The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things ― Stories from Science and Observation

But nature is much more complex than a clock, isn’t it? In nature, not only does one cog connect with another; everything is also connected by a network so intricate that we will probably never grasp it in its entirety. And that is a good thing, because it means that plants and animals will always amaze us. It’s important for us to realize that even small interventions can have huge consequences, and we’d do better to keep our hands off everything in nature that we do not absolutely have to touch.

It’s important for us to realise that even small interventions in nature can have huge consequences, and we’d better keep our hands off anything that we have no pressing reason to touch.

The more we acknowledge that even the smallest disturbance can lead to unpredictable changes, the stronger the arguments for protecting larger areas of the environment.

... bats catch up to half their own body weight in insects a night. (On a night of dining on nothing but mosquitoes, that would be about 4,000 mosquitoes per bat.)

A tree that grows quickly rots quickly and therefore never has a chance to grow old. This process is now accelerating rapidly because of the extra nutrients in the air. The trees are like extreme athletes who are already doped up on steroids and then have an extra dose jabbed into them for good measure.

A whole generation of trees, including many that are deciduous, is standing by to form a solid foundation for the old-growth forest of the future, which means that bark beetles are more than just funeral directors; they are midwives, as well.