树是地球上最大的生物之一。尽管树沉默不语，但它们覆盖了约1/3的陆地表面，影响着从水、营养和碳循环到全球气候的一切。

树木在全球范围内的各种环境中茁壮成长，在林地、灌丛、草原、海岸和岩石生态系统、沙漠、稀树草原和湿地中扎根，也被人类种植在人工和城市环境中。其中，森林为各种各样的其他生物提供了家园，养活了地球上至少一半的陆地植物和动物物种。

这本书全面讲述了树木的生命周期，以新颖的视角提供了一场前所未有的世界树木概览。与此同时，这本书所讲述和赞叹的既是树木非凡的多样性，也是树木与人类及其他生物之间的共生关系。树木为人类社会的衣食住行提供了必不可少的支撑，还是人类文化的重要灵感来源，具有抚慰人心的治愈性力量。这些对人类和我们所生活的星球来说都至关重要。植被生态学家保罗·史密斯告诉我们，地球上的树木是“我们的‘缪斯’、保护者和沉默的伙伴”。

当然，这也会是一场丰富的视觉盛宴，用大量令人惊叹的照片、珍贵的资料和特别绘制的信息图，带来清晰、直观、有趣、全面的阅读体验。从种子、叶、树皮到花朵、果实和根；从木材到建筑，从艺术灵感到与之共生！

作者简介

作者：保罗·史密斯（Paul Smith）

深耕植物保护领域30年，现任国际植物园保护联盟（BGCI）秘书长，BGCI牵头开展了全球树木评估项目，并于2021年发布了《世界树木状况报告》。此前，他曾担任英国皇家植物园邱园千年种子库（MSB）的负责人。

他是非洲南部植物和植被方面的专家，也是威尔士国家植物园受托人、世界自然保护联盟植物保护委员会联合主席和英格兰树木园咨询委员会主席，获得过新英格兰野花协会国际植物保护服务奖章和戴维·费尔柴尔德植物探索奖章。

译者：殷茜

国家植物园科普馆高级实验师。先后任职于江苏省中国科学院植物研究所和国家植物园，从事过植物保护、植物引种保育、科普教育等工作。曾获得全国科普讲解大赛三等奖，所著《遗世独立：珍稀濒危植物手绘观察笔记》获得2020年度中国科普作家协会优秀科普作品奖银奖。

Trees are among the largest living things on Earth. Despite their silence, trees cover about a third of the land surface and influence everything from the water, nutrient and carbon cycles to the global climate.

Trees thrive in a variety of environments across the globe, taking root in woodlands, shrubland, grasslands, coastal and rock ecosystems, deserts, savannas and wetlands, as well as being planted by humans in artificial and urban Settings. Among other things, forests provide a home for a wide variety of other organisms, supporting at least half of all terrestrial plant and animal species on Earth.

The book is a comprehensive account of the life cycle of trees, offering an unprecedented overview of the world's trees from a novel perspective. At the same time, the book speaks and admires both the extraordinary diversity of trees and the symbiotic relationships they have with humans and other living things. Trees provide essential support for the clothing, food, housing and transportation of human society, and are also an important source of inspiration for human culture, with soothing and healing power. These are vital to humanity and the planet we live on. Vegetation ecologist Paul Smith tells us that the Earth's trees are "our MUSES, protectors and silent partners."

Of course, it will also be a rich visual feast, with plenty of stunning photos, precious materials and specially drawn infographics, resulting in a clear, intuitive, interesting and comprehensive reading experience. From seeds, leaves, and bark to flowers, fruits, and roots; From wood to architecture, from artistic inspiration to living with it!

About the author

By Paul Smith

After 30 years in the field of plant conservation, he is now Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), which spearheaded the Global Tree Assessment project and published the State of the World's Trees Report in 2021. Previously, he was Director of the Millennium Seed Vault (MSB) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

An expert on plants and vegetation in southern Africa, he is also a Trustee of the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Co-Chair of the IUCN Plant Protection Committee and Chair of the England Arboretum Advisory Committee, and recipient of the New England Wildflower Society's International Plant Protection Service Medal and the David Fitzgerald Medal for Plant Exploration.

Translator: Yin Qian

Senior experimentalist, Science Museum, National Botanical Garden. He has worked in the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiangsu Province and the National Botanical Garden, engaged in plant protection, plant introduction conservation, science education and other work. He won the third prize of the National Science Popularization Explaining Competition, and his book "Independence of the World: Rare and Endangered Plants Hand-painted Observation Notes" won the silver Award of the Excellent science Popularization Works Award of the China Science Popularization Writers Association in 2020.