshape how we see the world—and our place within it.
(Note: Review based on an uncorrected proof; final publication may vary.)
April 4, 2023
I really enjoyed this book! Ohlson's premise is that the predominant view of "nature red in tooth and claw" is not only incorrect but also damaging. Though competition and brutality are part of nature, cooperation is a bigger part of the story, and both humanity and the planet will benefit from reevaluating our views of the natural world.
Ohlson uses a very convincing set of arguments and examples including studies of urban greening, new modes of farming, and ways in which nature has already created the solutions we're looking for (example: beaver dams make great natural soil-filters for stormwater runoff, and the beavers do all the rebuilding and maintenance for free!). It was really eye opening to me to learn that monoculture with pesticides doesn't actually produce higher yields than carefully encouraging natural pest control by introducing additional species into farms. I love the idea that we can make our farms and urban spaces greener in a way that benefits health and biodiversity while actually being better for the economy overall.
Ohlson comes at this book with the perspective of a writer who has interviewed a lot of scientists and others involved in green movements as well as some of her own experience. This means that her book does not have as many examples from scientific/academic papers as a similar book written by someone from a science background might have, but I believe it makes it more accessible to the average reader. Though she does mention problems (logistical and bureaucratic), this book felt more encouraging in terms of what I, as an average non-specialist citizen, can do to help my community than a lot of similar books I've read.
Paradigm shifting! Definitely recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ohlson uses a very convincing set of arguments and examples including studies of urban greening, new modes of farming, and ways in which nature has already created the solutions we're looking for (example: beaver dams make great natural soil-filters for stormwater runoff, and the beavers do all the rebuilding and maintenance for free!). It was really eye opening to me to learn that monoculture with pesticides doesn't actually produce higher yields than carefully encouraging natural pest control by introducing additional species into farms. I love the idea that we can make our farms and urban spaces greener in a way that benefits health and biodiversity while actually being better for the economy overall.
Ohlson comes at this book with the perspective of a writer who has interviewed a lot of scientists and others involved in green movements as well as some of her own experience. This means that her book does not have as many examples from scientific/academic papers as a similar book written by someone from a science background might have, but I believe it makes it more accessible to the average reader. Though she does mention problems (logistical and bureaucratic), this book felt more encouraging in terms of what I, as an average non-specialist citizen, can do to help my community than a lot of similar books I've read.
Paradigm shifting! Definitely recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 4, 2022
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a layman accessible examination of cooperative behavior, often across species, in the natural world, written by Kristin Ohlson. Released 6th Sept 2022 by Patagonia, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
As popular science writing goes, this is an appealing and engaging read. The author has a lot to say about the interconnections between creatures and their natural habitats and how they can, and often do, cooperate to survive. The chapters are not linear, and they work more or less as independent essays: from forests and deforestation, to regenerative agriculture and developing new plant varieties which will work *with* and not *against* local ecosystems as well as some profound opposing philosophies on land use and conservation which were completely new to me.
Although it's scientifically accurate and information dense, it's not annotated and the author has not included a bibliography or reading list(s). There is a cross referenced index, but it was not included in the early eARC provided for review, so it wasn't possible to error check the information there.
It's well and clearly photographed throughout.
Four and a half stars. I would recommend this one for fans of popular science, especially nature and conservation readers.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a layman accessible examination of cooperative behavior, often across species, in the natural world, written by Kristin Ohlson. Released 6th Sept 2022 by Patagonia, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
As popular science writing goes, this is an appealing and engaging read. The author has a lot to say about the interconnections between creatures and their natural habitats and how they can, and often do, cooperate to survive. The chapters are not linear, and they work more or less as independent essays: from forests and deforestation, to regenerative agriculture and developing new plant varieties which will work *with* and not *against* local ecosystems as well as some profound opposing philosophies on land use and conservation which were completely new to me.
Although it's scientifically accurate and information dense, it's not annotated and the author has not included a bibliography or reading list(s). There is a cross referenced index, but it was not included in the early eARC provided for review, so it wasn't possible to error check the information there.
It's well and clearly photographed throughout.
Four and a half stars. I would recommend this one for fans of popular science, especially nature and conservation readers.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
November 15, 2022
I really enjoyed this book, although it was not at all what I was expecting. While the title is cute, there were few teeth and claws here, with a bigger focus on integrated ecosystems forests, fungi and farms. Ohlson draws on work critiquing the Darwinian focus on competition as a driver of natural selection, which has often come at the expense of understanding how deeply cooperative systems evolve together, offering a higher survival ratio than species going it alone.
From here, she moves into elaboration of various projects, research and constructive, utilising holistic approaches for sustainability and revival. She draws on much work covered in books I've already read (Lyn Margulis work, mycorrhizae networks in particular, and she namedrops David Graeber a lot) but draws new lessons out of the combination. Her examples are wonderfully chosen, ranging from Salmon Saviours through a Bronx community resurfacing a long-lost river to prevent flooding.
This focus made it inherently hopeful: this is no distanced discussion of nature, but a book about how humans can integrate into it. The case studies are people who are making a difference, often to small areas, but proving that a mindshift can make a big impact. Just as Ohlson celebrates the integration of nature, she also celebrates what people working together can do. Worth picking up if you need a pick me up!
From here, she moves into elaboration of various projects, research and constructive, utilising holistic approaches for sustainability and revival. She draws on much work covered in books I've already read (Lyn Margulis work, mycorrhizae networks in particular, and she namedrops David Graeber a lot) but draws new lessons out of the combination. Her examples are wonderfully chosen, ranging from Salmon Saviours through a Bronx community resurfacing a long-lost river to prevent flooding.
This focus made it inherently hopeful: this is no distanced discussion of nature, but a book about how humans can integrate into it. The case studies are people who are making a difference, often to small areas, but proving that a mindshift can make a big impact. Just as Ohlson celebrates the integration of nature, she also celebrates what people working together can do. Worth picking up if you need a pick me up!
November 15, 2022
With a similar sense of wonder and beauty to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a gorgeous book about the generosity and cooperation that exist around us.
If you've read books like The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, you might know about the secret cooperation of a forest, but who knew that salmon could also help a forest to thrive? This book is packed with such examples and stories that really do help you see the world differently.
Here, Kristin Ohlson rekindles hope in the natural goodness and connectedness of the world, but her book is also a powerful reminder of the damage that humankind has done to our home planet – chiefly, through ignorance of these dense webs of connection that we still can't wholly wrap our heads around.
This book isn't always easy-reading – it's dense and packed with information, which lends it more to slow short reading sessions rather than a day-long read. But I think that's how this book should be enjoyed: slowly and thoughtfully.
Reading this is a reminder that humans can – and should – be involved in this interconnectedness too, as just another co-creator and caretaker of a generous and thriving ecosystem that requires our full attention.
Thank you to Kristin Ohlson, Patagonia, and NetGalley for this ARC.
If you've read books like The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, you might know about the secret cooperation of a forest, but who knew that salmon could also help a forest to thrive? This book is packed with such examples and stories that really do help you see the world differently.
Here, Kristin Ohlson rekindles hope in the natural goodness and connectedness of the world, but her book is also a powerful reminder of the damage that humankind has done to our home planet – chiefly, through ignorance of these dense webs of connection that we still can't wholly wrap our heads around.
This book isn't always easy-reading – it's dense and packed with information, which lends it more to slow short reading sessions rather than a day-long read. But I think that's how this book should be enjoyed: slowly and thoughtfully.
Reading this is a reminder that humans can – and should – be involved in this interconnectedness too, as just another co-creator and caretaker of a generous and thriving ecosystem that requires our full attention.
Thank you to Kristin Ohlson, Patagonia, and NetGalley for this ARC.
January 16, 2023
This book is simply one of the best I've read in regards to conservation and environment. I think everyone needs to read this book because it stands as a reminder that people do care and people are doing things to protect and serve our home planet. I couldn't recommend it enough.
Ohlson covers numerous areas of conservation from the soil and the fungi that live there to the salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. While she does cover numerous different organisms, she draws back onto the work humans are doing to both understand these relationships and support them, effectively reminding the reader that humans can be mutual relationships with nature too.
Her tone is rather conversational through the book yet incredibly eloquent. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. Furthermore, her ideas stay with you. I can't shut up about the concepts I read in this book to everyone I know.
I'm a big softie anyway, but this book did have me tearing up at parts. In other parts, it had me challenging what I believed and making me realize that conservation should include anyone who wants to improve our planet.
It's an exceptional little book, and I hope you'll give it a chance!
Ohlson covers numerous areas of conservation from the soil and the fungi that live there to the salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. While she does cover numerous different organisms, she draws back onto the work humans are doing to both understand these relationships and support them, effectively reminding the reader that humans can be mutual relationships with nature too.
Her tone is rather conversational through the book yet incredibly eloquent. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. Furthermore, her ideas stay with you. I can't shut up about the concepts I read in this book to everyone I know.
I'm a big softie anyway, but this book did have me tearing up at parts. In other parts, it had me challenging what I believed and making me realize that conservation should include anyone who wants to improve our planet.
It's an exceptional little book, and I hope you'll give it a chance!
June 12, 2022
I really like the conclusion of this book about how many parts of nature work together to make life better for nature and us. I like the study, about the ranchers who have allowed nature to reclaim the river and create a huge ecosystem that not only stopped the river from drying out during dry season but also create happier cow and landscape and more wildlife. I also like the community that is trying to reclaim a river in the Bronx, which was diverted long ago in to the sewer, and now they want to let it flow and create a natural environment. But like all new ideas it takes time for people to understand why this approach is good.
The book is very interesting to read and the examples about why this approach works is broad enough to understand why and encourages involvement from the reader.
I want to thank Patagonia and NetGalley for this very interesting book about working with nature.
The book is very interesting to read and the examples about why this approach works is broad enough to understand why and encourages involvement from the reader.
I want to thank Patagonia and NetGalley for this very interesting book about working with nature.
April 17, 2024
Not quite what I was expecting but nevertheless a fantastic read. The book spends a considerable amount of time discussing microbes and interactions at a more micro scale. Initially I was a little disappointed because I wanted to read about big fuzzy animals doing cute things and not dirty insects laying eggs in one another but the book caught my attention and overall was simply fascinating.
I particularly liked the discussion on how rather than viewing nature and humanity at odds with one another, the two can work together to create a happier, healthier planet for both through agricultural practices, greener cities, etc. I can also say that following this book I have a newfound appreciation for the smaller creepy crawly critters and the roles they play in maintaining a thriving ecosystem.
Also the pictures were lovely!
I’m convinced that if we can learn to respect, not ravage, the rest of nature, we’ll also become more generous and nurturing with each other
I particularly liked the discussion on how rather than viewing nature and humanity at odds with one another, the two can work together to create a happier, healthier planet for both through agricultural practices, greener cities, etc. I can also say that following this book I have a newfound appreciation for the smaller creepy crawly critters and the roles they play in maintaining a thriving ecosystem.
Also the pictures were lovely!
I’m convinced that if we can learn to respect, not ravage, the rest of nature, we’ll also become more generous and nurturing with each other
June 17, 2022
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It is scholarly and researched based and provides a modern approach to the natural world. I had recently read a book about a couple who was practicing regenerative farming in Scotland and this book spent a lot of time on the benefits of these systems and regenerative ranching in the American west. So many organisms are affected- even fungi, worms, mosses as well as more complex life forms. Changing just one thing can redistribute the whole. ecosystem. Ohlson covers many different biomes, backing her reports with research. Becoming a steward of Earth is an important job for all of us.
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