Serendipity: An Ecologist's Quest to Understand Nature

Organisms and Environments

by James A. Estes, Harry W. Greene (Foreword)

"Many of the findings in the book . . . are classics of ecology. . . . A rare and delightful insight into timely science."—Jane Lubchenco, Nature "Estes's refreshing narrative deftly weaves rigorous science with personal reflection to create an absorbing and introspective read that is equal parts memoir, ecological textbook, and motivational guidebook for young ecologists."—Science To newly minted biologist James Estes, the sea otters he was studying in the leafy kelp forests off the coast of Alaska appeared to have an unbalanced relationship with their greater environment. Gorging themselves on the sea urchins that grazed among the kelp, these small charismatic mammals seemed to give little back in return. But as Estes dug deeper, he unearthed a far more complex relationship between the otter and its underwater environment, discovering that otters play a critical role in driving positive ecosystem dynamics. While teasing out the connective threads, he began to question our assumptions about ecological relationships. These questions would ultimately inspire a lifelong quest to better understand the surprising complexity of our natural world and the unexpected ways we discover it.  Serendipity tells the story of James Estes’s life as a naturalist and the concepts that have driven his interest in researching the ecological role of top-level predators. Using the relationships between sea otters, kelp, and sea urchins as a touchstone, Estes retraces his investigations of numerous other species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in an attempt to discover why ecologists can learn so many details about the systems in which they work and yet understand so little about the broader processes that influence these systems. Part memoir, part natural history, and deeply inquisitive, Serendipity will entertain and inform readers as it raises thoughtful questions about our relationship with the natural world. 

Genres: Nature, Science, Environment, Nonfiction, Ecology, Memoir, Biology

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 17, 2016

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an aspiring environmental biology graduate, I found Estes' account to be a helpful refresher of basic ecological concepts such as experimental design, trophic cascades, top-down forcing, coevolution, phase shifts and hysteresis, population dynamics, and primary production. His review of how he and colleagues determined killer whales, and industrial whaling, to be a probable culprit in the collapse of sea lion populations was fascinating. He also shared a compelling look into the inner workings of the scientific community and academic journals. Downsides: The book may be a bit technical for those without any academic training in ecology. It was also somewhat dry in parts and often read more like a summary of events rather than a narrative. I was also disappointed that there were hardly any photos of the animals involved in Estes' research. If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. Overall, it's an informative and compelling read that satisfies, and sparks, the reader's curiosity about the inner workings of nature.

[Brian Cloutier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a sudden interest in ecology and want to get a broad overview; which kinds of questions does ecology attempt to answer, which experimental methods are used, what is the standard for evidence? What are some interesting results in ecology? Shockingly, this book answered all those questions and more! This book has everything, even the petty academic in-fighting it would be too easy to leave out. A very good introduction, aimed somewhere between a popular audience and new ecologists.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scientist's professional autobiography, relating how he made his discoveries centering on sea otters' profound effects on their North Pacific environment, and showing by example how ecological research is done, the collaborative nature of the scientific enterprise, the difficulties new ideas face, and the role of chance opportunities in shaping a life. He writes very clearly.

[Janice Sheufelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating look into the research of an ecology scientist; since I am not an ecologist, ended up skimming lots of the detail. Read this if you’re interested in the sea otter/kelp/sea urchin/orca connection!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estes is a well known name within the field of ecology, being one of the pioneers of the trophic cascade theory, along with Bob Paine, who was the first and who had inspired the author's work. In this memoir of his career in field biology, Estes chronicled the decades he spent diving all over the Aleutian islands gathering data, that crucial raw material on which all science is based on. He described in detail from the conception of various studies, to the precise methodology used in collecting and analyzing the data and finally its publication in scientific journals and the multitude of challenges along the way.

While mostly fascinating for a reader with some vested interest in the subject, the author, being such a meticulous and tireless worker, seemed to repeat much of the studies in a bid to beef up the evidence for his hypotheses. The momentum thus slowed a little in the middle of the book. But then it picked up again as the focus of his research expanded from sea otters and kelp to find links with other peripheral species and ecosystems such as whales in the open ocean and foxes and birds of the terrestrial habitats of the islands. Concurrently, as Estes found ever more repercussions and connections with outwardly unrelated species his reports faced severe push back from the scientific community, in particular those associated with government organizations. These resource managers held on to traditional beliefs and assumptions and were resistant to new ideas that could potentially have negative impact on their own careers. It reminded me of the similar outcome faced by Suzanne Simard and her radical discoveries about mycorrhizal fungi and trees in the American boreal forest, when foresters also refused to accept knowledge that went against deeply ingrained ideas. We owe a debt of gratitude to truly independent minded scientists such as these that advance our understanding about the world without fear or favor.

A good read for students or workers in field biology for its instruction on the practice of ecology and illuminating account of a brilliant career. For the rest it could be overly technical, but would still be interesting if you have not heard of trophic cascades before.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until this book I never thought much about the research methods ecologists had to use. I didn’t know about trophic cascades or a lot of the other things it mentioned either. It’s interesting to learn because it demonstrates how everything is a lot more interconnected than one might have thought.

Without the otters, the kelp forest disappears. Without the kelp forest, species which depend on the kelp forest disappear or are at least reduced.

However, the book also shows that co-evolution can take different path, as is the case in New Zealand where the kelp forests evolved to survive without otters.

Another edifying thing is how the quantitative approach he took allowed him to track populations changes over time and when the state shift between kelp forest and urchin barrens occur.

It also seems like quite an adventure! Having a chance to go out and do the things James Estes did sounds really exhausting and stressful, but also very insightful, meaningful, and perhaps just fun. This book is partly a biography like that. Sadly, there probably aren’t many job openings in this field.

[Maggie Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of information. Some of it is interesting, some of it is surprising, and some of it is completely unnecessary. I did learn about ecology, which was the reason I picked up the book. I also found out a lot of interesting things about sea otters, kelp, urchins, and orcas. The reason this book only gets three stars is because about half of the book is the author describing his experimental sampling techniques in explicit detail. The majority of this book reads more like a scientific article than a book. It is also written in a very dry tone, very much like a scientific article. This a book written by someone who is clearly more used to writing for peer-reviewed journals, not writing for someone to read for enjoyment. I was hoping for more funny stories of mishaps in the field, more anecdotes about animal behavior or interesting ecological events. There was almost no personality or voice in the book at all. And there was no recognition of the privilege of the author as a white man, which gave the whole story a sense of self-entitlement that may just be me projecting my own frustrations onto the book, but it still felt worth mentioning.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

An intellectually dishonest discourse from a generally dishonest person who lived most of his life, if not all, off the taxes collected by the Government. If his intention was to understand Nature he would have found that Nature is always changing. The environment changes, the actors change. On the other hand, Estes is all about preserving the status quo: his job, his ability to hire underlings paid with other people's money, his ”science” which is limited to a weird search of the butts most suited for the Government to inject moth balls so everything would stay the same, and his partners in Academia would not have to bother to change the sermon in class one iota for the next century.

[Palswd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more a manual on how ecology, or science in general, is done than an autobiography of a prominent marine biologist. Rigorous, but the author's writing is so dry that the book reads almost like an academic paper. It is worth a read for advanced undergrads and starting grad students in ecology, but I would not recommend it to general readers.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful look at trophic cascades and an open-hearted insider account of the ways of ecological research. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...

[Adam Benckeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I know everything there is to know about ecology now

[Kaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a free copy from the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Program and think that it interesting. I would recommend it to everyone.

[Greynomad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very interesting read. Gives thought to how the impact of humans on nature can disrupt a system for the worst. Nothing new there.............