(NOTE: This meeting and presentation took place online, via Zoom platform technology, due to social-distancing protocols prompted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic)
At 7:00 pm, President Ken Chaya called the meeting of the Society to order. He introduced himself and wished all a very happy 2021.
He thanked the attendees for joining the meeting and expressed the hope that all will continue to attend LSNY programs in 2021. He said that as of the current moment, 211 people were watching the meeting live and thanked the LSNY officers, council members, committees, and past presidents for their continued work and support.
President Chaya reported that it is still unknown when the Society may return to presenting its programs in the Linder Theater at the American Museum of Natural History. Until then, we will continue to bring our programs online on a monthly basis.
Because the Society’s membership had recently voted online via email, there were only two business items on the agenda.
The first item was announcing the result of a vote on the approval of new members. It passed with 106 votes of approval and none of disapproval. President Chaya then welcomed the following three individuals as new members:
- David Greenspan, Active Membership, Sponsored by Lydia Thomas
- Constance Wiley, Active Membership, Sponsored by Susan Schuur
- Tom Kenney, Active Membership, Sponsored by Rochelle Thomas
He then invited non-members in attendance to join the Society and explained that they could do so by visiting the LSNY website, www.linnaeannewyork.org. Additionally, he said that he or any of the LSNY officers listed on the website would be willing to sponsor anyone who would like to join, emphasizing that an organization is only as healthy as its growing and diverse membership.
The second and final item on the agenda was announcing the result of a vote to approve the minutes from the December meeting. It passed with 103 votes of approval and none of disapproval.
At 7:08 pm, President Chaya introduced the evening’s speaker, David Haskell, Ph.D. David has won acclaim for eloquent writing and deep engagement with the natural world. His talk this evening, The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors, would go on to describe how he has integrated contemplative, literary, and scientific studies of the natural world.
What might be learned by paying repeated attention to very small parts of our neighborhoods or forests? David has explored this question by returning again and again to the same square meter of old-growth forest in Tennessee, then repeatedly visiting individual trees in various locations around the world. These explorations reveal the biological connections that sustain all life, in places as diverse as cities (Manhattan, Denver, Jerusalem), forests (in the Amazon, Rockies, and boreal regions), and areas on the front lines of environmental change (eroding coastlines, burned mountainsides, and war zones). In each location, attention to the sensory richness of place has yielded insight into both ecology and ethics.
David Haskell’s work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of the natural world. His first book, The Forest Unseen, was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction and received numerous honors, including the National Academy’s Best Book Award for 2013. His second book, The Songs of Trees, examines biological networks through the lives of a dozen trees around the world. It was the winner of the 2018 John Burroughs Medal and the 2020 Iris Book Award.
Haskell received his B.A. from the University of Oxford and Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He serves on the boards and advisory committees of local and national land conservation groups.
David began his talk by telling us that he was speaking from a location on the land of the Arapaho tribe; he acknowledged and thanked Arapaho elders before going on to thank the Linnaean Society for its invitation to speak this evening.
He stated that the coronavirus pandemic we’re currently experiencing brings an aspect of social behavior to the fore: that sometimes we need to establish distance. However, this necessity is only one aspect. In fact, we live always in relation to others and “can’t do it alone…life is made for connection.”
Trees, due to their size, networks, and long lives, are champions of interconnection. Their immobility is also an advantage in making interconnections. They have to make it work where they are. Where you land as a tree seed is where you’re going to live. Trees have to cooperate and get along with other entities around them. When we look at a tree, our human sense deceives us: we see what seems to be an individual, but in fact, trees are living communities.
David went on to say that tree lives and human lives are entwined and connected.
To really learn from trees, he selected a number of very small places and returned to them again and again. One of them was a single square meter in Tennessee where he returned repeatedly for a year. On his visits he would note the scent of the leaf litter, the various species present, what the light was like one day relative to the previous day, and more. Through this single square meter, he could get a glimpse of what the forest was experiencing. In his second book, he extended the practice of returning again and again to one place by choosing about 12 trees and returning to them for many years. He was quiet and listened to birds, bugs, wind, ice, rain, and more. He explained that by listening, one can quite literally understand the life of the tree. Metaphorically, we can understand the lives of others.
He then went on to tell a bit about the lives of three of the trees he studied and about how they help illustrate the connection between trees and people.
The first tree he discussed was a ceiba tree in the Amazon forest of Ecuador, where there is 100% humidity, almost constant rain, and 90-degree temperatures. The view from the top of this tree is of thousands of kilometers of unbroken Amazon forest. This is one of the most biodiverse places in the
terrestrial world—with hundreds of species of trees, birds, insects, etc., and this tree is a hub of life. He shared a photo and pointed out that one can barely see the tree itself, as it is covered with moss, orchids, young fig trees, etc., that are growing on it. There were hundreds of species living on this tree, some of which spend their entire lifespans in the tree, never descending to the ground. And, as there is a lot of life, there is a lot of competition. In this part of Ecuador, there are 30,000 species of herbivore, most of which are insects, and there is intense competition for survival. David went on to say that we tend to think that competition forces us into individuality, but this simply isn’t true. Competition hasn’t forced us into aloneness—it has forced us into collaboration. The only way to survive is in cooperation with others. The trees have to unite their roots with cooperative fungi to getwater, because much rainfall never makes it through the dense canopy to the soil. He then showed a large leaf full of holes, remarking that the leaf is a living community full of dozens of species of fungi. The leaf’s function and viability depend on the help of a community of bacteria, fungi, and plant cells all working together. He went on to say that if a monkey is expelled from a group, it will not be able to survive. Also, ants and fungi must work together to survive. Where biological competition is most intense, we find the most intense partnerships; this is what allows species to survive.
This is also true of human cultures that have evolved in the Amazon forest. The Waorani are people who have lived here for thousands of years. They don’t give plants individual names—plant names come from context and relationships (i.e., where they growing, how they are used). The same holds true for people. For the Waorani, one’s name is not an indicator of individuality; it indicates your social group. If one leaves a group and joins another, one’s name changes. Names reflect relationships rather than individuals.
He contrasted the Waorani with philosopher Henry David Thoreau and his self-proclaimed goal to earn a living “by the labor of my hands only” in his classic work, Walden. Haskell pointed out that for Thoreau, the shedding of dependence on others was a carefully manufactured untruth (i.e., his sisters did his laundry, and he had visitors). One does not live by the labor of one’s hands alone—we are all dependent on others.
The dogma of separation is also present in the study of biology. The unit, in biology, is individual—this is useful, but examining interrelationships is another way of studying biology. A shift is underway in biology and ethics to ask questions such as “How can I be a better member in a community?” David stated that “we reveal ourselves through our relationships,” going on to say that the type of data that companies like Google and Facebook value and collect about us isn’t who we are as individuals, but who and what we interact with. Our relationships provide the information that identifies us.
He then spoke of how oil extraction is degrading places like the Amazon. Oil prices are currently low, so pressure is temporarily reduced, but roads and habitat destruction are hurting biodiversity. Millions of hectares of tropical forest are lost every year—and this rate is currently accelerating. These places are home to many, many indigenous peoples. David reported that indigenous groups that were formerly in conflict are learning from the forest and now working together, as well as reaching out to us to ask for our help. While we value forests and trees, we need to remember that we are in brother/sisterhood with other human beings who need our help. We in the Western world are being asked to help.
The second tree he discussed to illustrate the connection between trees and people was an olive tree in the old city of Jerusalem, where there is much lower humidity than in the Amazon. This tree was likely transplanted in the 1960’s and was about 100 years old. Each leaf of the olive tree has a layer of fuzz that protects it during drought, and it is incredibly well adapted to thrive in this environment of very dry summers and cooler/slightly wetter winters. For thousands of years, the thrushes and doves that feed on the trees have dispersed their seeds. But about 8,000 years ago, humans came into picture and started eating their fruit and cultivating them, performing “domestication”—which is what we call it when we clear out competing plants, bring in irrigation, etc. Olive trees are one of the few plants that will feed humans in this harsh environment. And, the fate of humans and the fate of olive trees are dependent upon one another. David showed a photo of a thousand-year-old tree to demonstrate how its trunk reflects the adaptation of the tree to changing conditions, thus ensuring its survival.
He went on to explain that below the old city of Jerusalem, there still exists a Roman city, and showed a photo of an ancient olive press. He stated that for thousands of years, the winds have blown pollen from the mounts of Jerusalem into the Dead Sea. Every year, a new little layer of mud is added. Therefore, the layers at the bottom of the Dead Sea record thousands of years’ worth of pollen. A mud sample under a microscope shows pollen grains and enables us to see when olives were abundant or rare. Wherever the trees have thrived, humans have done very well. However, whenever that bond is broken, both suffer (i.e., in times of war or severe drought). David presented a column showing 10,000 years of mud data. It indicated that there weren’t many olives until the early Bronze Age, which is when people flourished, too. During the Iron Age, both olive trees and humans collapsed due to a famine caused by severe droughts. Things didn’t rebound until a couple of thousand years ago. He posited that the fact that all Abrahamic religions have olive oil as part of their ceremonies (anointing with olive oil, etc.) is a direct statement of mutual dependence.
David then switched to a new location, Scotland, and told of how the ground in Edinburgh was torn up to build the massive Queensbury Bridge. Edinburgh had the largest known human settlement in Scotland in the period just after the Ice Age. When the ground was excavated for the bridge, a great deal of charcoal from hazelnuts was found, as the people living there shortly after the Ice Age got their food and heating fuel for the most part from hazelnuts. In short, the colonization of northern Europe came about because of the relationship between people and trees. People and birds helped propagate hazelnuts. Hazelnut trees have roots that are wrapped in fungus that protect it. This was an “Age of Nuts,” as people were feeding on nuts, not grains. The Queensbury Bridge is built on the remains of the first people who lived in northern Europe after the Ice Age.
The third tree he discussed was a Callery Pear, a species which is native to China, although this particular tree is located at Broadway and West 86th Street in New York City and reaches out over two lanes of Broadway. In 1916 the governmental department that was the precursor to the USDA was tasked with finding pear species that could be interbred with other pear trees to help them resist blight. Some of these introduced species have crowded out native species in other parts of the country, but on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, it’s not a problem; it’s a benefit. If one were to swipe a windowsill a couple of blocks away from this tree, they would find soot, sludge, diesel fuel. The trees are protecting us from some of this pollution. Soot sticks on twigs and trunks, and the trees’ intake of carbon and release of oxygen cleans the air. Twenty percent of New York City lies under tree canopies—cleaning our lungs and providing shade. It is typically 15 degrees cooler under a tree, which saves on air-conditioning costs. Also, some storm water is delayed and absorbed by trees, resulting in less overflow into rivers during heavy rainfall. David stated that trees in a city also change the social dynamic—challenging viewers to try standing on sidewalks without trees and not get bumped into. Trees create “eddies” along sidewalks’ “whitewater rapids.” The choreography of sidewalks is different with and without trees. They change our sensory impressions of the City.
He then discussed an experiment he conducted with the Callery Pear in Manhattan that showed how the sounds of birds and the subway are recorded in its bark/wood via their vibrations. He shared a seismic graph of the vibrations thatreached the tree to show what it is sensing as the subway runs underneath it. These vibrations cause the tree to grow in a different way, such that the energy of the city actually persists in the form of the tree. It is tough to be a tree in a city, but if we give them our attention and care, they provide reciprocity.
He also pointed out that trees are present in so many other ways in our life—such as when one human mind connects to another through flattened cellulose by reading a book, or when we hear the second life of a tree expressed musically in the sound of a violin. After trees die, they continue to give life: houses are held up with wood; energy is partly powered by wood.
David closed with an invitation to viewers to select a tree and “befriend it” by opening their senses to its sound, sights,and aroma, saying, “In this time of human isolation, it is still okay to hug a tree and touch a tree. Give it your attention and see where that leads you over the coming weeks and months.”
8:08 pm—Vice-President Rochelle Thomas thanked David for his talk and facilitated the Q&A portion of the program.
8:32 pm—Vice-President Thomas passed the floor back to President Chaya, who also thanked David, saying that by the end of the program, 283 viewers had tuned in. He then invited attendees to return for next month’s program, “The Real James Bond,” with speaker, Jim Wright.
8:34 pm—The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by Amy Simmons, Recording Secretary
AS: Final