Reading the landscape: the influence of nature and human culture on a forested countryside -- Emergence from an ice age -- When the north winds blow -- Forest for the taking -- Plant succession: a land in transition -- The changing fortunes of animal populations -- Plant communities of the Adirondacks and northern New England -- Spruce-fir woodlands -- Heath bogs -- Notherrn hardwood forests -- Pattern and adaptation at high elevation -- Dealing with disturbance -- The limits to tree growth -- Life in high places -- Patterns in stone -- The future of the north woods.