Something Hidden in the Ranges: The Secret Life of Mountain Ecosystems

Something Hidden in the Ranges is designed for readers interested in natural and environmental history and specifically the natural history of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. We all see the largest features of ecosystems – the impressively rugged mountain peaks, the clear blue lakes, and the extensive forests – but each of these readily visible features depends on largely invisible creatures and flows of material and energy. This book draws on a wide array of scientific research to tell stories such as how streams provide energy to the adjacent forest, how lake sediments record the history of pollutants entering the lake with wind-blown dust, and how a network of fungi keeps forests healthy. Individual chapters explore forests at lower and higher elevations and how trees rely on microbes in the soil, in the forest canopy, and even within individual pine needles to obtain the food they need. Other chapters focus on subalpine lakes, mountain streams, beaver meadows, and alpine tundra. Written to be easily understood by any reader, this book will change the way you perceive and think about natural landscapes.