The High Frontier: Exploring the Tropical Rainforest Canopy

Scientists have only just begun to explore the biology of the tropical rainforest canopy. In The High Frontier, Mark W. Moffett provides an elegantly written account of the ecology of this aerial continent. The book is packed full with his stunning--and often unusual--photographs of canopy architecture, animals and plants, taken while accompanying tree-climbing researchers working at study sites worldwide. -- Nature

Mark Moffett's book is a magnificent exploration of the most biodiverse environment known--the rainforest canopy--supported by the finest colour photographs I have ever seen. Almost a decade has passed since I wrote The Enchanted Canopy.. .Moffett charts the explosion of new discoveries since then and the emergence of a new breed of arboreal naturalists... The High Frontier comprises a series of insightful encounters with scientists working in a wide range of disciplines to uncover the secrets of the canopy...The book really comes to life in the examples of how many animals and plants interact. Good journalistic narrative is at all times underpinned with first-hand knowledge and the authority of excellent research...Moffett's book is a visual feast. Some of his photographs are breathtaking...This remarkable book will be another stepping stone on the way to taking canopy science seriously. As Cousteau once predicted research stations under the sea, so I envisage, in the not-too-distant future, permanent research stations in the canopy to study the ocean oflife a mere 100 feet above our heads. --Andrew Mitchell, Times Higher Education Supplement

Moffett presents his personal vision of tropical rain-forest canopy biology, a science in its infancy; it is a product of Moffett's trips to five continents, where he interviewed and worked alongside scores of the tree-climbing biologists who are exploring this unique and rapidly vanishing terrain. The result is a stunning mixture of adventure, nature photography and hard scientific inquiry that ranks with the best work of Jacques Cousteau. --Robert Crawford, Boston Globe

Moffett's own research has often been financed by The National Geographic, and a single glance at this beautiful, large-format book shows why. He is a superb photographer, able to capture, while dangling from a rope or balanced on a branch, vignettes of life at the top...´┐¢Moffett´┐¢ says that he hopes people will see, from his book, that these environments are so rich, so valuable, that they will be moved to protect them. I only hope that this is true. --Jonathan Beard, New Scientist