In the early 1970’s, Professor Barry Commoner (Washington University) said that ‘the first law of ecology’ could be stated as “Everything is connected to everything else”. That is, there is one ecosystem for all living organisms and what affects one – affects all. He was much concerned with the interactions of organisms, and the concept of sustainability. Traditionally, connectedness in ecology is concerned with how one organism affects another, or how an organism affects the environment or how a change in an environmental factor affects the organisms in the ecosystem. Read more...

Woodlands get some protection from these "capital taxes" in order to encourage people to invest in forestry and to manage it commercially.  This blog explains in outline how these taxes affect woodlands.  Of course,  income from sale of timber is completely tax free whether the woodland is owned by individuals or held in a limited company, but relief from IHT (Inheritance Tax) and CGT (Capital Gains Tax) is not automatic. IHT is potentially charged at 40% on the woodland of a deceased owner, though that only applies if the deceased person had assets of more than £325,000.  There is also no IHT charged where assets are transferred to a spouse.  This 40% tax is on the market value of the woodland so one can see that without various exemptions it would be hard to keep woodland in the family and hard to keep rural estates together.  Fortunately for woodland owners IHT can be legitimately avoided, reduced or deferred in three different ways. Read more...

Ants, like bees, belong to the Hymenoptera (insects with membranous wings and narrow ‘waists’). Like the bees, ants are ‘social insects’  and within their colonies / nests, there is a division of labour (workers, soldiers, queens).  In the U.K, there are a number of ant species but Britain’s ant population is probably smaller than the ant populations in warmer European countries.   There are four main species of true wood ant - Formica rufa, F. aquilonia, F. lugubris and F. pratensis. rufa is the southern wood (or horse) ant – it is a sun-loving species, liking open glades and the edges of woodlands – particular in coniferous woodland. The ants are quite large – workers being about 10 mm ( 1cm) in length and the queens about 12 mm. pratensis is the European red ant. This is similar to F. rufa but darker in colour, and likes warmth. Its nests are smaller (often made of grass and small twigs), it is thought to be ‘extinct’ on mainland Britain. Read more...