This book is the required text for a class on trees and forests that I am currently taking at UC Davis. It is an imposing text and reads much like a journal of ecology. It is far from a good study aid for undergrads and grad students in forest ecology. However, given its copious literature citations, it could easily serve as a reference text for an advanced undergraduate course or graduate seminar.

The book comes full of graphs, charts and pictures, but much of it is superfluous. Key terms and concepts are not fully explained for initiates, a glossary of terms is non-existent for quick reference, and brief, detailed summaries of each chapter are not provided at the end of each chapter for time-pressed students. The book also contains numerous photographs of forest stands, maps, diagrams, and charts; however, because none of these are in color, they lose much of their visual impact, detail and valuable utility. Furthermore, there are no study questions at the end of each chapter for exam preparation. As such, initiates to forestry or landscape ecology looking for a good introduction to the field are pretty much out of luck.

Although the book has gone through four editions, it is still quite far from being a good textbook. In addition to the above mentioned comments, the writing style needs to be tighter. However, negatives aside, teachers and educators looking for examples of many of the concepts in forest ecology for use in class discussions will find this an invaluable text.