An ecological field guide to New Zealand's native forests. In one volume it provides identification for a range of common plants (including trees and shrubs, vines and epiphytes, ground plants, fungi, mosses and liverworts) and animals (birds, reptiles, insects and mammals). It also offers insights into the interactions between them: the role of birds in the life cycle of plants, the honeydew-producing scale insects on beech trees, the fungi so important in the decomposition process. The book is illustrated with colour photographs, many of which are composite shots of several similar species for easy identification.