Native oak trees – keystone species in our woodlands - are under threat from Acute Oak Decline (AOD). The disease is increasingly affecting mature native oak trees across Britain, causing rapid decline and death within as little as 4-5 years. We are seeking help from woodland owners and managers for an important new research project aiming to monitor the health of oak trees across the country. We want to capture the current health of oak trees so we can make comparisons between affected and symptom free woodlands. We hope to understand the differences in environment, underlying health of the trees and importantly the role of management in improving outcomes. AOD can be diagnosed by a depleted oak crown, black stem bleeding, and D-shaped exit holes (left by the Agrilus biguttatus beetle). The disease can seriously diminish health and resilience of infected trees, for example by making them more susceptible to honey fungus. AOD can spread within a woodland once introduced and exacerbate existing stresses. Sylva Foundation is working closely with scientists from Forest Research and Aberystwyth University to understand more about this devastating disease. We are looking for volunteers to assess five or more oak trees, between June and August. Using a purpose-built web app, you will help by assessing each oak tree which should take no more than 5 minutes. The data will then be shared with researchers via Forest Lab. Please sign up to the project today to help this important research. Simply click on Forest Lab after creating an account (free) in myForest here Full details about how to take part and data privacy are provided at sign-up. NOTE : Celyn is a researcher at Aberystwyth University,  working with Forest Research and SYLVA  

While protecting dormouse habitats has become one of the big themes of British woodland conservation, it’s remarkable how little is actually known about these elusive creatures. At a recent dormouse education day led by Tom Fairfield, thirty enthusiastic conservationists fired off a barrage of questions—some of which even he struggled to answer. Why do we care about them? How many are there? Is their population stable or declining? However, “Dormouse Tom” was able to answer many other important questions about the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius). For instance, they are widespread across southern and south-western England and in Wales (distribution map). He showed us dozens of photos of dormouse nests and demonstrated that hazel dormice aren’t restricted to hazel woodlands—they’ve been found in conifer plantations, and occasionally even on stony beaches. Tom believes the habitat protections put in place for the HS2 high-speed rail line don’t go far enough. The ecologists at Balfour Beatty only surveyed hazel woodlands along the planned route, ignoring other potential dormouse habitats. He’s learned a great deal about dormouse habits through two key methods: installing nest boxes and examining teeth marks left on discarded hazelnuts. If our roles were reversed, perhaps dormice would measure the human population by building us cosy hotels and searching for discarded apple cores. In late March and early April, dormice begin to emerge from hibernation, but they are nocturnal and difficult to spot—one of the ways they avoid predation. Tom acknowledges that some dormice are likely to be harmed during forestry operations, but there are steps foresters and builders can take to minimise the impact. His approach starts with surveys—though thorough ones can be costly. These, however, make it easier to implement core elements of a dormouse mitigation plan: avoiding key habitats, establishing buffer zones to protect woodland edges, and creating no-go areas during the breeding season (April to October). A forester from Natural Resources Wales attending the course pointed out a serious tension: if summer months are off-limits for forestry, operations must be pushed into winter, when wetter conditions and heavy machinery risk causing ruts and soil compaction. In parts of south-east England, the tiny hazel dormice are facing competition from the much larger edible dormouse (Glis glis), also known as the European fat dormouse. Introduced by the Romans and raised for food, these creatures were fattened in ceramic pots called gliraria and are still eaten today in countries like Slovenia and Croatia. Dormouse habitat protection seems set to remain a key part of British woodland conservation—partly because dormice are considered a “flagship species”: a charismatic and recognisable animal that represents deciduous woodland and helps rally public support for wider conservation efforts. Note there is a woodlands TV film about the hazel dormouse: [embed]https://youtu.be/COUh5ZluEew?si=1upUveV1FLoQRXV6[/embed]

The last century saw the destruction of many hedgerows, particularly in farming areas like East Anglia.  The logic behind this was : to increase field size and  allow ease of access of machinery, like combine harvesters that were coming available at that time.   Whilst the loss of the hedgerows and the associated wildlife is well documented, the loss of ponds during this time has not attracted the same level of attention.  Many hundreds of ponds were filled in, to give a few more metres of arable land.  The whereabouts of some of these ponds can sometimes be found on old ordnance survey maps.  Many were located on farmland and their origins may extend back centuries to when they were created as marl or clay pits, sometimes for the watering of livestock.  Some were formed in depressions (pingos) left after the last ice age. There are still  thousands of ponds across the UK but many are polluted to a greater or lesser extent, or drained.  The pollution may be associated with the the surrounding land use or agricultural runoff. Runoff may take the form of nitrates / phosphates from the use of fertilisers.  In freshwater systems, these nutrients can cause eutrophication. Other agricultural chemicals may enter ponds and water courses - insecticides, fungicides, herbicides etc. Consequently, out of the thousands of ponds, only a very small number provide a suitable habitat for pond organisms such as the medicinal leech.  Leeches are rarely found for the reasons cited above but also because, as agriculture became more mechanised and less reliant on ‘animal power’ [horses, oxen], the ponds  (or wetlands) are no longer visited by these animals, which leeches would have fed on.  Leeches used to be abundant, but their number declined when their use in blood letting was largely abandoned, and their natural habitats were drained or damaged.  The medicinal leech is one of the largest leeches found in the UK, it can grow to a length of ten centimetres, and may have stripes / patterns on its body.  Some of the ponds that are home to medicinal leeches have been designated  Sites of Special Scientific Interest.  Since historic times, the extraction of blood by leeches was deemed to be a ‘healing process’ for patients. This practice of hirundotherapy / bloodletting spread widely and the collection of leeches resulted in the over-exploitation of many populations.  The leeches were used widely in the treatment of many conditions and  diseases such as cholera, regardless of whether or not they were effective.  At one stage, leeches were in such demand that there were ‘leech farms’, and  people could earn a living as leech collectors.  Indeed, so commonplace was leech collection that Wordsworth wrote about it in his poem Resolution and Independence : “He told, that to these waters he had come To gather leeches, being old and poor: Employment hazardous and wearisome! And he had many hardships to endure: From pond to pond he roamed, from moor to moor; Housing, with God’s good help, by choice or chance; And in this way he gained an honest maintenance.” Although the use of medicinal leeches was discredited and virtually abandoned for many decades, they are medically effective in certain circumstances.  The leeches produce a saliva which  contains a number of different proteins. These help the leech to feed by keeping the blood from clotting, and actually increasing blood flow to the leech at the point of attachment.  Some of these proteins act as anticoagulants (notably hirudin),   It is also possible that the saliva contains an 'anaesthetic / antiseptic' as leech bites are generally not painful. These leeches have now found a use in microsurgery.  They are used to stimulate the circulation in tissues which experience post-operative congestion.  They are helpful in finger reattachment and reconstructive surgery of the ear, nose, lip, and eyelid. The creation of a network of new or restored freshwater ponds across the landscape will be needed if natural populations of the leech are to expand. 

Last year was not a good year for bumblebees, according to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  The trust has been collecting data on bumblebee numbers since 2008, through the BeeWalk.  The BeeWalk project began as as a small scale initiative at Weybourne, Norfolk.  This involved counting the bumblebees seen on a monthly walk along a set route from March to October.  The BeeWalk was opened up first to members of the BCT and then to the wider public - a citizen science project.   Today, it is the Trust’s longest running (and largest) project.  For each site in the BeeWalk scheme, the bumblebee species seen are recorded, and whether the bee is a queen, worker or male.  Also recorded is information about the site (habitat type, land use, temperature and other relevant information).  The fact that the BeeWalk has been running for some years and is now widespread (across England, Wales and Scotland) means that it is possible to monitor how bumblebee populations are changing and correlate with any changes in climate and land use. In March last year, bumblebee numbers were relatively OK, having emerged from winter dormancy into warm and sunny conditions. Queen bumblebees need stable weather to establish their colonies.  In April the weather turned wet and cold but numbers remained stable.  But in June, the weather was particularly ‘unseasonable’ and worker bees of many  species were noticeably absent from many counts.  The effect was especially true of those species that normally reach peak numbers in early summer.  White tailed and red tailed bees were down by 60% and 74% respectively. In contrast, the garden bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) showed a smaller decline of just 12%. In July and August, the weather improved as did numbers but across the country overall bumblebee numbers (for all species) were down by 22%.  The red tailed bumblebee has declined year on year since 2015, but last year was the worst.  On a more positive note, some of the rarer species (the shrill carder & brown banded carder) have shown year on year increase. The decline highlights the sensitivity of pollinators to changing weather patterns, and emphasises the need for conservation efforts through: Protecting natural environments Restoring wild flower meadows The use of sustainable land management practices eg avoidance of insecticides (such as the neonicotinoids) Improving habitat connectivity to support bumblebee  movement and survival

Back in the Nineteenth Century, John Bennet Lawes, a Victorian entrepreneur founded a research station at Rothamsted Manor.  It was to investigate the impact of organic and inorganic fertilisers on crop yield.  Lawes had a factory making some of the first artificial fertilisers.  The manor was to become the Rothamsted Experimental Station, now known as Rothamsted Research.  It has two of the longest running experiments - the Broad balk experiment and the Park Grass experiment - started in 1856. The Park Grass area was started by Lawes and Gilbert.  Its original purpose was to investigate ways of improving the yield of hay through the use of inorganic fertilisers or organic manures. Different strips of land received varying amounts of fertiliser to none.  It soon became clear that the different treatments had a dramatic effect on the species composition of what had been a uniform sward.  There are 35-45 plant species on the unfertilised plots but only 2 or 3 species on some of the fertilised plots. Fertilisers create conditions that allow fast growing grasses to dominate the vegetation.  More recently the plots have received attention (by Dr Balfour et al, Sussex University) for the number of pollinators that they support.  It was found that High levels of common fertilisers on grassland halves the pollinator numbers. Increasing the amount / availability of NPK (nitrogen phosphorus and potassium) on grassland reduces flower numbers five fold. Bee number were most affected.  There were 9 times more bees in untreated plants compared to plots with the most fertiliser input.   The number of bees, hoverflies, butterflies, wasps and flies on each experiment strip was counted. Whilst all pollinator types were present on untreated plots or with low fertiliser levels, only flies and beetles were present on high fertiliser plots. Interestingly, plots with lime added which changed the soil pH had more pollinators (50%) and flower species than those not treated with lime. as fertiliser use increases so there is a decrease in pollinator numbers.   Though these observations are for a specific area of managed grassland, they can be considered in a broader context.  Many grasslands and meadows, which offered homes to pollinators, have been lost in recent times,.  Over a similar period of time, farmlands across the country have extended (eg. hedgerow removal, ploughing meadows) and have been making significant use of fertiliser to improve crop yield, but the wider effects of these changes on insect populations and biodiversity in general has not received enough attention. The ‘excessive’ use of fertilisers can lead to soil eutrophication, air pollution, freshwater eutrophication and a loss of biodiversity.  It can favour botanical thugs )like nettles and invasive species.  We do know that there have been dramatic falls in insect numbers in recent years in what has been termed the ‘insect armageddon or the ‘insect apocalypse’.  Whilst there are many factors at play affecting insect numbers (such as the intensive use of pesticides), the maintenance or the reintroduction of natural areas [with low nutrient soil and native wild flowers] within farmland would at least offer sanctuary to many insects / pollinators that are vital for our crops.  Any reduction in the use of fertilisers would help reduce the CO2 emissions resulting from the Haber–Bosch process, used to produce ammonia and ammonium nitrate. Interesting fact : the institute employed Ronald Fisher in the 1920s to analyse data collected from many experiments.  His work and that of other statisticians means that many consider Rothamsted the birthplace of modern statistical theory (e.g. analysis of variance) and practice.