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The Hidden Life of Trees

What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World

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The Hidden Life of Trees

Written by: Peter Wohlleben
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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About this listen

How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders, of which we are blissfully unaware.

Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.

Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown lives of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that ecofriendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

After a walk through the woods with Wohlleben, you'll never look at trees the same way again.

©2015, 2016 Ludwig Verlag, Munich, part of the Random House GmbH publishing group. Jane Billinghurst. Tim Flannery. “Note from a Forest Scientist” by Dr. Suzanne Simard. (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
Biological Sciences Nature & Ecology Inspiring Discovery Animal Communication Plant Biology
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What the critics say

"The matter-of-fact Mr. Wohlleben has delighted readers and talk-show audiences alike with the news long known to biologists that trees in the forest are social beings." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Hidden Life of Trees

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astounding & wonderful

This is a book I won't soon forget and infact, if I could keep it on the top of my pile, I would (wood?) as it is easily the most interesting read I've had in the longest time. The research is astounding. The narrator, simply wonderful and so well read. The translation, superb.
I will never walk past a tree or walk thru a forest again without a thought of this book: the glorious trees, the bark, their leaves, branches, seeds, their roots, their genealogy, their nurturing nature, that they communicate, think, reason, count, and tell time. oh my - I loved this book (if you can't tell) and if you have a shred of humanity, you will too! So worth a listen! I hope you enjoy it as well!

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Learning through Poetic License

A great way to learn a lot, with just enough poetic licence to make it accessible and consistently enjoyable.

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stunning and unexpected

every chapter had me sharing with friends about how underrated trees are. very interesting and a wide scope of study. easy to understand science background or not.

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Delightful and Insightful!

Absolutely adored this book. I was immediately sucked into the world of tree and plant life.

This book is written to be engaging, and being a lover of fantasy and Tolkien, I had no trouble seeing these living forests that Peter describes.
Although Tolkien’s walking and talking trees were a bit more literal, Peter absolutely described a very real life of which I had not previously known.

The narration was perfect, often reminding me of the narration provided for the Hundred Acre Wood. Calm and unhurried, like the trees, with all the right dramatic pauses!

I will put this one back into my ‘read’ pile to enjoy again.

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everyone should read this

loved it. if more people had this knowledge this works would be a better place

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Fascinating

A book that I am so happy I picked to listen to. It is one of those reads that shifted how I see the world. I loved listening to it and I loved the feel of learning something about living beings that I now see how often I take forgranted and know very little about. Thank you for this book. It is a treasure.

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i love trees more now

I didn't think it was possible to love the forest and this planet more than I did, but I now legitimately ache for the day we can understand the language of trees and mycelium, insofar as it can be understood by mammals.

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Eye opening if you go in with an open mind

Some very interesting concepts and revelations. Only criticism is that a lot of the examples pertain to Germany and Europe although there is some mention of North America. Makes the walks in the woods that much more interesting

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Turning over a “new leaf” when it comes to trees ;)

Peter Wohlleben uses colloquial language in such an engaging way to help us understand both the value and surprising depth of the tree world.

Mike Grady narrates with a pleasant cathartic effect, giving the audio experience a very David Attenborough type feel.

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Thought Provoking and Perspective Changing

We walk by hundreds if not thousands of trees on a routine basis but do we ever stop to consider what a tree is ? Peter Wohlleben does a tremendous job at conveying this abstract concept through chapters of engaging and entertaining dialogue. The relationship between humans and nature is one that has been vastly forgotten by today's culture and society but the lessons of this book do a great job at bringing some of our awareness back

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