In our own discipline of landscape architecture, questions about biodiversity unfold with plant provenance, native vs non-native species, invasive species, and landscape aesthetics. Much of the discussion around biodiversity is grounded in simplified and sometimes binary assumptions about species. By compartmentalizing life into units, we overlook systemic factors, such as the many relationships plants have with their environments and fellow life forms. This book will highlight a few of the many relationships that trees engage in with various species, including humans. Image rich, this volume embraces the complexities and inner workings of our biosphere.
Photo caption:
The ectomycorrhizal fungi and tree co-evolutionary relationship is perpetuated and spread by mycophagous mammals (namely rodents), who dig up and consume the below-ground fungal fruiting bodies, later to defecate their spores throughout the landscape. Left images clockwise: Eastern hemlock, ectomycorrhizae, Elaphomyces bartlettii, southern red-backed vole, scat. Right images clockwise; Northern Flying Squirrel, scat, red spruce, ectomycorrhizae, Tolypocladium capitatum parasitizing Elaphomyces granulatus.
Photo credits: Robert L. Anderson, Alex Badyaev, Chris Maser, Heather Schibli, Ryan Stephens, Richard Tehan.