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Peter Wohlleben

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Peter Wohlleben is a German forester who writes on ecological themes in popular language.[1]

In his 2015 book about natural forests, Das geheime Leben der Bäume[2], he takes the perspective of the trees, much as Jacques Cousteau took the perspective of the inhabitants of the oceans. He uses storytelling to convey information from the scientific literature in a manner that echoes Nikko Tinbergen's writing on animals, or Carl Sagan's writing and public presentations about astronomy.

Among other phenomena, this book introduces for a popular audience the jocularly-named Wood-Wide Web, through which nutrition and signals are exchanged among trees. The term appears in the title of a story in Nature[3] that reports that the diversity of fungi associated with the roots of trees is greater in a woodland than in tilled land. The observation that fungi interpenetrate the roots of trees traces to Robert Hartig, a German forestry scientist who worked in the late 19th century.

Professionally, Wohlleben manages a beech forest on behalf of the municipality of Hümmel, Germany.[4] Until recently, he has offered regular tours of local forests.

Publications and News Coverage

Wohlleben began publishing books about his views on ecology and forest management in 2007.[5] The appearance of his Das geheime Leben der Bäume through Random House's Ludwig imprint led to profiles[6][7] and reviews[8] in all the major German newspapers, including skeptical pieces in the business press[9][10]. The book was featured in a cover story in Der Spiegel and appeared on the Spiegel bestseller list.[11]

An English translation is scheduled to be published in September, 2016 under the title The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate[12]. Translations into other languages are in progress.[13]

The New York Times ran a profile of Wohlleben[14] in January, 2016. The article describes him as a forester who devotes his professional efforts to preserving the forest rather than managing it for lumber production.

References

  1. ^ Wohlleben, Peter. "Peter Wohlleben - Bücher". Förster & Autor Peter Wohlleben (in German). Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  2. ^ Wohlleben, Peter (2015). Das geheime Leben der Bäume (in German). München: Ludwig. ISBN 978-3-453-28067-0.
  3. ^ Helgason, T.; et al. (30 July 1998). "Ploughing up the wood-wide web?". Nature. 394 (431). doi:10.1038/28764. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |last2= (help)
  4. ^ Leslie, André; Taube, Friedel (November 19, 2013). "Protecting Germany's old forests". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Peter Wohlleben - Publikationen". Wikipedia (in German). Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  6. ^ Weinl, Volker (July 25, 2015). "Können Bäume wirklich miteinander reden?" (in German). Bild GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. ^ Heidtmann, Jan (November 20, 2015). "Der Baumflüsterer" (in German). Sueddeutsche Zeitung GmbH. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  8. ^ Freund, Wielland (July 4, 2015). "Aus dem Bäumischen von Peter Wohlleben" (in German). WeltN24 GmbH. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  9. ^ zu Guttenberg, Philipp (December 23, 2015). "Sehnsuchtsort Wald" (in German). Handelsblatt GmbH. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  10. ^ Mühl, Stephanie (November 29, 2015). "Bäume sind so tolle Lebewesen" (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  11. ^ Maus, Stephan (17 October 2015). "Dieser Rebell mischt den deutschen Wald auf" (in German). stern.de GmbH. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  12. ^ Wohlleben, Peter (September 2016). The Hidden Life of Trees. Vancouver, Canada: Greystone. ISBN 978-1-771-64248-4.
  13. ^ Wohlleben, Peter. "Peter Wohlleben - English Home Page". Förster & Autor Peter Wohlleben. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  14. ^ Sally McGrane (January 29, 2016). "German Forest Ranger Finds That Trees Have Social Networks, Too". New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2016.

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