The first signs of the colorful autumn colors in our local deciduous forests appeared this year in early August, much earlier than in previous years, when the leaves began to change color in early September and reached their peak in mid-October. With climate change, this will happen earlier every year.

At the beginning of August, the wonderful autumnal blooms of gold and purple asters and goldenrods began to appear, reminding me of quotes from my favorite author, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. Her first book, Gathering Moss, about the natural and cultural history of mosses, which she published in 2003, was my first encounter with this talented author. I had just started studying mosses and had read every book I could find on the subject.

She shared the simple but important lives of mosses and told us that trees alone do not make a forest. One of her many quotes in her book. I was so impressed with her writing style as she wrote how a close encounter with a moss-covered tree trunk made her think of walking into a fantasy fabric shop. She wrote eloquently about the colour and texture of different types of mosses. The silky drape of Plagiothecium, the shiny brocade of Brotherella, the woolly tufts of Dicranum, the golden, shiny ribbons of Mnium, the knotty, brown tweed of Callicladium and the golden threads of Campylium. It really helped me learn about and appreciate mosses.

Ten years later, in 2013, she published her second book, Braiding Sweetgrass, about Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge and the study of plants. Her chapter on asters and goldenrods helped to recognize and demonstrate how much these two groups of plants have in common and how great they look together in nature. Her admissions interview for botany school was hard enough for a young Indigenous woman back then. When asked why she wanted to study botany, she replied that she wanted to understand why asters and goldenrods look so good together in nature. The professor conducting the interview told her this was not science and that she should enroll in art school instead. However, he let her enroll and she received her botany degree. I think she now understands why these plants look great together every fall. I, too, have wondered why these two groups of plants growing together every fall make me feel so good about nature.

Now, a little over 10 years later, I just learned that she will be releasing her third book this fall: The Serviceberry. Every fall, I am impressed by the bountiful harvest of the serviceberry and other berry-bearing shrubs. She compares this bountiful harvest, which is meant to be shared with friends, to the way supermarkets encourage scarcity and lack of certain foods so they can set prices for higher profits.

I can’t wait for the book to launch next month. We can learn so much about forest ecology from their indigenous knowledge and understanding of the environment.

I spent many hours this spring and summer studying forest ecology in our largest contiguous forest in Simcoe County, documenting the many species and features of this forest. Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interconnected patterns, processes, flora, fauna and ecosystems in forests. Forests produce about 28 percent of the Earth’s oxygen, provide habitat for many species of animals, and provide wood products for housing and fuel.

For a healthy environment, we need healthy forests with good biodiversity. The presence of different tree species in the forest and the absence of old-growth management promote greater biodiversity and healthier forests.

Recent logging of pine plantations for greed and profit is destroying the forest’s deciduous understory and biodiversity. Allowing these older red pines, which are at the end of their life and dying from pathogens and crowding, to rot and nourish the forest floor for these young trees is better forest management than logging them for the trunks and profit, destroying the understory in the process to remove them. Foresters harvest trees, forest ecologists manage forests for better health and biodiversity. Therefore, our county forests should not be managed by foresters trained to harvest trees for the highest yields, but by forest ecologists trained to manage forests for better health and biodiversity.

Bob Bowles is an award-winning author, artist, photographer and naturalist, founder and coordinator of the Ontario Master Naturalist Certificate program at Lakehead University.