Having recently read ONCE THEY WERE HATS by Frances
Backhouse about beavers in North America, I was interested
to continue my reading about the North Woods. With fewer
species than a rainforest, a key species has a big effect
on the whole environment. Moose are large herbivores which
process a lot of vegetation and they are also prey animals
for large predators. John Pastor asks, WHAT SHOULD A CLEVER
MOOSE EAT?
While this book is filled with observations backed by
scientific research, it reads in an accessible way right
from the foreword by Bernd Heinrich, so any keen nature
lover or hiker will absorb information. Pastor, following
his thirty years of research, tries to explain why we
should learn to care about many ecological questions.
Ecology, the study of how species interact, is the main
topic. Pastor wryly states that the way nature operates is
always more interesting than we originally thought. Some
detailed drawings help us to understand.
The North Woods, sitting on geologically young soil atop
some of the most ancient rocks in the world, has been
shaped by ice and water, and covers two million square
kilometres in a spread from coast to coast across the
continent. Both deciduous and conifer trees live in the
southerly regions, with bushes and herbs. Compared to
Thoreau's records 150 years ago, warming has advanced the
flowering season by ten to fourteen days. We also observe
that moose, eating leaves during summer, switch to browsing
the twigs as trees pull nutrients back into the twigs
during autumn. As weather, fire and insect depredation
affect different patches, the bulk of trees can vary from
old to young, aspen to pine, with particular bird and
mammal species residing in each. The Adirondack Preserve
was created in 1892 to preserve the headwaters of the
Hudson River. An intact woodland environment was seen to be
of greater value than just the sum of its contents.
Pastor first describes the geology of the north, with the
effects of ice sheets and their retreat causing the land to
rise where the heavy ice has melted over centuries. Having
read mainly about Europe I was interested to see Cape Cod,
Nantucket and Long Island described as terminal moraines.
The postglacial landscape is explained - I'd have liked to
see some photos of the drumlins and kettle lakes, but
specific features are named so you can Google them. Then
there's a good explanation of how various trees spread
north at differing rates. Animal spread of seed, winged
seeds catching the wind and varying weather patterns
contributed; the layers of pollen found in lake mud cores
provide the evidence. I like that the author discusses the
tedious work still needing to be done in analysing more
cores from more lakes, rather than just compiling tables
from the cores already counted.
Next we visit beaver dams and flooded meadows, changing the
landscape and introducing diverse plant species. After the
scenes which met early European explorers, we ask the
question of how long should a leaf live? Maple leaves live
a few months whereas spruce needles can live a few years.
The shapes and textures of leaves are contrasted with the
benefits of each. The section on tree growth dynamics is
particularly good and shows how much we can yet learn.
What kind of tree should a clever beaver cut? This is fun
to read as we envision the toiling beavers tugging branches
through undergrowth to the ponds. And what kind of tree did
researchers find that they actually cut? Then I enjoyed
reading the slightly disgusting-sounding study undertaken
by one of Pastor's graduate students, involving voles,
trees and fungi.
We do look at what a clever moose should eat, especially
during winter, and how moose browsing affects the varieties
of trees in a forest. Other sections look at population
cycles of birds, insects, lynx and hares, and changes in
forest composition following new harvesting methods or
wildfires. Fascinating ecosystem experiments conducted by
isolating and studying areas are described. For instance,
skunk cabbage is found to attract pollinating flies early
in spring, not just by making a noxious smell but by
warming the air through burning starch stored in its roots.
Some terms and concepts occurring through WHAT SHOULD A
CLEVER MOOSE EAT? will be familiar to biology students or
foresters but not the general populace; however it is
always good to learn, and terms are explained. If you love
nature, this book may provide all the inspiration you need
to become a student. It could be very useful to those
trying to collect data on a patch of ground with the hope
of preserving it from development. In a review I am
certainly not able to do justice to the broad and detailed
content of John Pastor's essays so I strongly recommend
that anyone interested in this topic buy a copy and enjoy
it for themselves.
How long should a leaf live? When should blueberries ripen? And
what should a clever moose eat? Questions like these may seem
simple or downright strange—yet they form the backbone of natural
history, a discipline that fostered some of our most important
scientific theories, from natural selection to glaciation. Through
careful, patient observations of the organisms that live in an
area, their distributions, and how they interact with other
species, we gain a more complete picture of the world around us,
and our place in it.
In What Should a Clever Moose Eat?, John Pastor explores the
natural history of the North Woods, an immense and complex forest
that stretches from the western shore of Lake Superior to the far
coast of Newfoundland. The North Woods is one of the most
ecologically and geologically interesting places on the planet,
with a host of natural history questions arising from each spruce
or sugar maple. From the geological history of the region to the
shapes of leaves and the relationship between aspens,
caterpillars, and predators, Pastor delves into a captivating
range of topics as diverse as the North Woods themselves. Through
his meticulous observations of the natural world, scientists and
nonscientists alike learn to ask natural history questions and
form their own theories, gaining a greater understanding of and
love for the North Woods—and other natural places precious to
them.
In the tradition of Charles Darwin and Henry David Thoreau, John
Pastor is a joyful observer of nature who makes sharp connections
and moves deftly from observation to theory. Take a walk in John
Pastor's North Woods—you'll come away with a new appreciation for
details, for the game trails, beaver ponds, and patterns of growth
around you, and won't look at the natural world in the same way
again.
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