The author, Suzanne Simard is Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and this brand new volume expands on the mother tree concept and is set largely in BC, the most mountainous State in Canada. She’s the person whose research inspired the term ‘wood wide web’, and some of you may have read her pioneering book Finding the Mother Tree (also reviewed in STEP Matters).

Her conclusions presented in book form caused some controversy in the scientific press, but a significant amount of support too, plus international recognition, and the book made the New York Times bestseller list. Though science-based, her concepts drew from the way Canada's First Nations people viewed and lived in the land with its flora and animals, and how all interacted and sustained each other. Healthy forests actually support abundant salmon being a classic example.

So what’s new in this book and what’s it got to do with Australia anyway? Well, heaps actually! Before the widespread adoption of clear felling here, Karri Eucalyptus diversicolour forest management in WA, for example, used to leave the largest living ‘mother’ trees intact in order to preserve seed sources that could deliver healthy and robust new forest growth.

The concept of life-sustaining mycorrhizal fungi networks was probably not the formal reason in early days – it was all about sensible forest productivity – but this exciting concept has since become widely accepted. Yes, such fungal networks are over here too, and the interesting thing about her previous book is they found that the Canadian ones were linked and shared by different species – not purely conifers but broadleaf species too. So, in a forest of several eucalypt species plus non-eucalypts? Are they all similarly linked through soil mycorrhizae? There are scientists who could certainly answer that question but it’s beyond the scope of this review.

When the Forest Breathes gives a fascinating insight into the painstaking fieldwork carried out in numerous plots, with multiple students and support staff, and involving sampling, data logging, measuring and lab work, plus the planting of tens of thousands of saplings. Broadly speaking there are three types of plots described – totally clear-felled, partially felled and over 60% intact. And then there can be untouched forest for reference. Forest vegetation described ranges from temperate rainforest to inland areas viewed as semi-arid – mountains do lots of things to climate, from making the rain bucket down, to blocking and drying it with rain shadows.

The work was aided by the forestry managements of a chosen sites whereby degrees of tree clearing could be programmed. But in a mountainous landscape subject to climate change, storms, drought, wildfires, areas of clear felling and huge log trucks spanning the roads, you can only imagine the physical challenges – you can enjoy or wince at the many stories and incidents in the book.

Some chapters focus on specific locations, especially islands such as Vancouver Island and the northern chain of Haida Gwaii. The maritime forests on these rainy terrains are noted for their big, ancient western red cedars (that’s the way they spell it) and yellow cedars, much in demand by forestry. If you zoom in on Google Earth satellite, especially on Haida Gwaii, you will see bare, clear-felled areas galore, difficult often to distinguish from open shrub land. And you can actually Google Earth almost any part of BC's forests and you will see clear-felled patches scattered everywhere. And clear felling has typically removed even the big, old mother trees.

Once clear-felled and the ground churned and disturbed, the substantial humic layer is largely lost and washed away. It will take a lifetime to rebuild even then. Washed away or lost with the humic layer will be countless organisms including fungi, ground loving plants, and all the animals that live there. Birds, like the marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests in the high, mossy pockets of old growth trees, will never return. Black bears that hibernate in hollows of massive tree trunks will have nowhere to sleep through winter. And fundamentally, the research showed multiple times that tree saplings did better and grew faster and healthier in proximity to mother trees. And a key observation has been that migrating salmon shun rivers that have had their humic water source destroyed – their egg laying gravel ‘redds’ having become clogged with washed down humus and clay. And a catchment of healthy forest supports rivers full of salmon. So it’s not just trees and timber: salmon are hugely important economically too!

And what about the Canadian and BC governments? Well it’s the usual ‘jobs come first’ backed by powerful lobbying interests, and environmental issues tend to be put on the backburner. Having visited and travelled there, and now having read both books, one is left with a critical view of the environmental credentials of both (sound familiar?), or of forestry’s poor level of acceptance of her team's clearly ground-breaking discoveries. There are a few positive environmental stories in the book but the overall impression is that forestry practices rule most situations, including protest movements – police with helicopter support and hundreds arrested (sound familiar?).

In the last chapters the author recounts family and professional crises. Star student, athlete and academic protégé ‘Amanda’ dies in a tragic skiing accident. The author’s mother opts for MAID (you can google it up) which is legal in Canada. Then professionally there’s a snowstorm of criticism of her published works going back decades, despite each paper having passed through peer review essential for publication. One even suggesting the University of BC should sack her – brutal, and definitely none of their business!

But in closing summary, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the environment and the threats to it. It’s truly an easy one too and, especially, it has a human touch. There’s a sheaf of good colour photos in the middle, but one negative feature is the small black and white ones scattered through – they're dark and shadowy with poor balance, and some are unreadable (though not the fault of the photographers I’m sure).

Reviewed by John Martyn
Author: Suzanne Simard
Publisher: Allen Lane (imprint of Penguin Random House)
Paperback, 310 pp. Includes references, index and background info.