In 2022,  we made a decision to buy Coed Bwlch Coch from woodlands.co.uk,  just over four beautiful acres of woodland near our home in mid Wales. Although we knew nothing about woodland management or forestry my partner and I love the outdoors. Just how important this is became apparent when I had breast cancer some years ago - I even camped out near the hospital during my treatment regime. It took less than six weeks to gain ownership. Woodlands.co.uk had two superb representatives on the ground, Ash and Helen. They opened our eyes to the possibilities this gorgeous strip of woods held. They answered all of our novice questions and guided us with ease through the buying process. We have been so impressed with the sensitivity and care taken by woodlands.co.uk to prepare the whole forest for sale. We’ve only owned the woods for a few months but we have already enjoyed dozens of visits. Our first task to cut back loads of brambles in one area where a bit of old stonework was peeking out has revealed a treasure: the ruin of a stone longhouse that pre exists the 1840 Welsh Tithe Maps on land once owned by the Earl of Powis. We are taking baby steps to learn- we’ve invested in some training courses, some decent outdoor clothing, some second-hand tents and handbooks. This year we’ll do some coppicing, harvest firewood for home, build a store, make some charcoal, camp, bring all our friends and family ... but mostly we will feed our souls.  

Many plants have a distinctive scent, think of sweet peas, jasmine or honeysuckle, or stand next to a pine tree on a warm, summer’s day.  The scent is due to the release of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s, often oils), produced by specific tissues or glands.  Often it is the nectaries within flowers that produce the scent, apart from their ‘job’ of producing the sugary nectar.  The nectaries may be found on almost any structure within a flower - petals, sepals, stamens, ovary*. The location of nectaries varies from species to species.  There are other structures that can produce scent, for example, trichomes, and osmophores. Osmophores are clusters of cells specialising in scent production.  Any part of a plant can release scent, for example, the leaves of eucalyptus, lavender or myrtle. The scent of a plant may include a variety of VOC’s, indeed there may be dozens of different organic compounds contributing to a particular scent.  Many of these compounds are terpenoids (isoprenoids).  They contribute to the scent of eucalyptus oil, lavender oil and the flavours of cinnamon and ginger. Scent may have a number of functions.  It may be released to attract specific pollinators - moths, butterflies, bees, hoverflies etc. (who have learned to recognise the scent).  The production of VOCs can be modulated, for example,  scent production may be turned off when a flower is pollinated.  A scent may also unfortunately be a signal to herbivorous insects to ‘come and feed’. So, scent have positive or negative effects. A scent may be produced to deter herbivory by certain insects.  Sometimes, plants have a different approach. For example,  when pollen beetles feed on oil seed rape, the rapeseed releases VOCs which attract the attention of other insects.  Specifically, those that will lay their eggs in the larvae of the pollen beetles. These insects are usually from the same family as bees, wasps and ants - the Hymenoptera (insects with membranous wings and a ‘narrow waist’).   The pollen beetle larvae are then ‘eaten’ from the inside by the developing parasitoid larva.  The release of VOC’s is affected by a number of factors temperature, light, circadian rhythms, physical damage and drought.  As the temperature increases so the amount of VOCs released increases (usually). This may be experienced in coniferous woodland.  Conifers give off a variety of volatile oils (i.e. biogenic VOC’s) that contribute to a unique aroma and the formation of aerosols found in the air in and around such woodlands and forests; it is most noticeable in warm weather.  [An aerosol is a ‘mixture’ of very small particles (solid or liquid) in air; other examples of aerosols include mist, cigarette smoke, or car exhaust fumes]. In snapdragons, the most scent is emitted at noon which tends to coincide with pollinator activity, in contrast tobacco plants scent release is in the evening / night when hawkmoth are active.  Drought reduces the ability of plants (like rosemary and thyme) to produce / release VOC’s, this in turn, has been observed to affect which pollinators visit their flowers.  Nectaries located within the flowers of a plant are sometimes referred to as nuptial nectaries, whereas those found in other parts are termed extra-nuptial.  

The (European) hedgehog population is in decline.  In Britain, the population has roughly halved in recent times and is considered to be vulnerable to extinction.  The Danish Hedgehog project, a citizen science project, headed up by Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen* (also known as ‘Dr Hedgehog’ : link to YouTube videos) has been investigating the life span of hedgehogs.    This has been done by analysing the jaw bones of dead hedgehogs collected by volunteers all over Denmark.   The jawbone shows a line of reduced growth when the animal goes into hibernation, the number of lines equates to the age of the animal in years.  The oldest hedgehog found to date was 16 years old.  Sadly this hedgehog died after being attacked by a dog, which is not an uncommon cause of death for hedgehogs.   The study has revealed the average life span of a hedgehog to be roughly two years only, with males faring slightly better than females.  The study also found that the most common cause of ‘hedgehog death’ was crossing a road. Another finding was that the hedgehog population is quite inbred.  This may be due to the reduced population size and the difficulty hedgehogs face in finding a mate due to habitat fragmentation (garden fences, roads, railway lines which divide up the environment).  Inbreeding leads to loss of genetic diversity, which in turn reduces the overall fitness of the individual and the population. Hedgehog populations can be helped by Creating hedgehog friendly gardens by removing barriers to movement between gardens. Ensuring there is plenty of greenery /  plant life in the garden so there are earthworms, insects, snails etc. for hedgehogs to feed on. Avoiding the use of pesticides and slug pellets in the garden.  Also be careful with the use of netting, keep it above ground level.  Providing a shallow dish of fresh water and food (such as meaty cat or dog food), particularly during long dry spells. NB : ponds with steep sides can be a problem for a hedgehog if it falls in.  More information on hedgehogs can be found here : https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ Thanks to Nigel Palmer for his excellent hedgehog pictures, visit his hedgehog post here * https://www.biology.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-sophie-lund-rasmussen#tab-3324091  

The blog tends to write about trees in the context of woodlands and forests, but the trees to be found in hedgerows, parks, streets and gardens are important in many ways.  London is sometimes referred to as an urban forest, as it has some eight million trees within its boundaries.  Though their individual contributions of any given tree may be small, collectively the trees help with : Carbon storage  Carbon sequestration Air pollution removal Removal of pollutants (e.g nitrogen and sulphur oxides) Capture / removal  of particulates Reducing runoff, helping with flood mitigation  Noise réduction temperature regulation. The role of trees in temperature regulation has received some attention recently.   With climate change, many parts of the world have experienced periods of extreme hot weather / heatwaves.  Whilst it is true that extreme cold weather is associated with more deaths than hot, heat waves and the associated deaths are a significant problem.  Heatwaves, such as that experienced in 2015, have been associated with cardiorespiratory problems and premature deaths.   Cities, in particular, record higher temperatures than the surrounding countryside or the suburbs. the so-called urban heat island effect.  The lack of vegetation, the use of air conditioning systems, coupled with the dark asphalt of roads means that heat is retained / trapped; giving rise to the urban heat island effect.  On a summer’s day, some city centres may be some 10oC hotter than the surrounding countryside.  Europe saw its hottest summer last year, and its second warmest year.  Cities in southern and eastern Europe were particularly affected by recent heat waves. They tended to have significant urban heat island effects and low tree coverage.   In contrast, 27% of Gothenburg is covered by trees.  Studies / modelling by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health have indicated that increasing tree cover to 30% of the urban space could decrease the deaths associated with heatwaves / extremes of hot weather (perhaps by a third).  A number of cities, like Barcelona and Seattle have committed to increasing tree cover.  Indeed, Barcelona’s Trees for Life Master Plan is making progress towards its goal of covering 30% of the city with trees,  Barcelona is also encouraging green roofs.  Studies have also shown that ‘green spaces’ can have other benefits from reducing cardiovascular disease, poor mental health, and helping to improve cognitive functioning of children and the elderly.

Poplars belong to the same family as the willows. Like willows, they have a 'preference' for wet soil. There are a number of poplar species – white, grey and black poplar and the western balsam poplar,   A poplar that is common is the Lombardy Poplar, it is a variant of the Black Poplar and probably the most recognizable poplar,  as its branches grow almost parallel to the main stem.   It is a tall, thin tree. The leaves of black poplar (Populus nigra) are arranged along the stems in an alternate fashion. The leaf has a long, slender leaf stalk – which is slightly flattened. The leaf is sometimes described as ‘triangular’ or ‘diamond shaped’. When first formed, the leaves may have a bronze tinge and the young shoots, leaves and stalks have fine, tiny hairs.   The upper leaf surface is a dark green, whereas the lower surface is not such a deep green. In Autumn, the leaves may turn a vibrant 'banana' yellow. The bark of the Black Poplar is grey / brown and deeply fissured with age. The tree may grow to a height of 100 feet, but is usually smaller than this.  The species is dioecious, that is, there are separate male and female trees. In some parts of the country, like Cheshire, the number of Black Poplars is falling, due to changes in land management, a reduced need for particular timbers and an ageing population of trees.  The natural regeneration of black poplars is limited because : male and female trees need to be near each other the fertilised seeds are only viable for a short period  and the seeds need to fall on damp ground   Added to this, there is the risk of hybridisation with other forms of Poplar. So, The Canal and River Trust in conjunction with Chester Zoo have initiated a program to plant black poplar trees in Cheshire’s Weaver Valley.  They have taken cuttings from native Cheshire trees and raised over 1,000 new trees, which have been planted in sites across Cheshire since 1995. For example, male and female trees have been planted by the River Weaver (Hartford) to encourage future natural propagation. Such black poplars can help promote biodiversity, providing homes for moths, bees, birds and butterflies.   Should you have a portion of woodland that has damp soil, and are considering planting some black poplar, there is company that seems to specialise in Poplars : http://www.poplartree.co.uk/poplartree/.  It lists some of the uses / benefits of poplars.  

Woodlands.co.uk was chosen as the sustainability sponsor for the February 2023 conference, State of Open 2023.  Mostly held for those working in computing and data, this event was held at the QE2 centre in Westminster, with several hundred individuals who networked and learnt more about open source, open data and open standards.  The highlight was the speech by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, explaining that Wiki isn't just about free and open information but about structure: their whole model is unusually open. It's truly democratic amongst wikipedians and is the antithesis of top-down models which dominate most of the world's organisations. As sponsors, woodlands.co.uk committed to plant at least one tree for every conference delegate as a carbon-offsetting measure and to encourage biodiversity. It turns out that at this conference relatively little extra carbon was produced for various reasons - the QE2 conference centre itself has strong environmental policies and the delegates were mostly either UK-based or were travelling to Europe anyway for a related conference.  Nethertheless many of them took away free eco-merchandise from the Woodlands stand, including seeds for planting and wooden pens.  Lots of the conference attendees were also interested in buying land for tree-planting so that their company would be offsetting its own carbon footprint and the staff would have a nearby place to go and enjoy. Sustainability sponsors can occasionally be accused of offering 'greenwash" but in this case there was no risk of that because the OpenUK movement is already so committed to sustainability and to using software to reduce carbon emissions.  And in this case, too, the sponsor was offering practical measures such as the planting of defined numbers of trees in the UK (in Kent) rather than a theoretical payment to a nebulous foreign project.  Conference participants were offered the chance to take away seeds to plant their own oak, cherry, lime, chestnut or sycamore trees. The role of sustainability sponsors at conferences varies but can involve financial support or the promotion of sustainability initiatives.  Some eco sponsors also offer energy audits, sustainability assessments or carbon footprint analysis.  According to the AI chatbot, ChatGPT, "Overall, sustainability sponsors play a critical role in supporting the transition to a more sustainable future by providing resources, expertise, and advocacy to organisations working on sustainability issues."  

"We're not out of the woods yet..." said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in February 2023, warning that the British economy was still in danger.  It was widely reported by the BBC in ways that indicated the metaphor was apt and reasonable.  Hunt was unconsciously referring to the common idea that woodlands are dangerous and should be avoided, and that when we are out of the woods everything will be okay. This is in the same vein as stories like Little Red Riding Hood where she is warned not to talk to strangers when she has to go through the woods, and "woodist" notions like this are conveyed when the storyteller says "the woodcutter was never seen again after he entered the forest.".  This fear of woodlands runs very deep in our culture and creates a genuine barrier to their conservation and enjoyment.  Unfortunately Jeremy Hunt reinforced this fear, probably unwittingly. Such prejudicial language is perverse for a government which has just tried to burnish its environmental credentials with the 2023 Environmental Improvement Plan, part of which aims to "Enhance beauty, heritage, and engagement with the natural environment".  It's also surprising to hear such woodist language when the Forestry Commission's tree planting grants are over £2,000 per hectare higher where public access is given. More positive language about woodlands will be needed to achieve the Forestry Commission's aim of "boosting the country’s woodlands and timber industry." But Jeremy Hunt's prejudice and woodism is not new - for centuries people have feared the 'big bad wolf' lurking in the woods and the witch who is said to live in the forest.  Ideas of enchanted forests with traps and dangers are pervasive throughout literature and across the world.  In the past, people feared wild animals in woodlands that could attack and they knew that the forest is home to many dangerous plants and poisonous mushrooms, and in some cultures there are spirits of the forest which can be easily angered.  Many others in authority use similar imagery to Jeremy Hunt.  A Time magazine article by James Stavridis in January 2023 starts with a woodist stance: "Sadly, in these not-so-United States, we have found our way deep into a dark forest, and the question before us is how do we find the path out of this dangerous thicket into which we have wandered?".  Phrases like this which fight against nature are rife such as the expression that a report will be 'kicked into the long grass" implying to a place where no one wants to be.  Other anti-nature sayings are, "going feral" or "nipping problems in the bud". Many traditional stories indoctrinate children from a very young age such as the story of Hansel and Grettel who got lost in the woods leading to their being eaten by a witch.  And there were the three little pigs who were afraid of the wolf in the woods.  Stories make people fear getting lost and trapped in woodlands, having heard of Rapunzel who was trapped in a tower in the middle of the forest.   At least they were a place of refuge for Snow White who hid in the woods to escape the evil queen, or for Robin Hood and his band of outlaws who lived in Sherwood Forest.  And it's not just older stories that convey that impression - Maurice Sendak's 1963 bestseller, "Where the Wild Things Are", tells an allegorical story of a boy who misbehaves and is sent to his bedroom without his supper. But the tale is also about mood and behaviour: the woodlands which appear to grow in Max's bedroom are associated with him going onto a dark place.  Although it's sold as a children's book, it's just as much an adult's story, and it reinforces that strong link between woodlands and bad things. Much of the recent work to reduce people's prejudices around race and sexual orientation are fighting long-held and widespread stereotypes.  Ideally "woodist" language like Hunt's should be called out in the same way that racist and sexist language is - and despite woodist language showing a prejudice against nature rather than groups of people, it still affects how we view our world and how we behave towards others.  Perhaps we need a new lexicon of more positive language around woodlands, encouraging terms like "rewilding" and "greening".  Even the more jargony terms like 'eco-services' and 'biodiversity' are positive although it's more than better language which we need as an antidote to the woodist expressions of Jeremy Hunt.  What is needed is to make politicians ashamed of using woodist expressions and ask them to spend more time, well, in the woods.  

Back to one’s roots? Some of the effects of agriculture are very obvious, such as the vast areas of land now covered by monocultures of wheat or oil seed rape.  The expansion of mechanised agriculture has resulted in significant reductions in biodiversity, for example, through the loss of hedgerows and ponds (see the post on ghost ponds in Norfolk).  However, agriculture has others effects that are not quite so obvious.   Soils are ‘filled’ with roots, and roots help engineer landscapes.  They help: break up bedrock, improve permeability of the soil to water  stabilise the soil,  store carbon transport water and minerals to the plants.   They have been doing this for millions of years since the colonisation of land by plants. Now, research by scientists in the United States, has shown that the roots of agricultural crops are significantly less deep than those of  the  natural vegetation in an area.  Indeed, the root depth may be shallower by some 60 cm, compared to the natural root systems of an area.  If the soil is less root material then there is  decreased carbon storage,  reduced nutrient recycling and  possibly reduced soil stability.   Whilst there are some areas where “woody encroachment” is occurring (for example, shrubland taking over in some grasslands and forest advance into regions of tundra so root depth is increasing) -  the onward march of agriculture is dominant. Full details of this analysis / research : https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022EF002897 Shrinking in winter Recent research has shown that some small mammals (like moles and shrews) shrink in size during periods of cold temperature.   This shrinking is thought to be a response to cold temperature rather than lack of resources.   This change in form has been known for some 70 years and is referred to as Dehnel’s phenomenon.  Professor Dehnel observed this change in form in shrews [in Poland in 1949].  However, shrews have a short lifespan so an extended studied of this phenomenon with these animals was not / is not possible.   Recent studies by German researchers have focused on moles, who can survive harsh winters by becoming  smaller.  It is thought that this reduction in size enables energy savings.  According to Dr Dina Dechmann this reduction in size comes at a cost, as the animals’ cognitive behaviour is affected. Further information here : https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220652 Farming and sustainability With the expansion of farming, less and less of the land is available for our native plants and animals,  Hedgerows and ponds have been lost / removed, natural habitats have been reduced. The government has produced new guidance on environmental land management schemes (ELMs).  That is subsidies that will be paid to farmers if they help promote and protect nature and improve the environment (e.g. using less insecticide and reducing pollution). There would be payment /subsidies for some 280 measures, for example : Creating fenland from lowland peat Maintaining sphagnum moss Creating land that could produce organic fruit Establishing a skylark plot Adding organic matter to the soil Creating green cover over winter (on 70% of the land) Welcome as these measures might be, there is criticism that they favour big arable farmers and do not really help those working on more marginal land (such as upland and moorland regions). Further information available here. Trees - From Root to Leaf For those who like their trees, here is a new book about them.  Written by Paul Smith -who was head of the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew.  Not read or seen a copy but the Sunday Times comment "'Stunningly illustrated and detailed ... a celebration of all things arboreal, from the seeds, leaves, flowers and fruit to the diversity of trees and how they have influenced art, culture and science' suggests that it might interest.  See "https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo186012850.html"