A Review of The Nature of Oaks
The Nature of Oaks
by Douglas W. Tallamy
The Nature of Oaks is the first book I read on the journey of thinking through creating Table Rock Arboretum. Emily bought it for me after I had the idea of living out my childhood dream of being a forest ranger, using our property to curate an ecologically conscious place of beauty that could help educate the public. Emily immediately saw the potential in promoting an Arboretum and here we are!
The Nature of Oaks was a great place to start my journey. I had contemplated cutting down our big white oak to open up the view of the ocean from the house. This book totally and thoroughly reoriented my point of view of our tree. The oak tree IS the view, and it is much more important than any other tree at Table Rock for sustaining life.
Oaks are the foundation of our local ecological system here at Table Rock and Aquidneck Island. They support hundreds and hundreds of species of moths and caterpillars, which feed a diverse set of beautiful coastal birds, as well as other insects and spiders. Compared to some trees of shrubs, which may support just a few moths or caterpillars, Oak trees significance is made plain. Some oaks live to be over 1000 years old, making them some of the most ancient living creatures around. Ours is perhaps 100 years old, still a youngster, even at 60 feet tall. Oaks purify our air, they filter our groundwater, and feed the local wildlife in a way that makes them absolutely essential to humans and all the other creatures living in our part of the world.
Tallamy takes the reader on a fascinating tour of Oaks. We learn about their enormous root systems which grow down and deep rather than shallow and out, we learn about their voluminous acorn production and the life acorns sustain, and we learn about the copious leaves which are larger at the bottom of the tree than the top, in order to capture more light. The author goes into some detail about the many creatures that live in or on the acorns, or make their homes in the craggy bark, or use silk to wrap themselves into hidden chow stations. I loved his description that caterpillars are essentially walking leaves, because that is all that they eat.
We learn about Cicadas and some of the other magical creatures that call the oak tree home. And, we learn about the role these creatures play in food cycles, and how they have evolved to reproduce and defend themselves in harmony with the other systems at play in our local ecology.
Tallamy keeps the reading light, using humor effectively. I never worried about what page number I was on. Facts are revealed like pearls, with many fascinating photographs of the trees and the creatures that live along with Oaks. I’m so glad Emily bought me this book. It was the perfect place to start in understanding how life at Table Rock sustains itself.
-Clay Rives
