Made for Each Other

In Made for Each Other: A Symbiosis of Birds and Pines, Ronald M. Lanner details for the first time this fascinating relationship between wingless-seeded pine trees and seed-dispersing Corvids (nutcrackers and jays), showing how mutualism can drive not only each others' evolution, but affect the ecology of many other members of the surrounding ecosystem as well. In a complex process of mutual dependency, myriad species of both plants and animals - from Engelmann spruce, elk, and moose to red squirrels, bear, and fungi - advance the overall life cycle by taking advantage of the ecological terrain that precedes them. Focusing on the Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest, and ranging as far afield as the Alps, Finland, Siberia, and China, this beautifully illustrated and gracefully written work illuminates the phenomenon of co-evolution.