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Dead Wood: The Afterlife of Trees
The west is full of magnificent mighty spruces, towering cedars, and stout firs. We are used to appreciating trees during their glory years, but how often do we consider what happens to a tree when it dies? We’ve all seen driftwood on the beach. But how many people have truly looked at it and appreciated its ecological role?
Ellen Wohl has thought about these questions, and In Dead Wood, she takes us through the afterlife of trees, describing the importance of standing and downed dead wood in forests, in rivers, along beaches, in the open ocean, and even at the deepest parts of the seafloor. Downed wood in the forest provides habitat for diverse plants and animals, and the progressive decay of the wood releases nutrients into the soil. Wood in rivers provides critical habitat for stream insects and fish and can accumulate in logjams that divert the river repeatedly across the valley floor, creating a floodplain mosaic that is rich in habitat and biodiversity. Driftwood on the beach helps to stabilize shifting sand, creating habitat for plants and invertebrates. Fish such as tuna congregate at driftwood in the open ocean. As driftwood becomes saturated and sinks to the ocean floor, collections of sunken wood provide habitat and nutrients for deep-sea organisms. Far from being an unsightly form of waste that needs to be cleaned from forests, beaches, and harbors, dead wood is a critical resource for many forms of life.
Dead Wood follows the afterlives of three a spruce in the Colorado Rocky Mountains that remains on the floodplain after death; a redcedar in Washington that is gradually transported downstream to the Pacific; and a poplar in the Mackenzie River of Canada that is transported to the Arctic Ocean. With these three trees, Wohl encourages readers to see beyond landscapes, to appreciate the ecological processes that drive rivers and forests and other ecosystems, and demonstrates the ways that the life of an ecosystem carries on even when individual members of that system have died. Readers will discover that trees can have an exceptionally rich afterlife—one tightly interwoven with the lives of humans and ecosystems.
Ellen Wohl has thought about these questions, and In Dead Wood, she takes us through the afterlife of trees, describing the importance of standing and downed dead wood in forests, in rivers, along beaches, in the open ocean, and even at the deepest parts of the seafloor. Downed wood in the forest provides habitat for diverse plants and animals, and the progressive decay of the wood releases nutrients into the soil. Wood in rivers provides critical habitat for stream insects and fish and can accumulate in logjams that divert the river repeatedly across the valley floor, creating a floodplain mosaic that is rich in habitat and biodiversity. Driftwood on the beach helps to stabilize shifting sand, creating habitat for plants and invertebrates. Fish such as tuna congregate at driftwood in the open ocean. As driftwood becomes saturated and sinks to the ocean floor, collections of sunken wood provide habitat and nutrients for deep-sea organisms. Far from being an unsightly form of waste that needs to be cleaned from forests, beaches, and harbors, dead wood is a critical resource for many forms of life.
Dead Wood follows the afterlives of three a spruce in the Colorado Rocky Mountains that remains on the floodplain after death; a redcedar in Washington that is gradually transported downstream to the Pacific; and a poplar in the Mackenzie River of Canada that is transported to the Arctic Ocean. With these three trees, Wohl encourages readers to see beyond landscapes, to appreciate the ecological processes that drive rivers and forests and other ecosystems, and demonstrates the ways that the life of an ecosystem carries on even when individual members of that system have died. Readers will discover that trees can have an exceptionally rich afterlife—one tightly interwoven with the lives of humans and ecosystems.
- GenresNonfiction
176 pages, Paperback
Published August 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 2, 2022
The past 50 years have revolutionized the way scientists think about trees and forests. A forest is not simply a collection of trees, it includes the underground fungal network, the watershed, microbes, birds, plants and animals. And once the tree dies, it is still a vital part of the network providing habitat and nourishment. This is true whether the tree is still standing (called a snag), or when it has fallen to the forest floor (acting as nurse logs for new plants), or when it falls into a lake or river, where logjams can either stabilize or change the course of a river and also provide habitat and food to many creatures.
In our human-centric thinking, once a tree has died we immediately think it should be cleared away and chopped up. All rivers should be cleared of wood because it interferes with navigation or downstream dams. The author demonstrates that this is a very short sighted way of seeing the ecosystem of our planet. When people disrupt these interconnected exchanges by cutting forests, channelizing and damming rivers, removing downed wood, and clearing beaches of driftwood, they impoverish the ecosystems that rely on the long lives, and equally long afterlives of trees.
The author focuses on three separate trees, following them in her imagination from germination to many years of afterlife. The trees inhabit three completely different ecosystems: a spruce in the Rocky Mountains along the St Vrain Creek watershed, a redcedar on the Queets river in the Olympic Peninsula, and a poplar along the Mackenzie River in northern Canada. Her descriptions are rich and evocative, giving a very full picture of each tree's role in their biome. I was especially interested in the value that submerged trees can impart to our waterways, from creeks to deep ocean. As the author says no tree is an island. Each tree depends on a nearly uncountable number of other organisms from microbes to other trees for its survival. Each tree in turn supports the life of thousands of other living creatures
As a side note, I was amused by the author's description of three of the major trees in the Pacific Northwest. They were all identified and described by explorers before taxonomy was fully understood. Therefore the Douglas-Fir is not a fir but a pine. The Western Redcedar is in the cypress family, rather than a cedar. And the Western Hemlock is not related to the poison hemlock plant, but was apparently named hemlock because the odor was similar.
In our human-centric thinking, once a tree has died we immediately think it should be cleared away and chopped up. All rivers should be cleared of wood because it interferes with navigation or downstream dams. The author demonstrates that this is a very short sighted way of seeing the ecosystem of our planet. When people disrupt these interconnected exchanges by cutting forests, channelizing and damming rivers, removing downed wood, and clearing beaches of driftwood, they impoverish the ecosystems that rely on the long lives, and equally long afterlives of trees.
The author focuses on three separate trees, following them in her imagination from germination to many years of afterlife. The trees inhabit three completely different ecosystems: a spruce in the Rocky Mountains along the St Vrain Creek watershed, a redcedar on the Queets river in the Olympic Peninsula, and a poplar along the Mackenzie River in northern Canada. Her descriptions are rich and evocative, giving a very full picture of each tree's role in their biome. I was especially interested in the value that submerged trees can impart to our waterways, from creeks to deep ocean. As the author says no tree is an island. Each tree depends on a nearly uncountable number of other organisms from microbes to other trees for its survival. Each tree in turn supports the life of thousands of other living creatures
As a side note, I was amused by the author's description of three of the major trees in the Pacific Northwest. They were all identified and described by explorers before taxonomy was fully understood. Therefore the Douglas-Fir is not a fir but a pine. The Western Redcedar is in the cypress family, rather than a cedar. And the Western Hemlock is not related to the poison hemlock plant, but was apparently named hemlock because the odor was similar.
August 5, 2025
A recommended read from the scientist-researcher-forest guardian at Białowieża Forest a few years back.
As we walked through this last remaining part of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain, he explained the pre-life, life and after-life of trees in this magically, intricately interconnected world we are all part off.
For curious me, always wanting to know more, he recommended this book. Indulgent husband ordered it right away. 4 years it sat in a wooden bookcase, as a part of my 'to-read' collection
Starting to read, it was mesmerising. Not that I didn't know the basics of creation-destruction life cycles but to read it explained in detail was beautiful, uplifting. Wonder and love evoking.
Heightening all my protective instincts for this beautiful precious earth of ours.
As we walked through this last remaining part of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European Plain, he explained the pre-life, life and after-life of trees in this magically, intricately interconnected world we are all part off.
For curious me, always wanting to know more, he recommended this book. Indulgent husband ordered it right away. 4 years it sat in a wooden bookcase, as a part of my 'to-read' collection
Starting to read, it was mesmerising. Not that I didn't know the basics of creation-destruction life cycles but to read it explained in detail was beautiful, uplifting. Wonder and love evoking.
Heightening all my protective instincts for this beautiful precious earth of ours.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews