In Search of the Canary Tree: The Story of a Scientist, a Cypress, and a Changing World

Oakes (earth system science, Stanford Univ.) pays much-needed attention to Alaska's declining Yellow Cedar, a tree highly valued for economic and cultural reasons yet rapidly dying as a result of warming temperatures. The author, who is also a conservation scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, explores both biophysical (what happens to the forest plants after the cedars' demise) and social (how do people who rely on the tree adapt to the loss) aspects of the decline. Readers witness the extraordinary effort that comes along with advanced research, including the challenge of obtaining field measurements in remote areas and the discipline needed to mine the data. Oakes accomplishes it all while experiencing personal turmoil. Illustrations add visual interest to this nicely layered book; deeper down, there's a gnawing tension that runs throughout the narrative, and it originates with one of the author's interview subjects who warns of research that simply "monitor[s] species to extinction."