For many years, people who lived near peatlands would cut sods of peat, allow them to dry and use them for fuel.  This, and other human activities such as Draining for agriculture, Deforestation Burning for ‘sporting’ purposes Testing of ordinance Tin streaming (in the case of Dartmoor) have left areas of peatland in a parlous state.  Often there are deep gullies and ditches, so water runs off and the peat dries out, no new material is formed  It is estimated that some 80% of peatlands in the UK are in a damaged or degraded state. They now represent a carbon source rather than a store. When healthy, peatlands can store twice as much carbon as forests, playing a part in reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide and helping to reduce / control flooding, and supporting biodiversity. Sadly, peat forms very slowly, forming (roughly) at a rate one millimetre per year. Peat is formed by the decomposition of plant material under water logged conditions. So at its deepest point, the peat on Dartmoor in nine metres in depth and therefore represent thousands of years of history and can be an archaeological treasure trove. [caption id="attachment_43175" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Scottish moorland[/caption] The UK’s Climate Change Committee has a target that 50% of upland peatlands and 25% of lowland peatlands should be restored to a natural condition by 2050.  If nothing is done, and the climate becomes warmer and drier, then the peatlands of the south west of England could be a thing of the past. Efforts are being made on areas such as Dartmoor to restore the landscape.  The gullies and ditches are being blocked, so that rainwater is retained and the water table is raised so that the wetness of the area is restored.  BY ‘reprofilling’ the landscape, pools will again form and sphagnum moss and other plants will grow and the process of peat formation will begin again.   In recent years, a project  [The South West Peatland Partnership] funded by Natural England South West Water & The National Trust has restored some 1700 hectares of damaged peat bog in the South West.  Whilst this is a long term project, some promising results have been observed such as an increases in the number and species of dragonflies.  They represent food for the next trophic (feeding) level, so that perhaps in time the number of wading birds and mammals on the moor may increase. Other areas of peatland, such as the blanket bogs of Caithness and Sutherlands and the Peak District need to be monitored as they too are at risk. Details of current work can be found here.

It may be that a dead hedge is just that, your once carefully manicured box hedge which has now been ravished by the box moth.  However, in terms of managing your woodland, a dead hedge may have a different meaning. Here, a dead hedge may be a barrier to an area of new planting, it may be a way to ‘persuade’ people to keep to a footpath, or keep away from a pond / stream.   The dead hedge will be made from the bits and pieces that have be culled in clearing and thinning operations within the wood, material that foresters sometimes refer to as ‘lop and top’ and tree surgeons call ‘arisings. It can also include material cut from brambles and climbers such as ivy, honeysuckle and Old Man’s Beard (Clematis). Using natural materials to create barriers (and indeed) a habitat in a woodland is a way of using ‘waste’ in an ecologically sound way.  It saves having to remove trimmings from the site and offers opportunities to ‘top up’ the hedge if desired.  Obviously diseased materials should not be used.   Creating a dead hedge from clippings and trimmings is a way of using natural materials, rather than plastic & other materials that do not readily decompose.  A dead hedge will be an effective barrier for a period of time but it will break down sooner or later as bacteria and fungi break down the woody remains (lignin and cellulose).  The disappearance of the hedge will take time as the branches twigs etc are largely off the ground, so relatively dry and decomposition is facilitated by warmth and wetness. After its initial ‘construction’, the hedge will become part of the woodland, it will be colonised by some plants and it will offer shelter, nesting sites for birds and small mammals, and a ‘home’ to many different invertebrates, such as woodlice, beetles, even certain species of bumblebees.  As the hedge deteriorates, that is, decomposes, so the soil will gain in humus and fertility as the nutrients from the decaying wood etc are released through the detrital food chains.   Another way of using / recycling bits from pruning, clearing etc is by Hugelkultur.   Hugel beds are basically raised beds with a difference - they are filled with rotting wood and other biomass.  They are packed with organic material, nutrients and air pockets. Such beds can be an effective way of creating a productive area for growing fruits and vegetables in your woodland.  There is a woodlands blog about hugelkultur here. Large chunks of wood e.g. sawn up tree trunks can be stacked up in small piles and will over time make an excellent home for many invertebrates but especially xylophagous (wood eating) insects, for example,  saproxylic beetles.  These are beetles that live / eat in dead wood.  In the UK, some 600+ beetle species (from 53 different) families are associated with deadwood. Some feed on the deadwood itself (often with the aid of symbiotic bacteria in their gut), others feed on the fungi that are gradually ‘dissolving’ the wood.  Ants and wasps sometimes make their nests in dead wood.   Using wood to increase the organic content of the soil is good in terms of  carbon sequestration,  improving soil fertility,  water conservation and  productivity.  

In a woodland or indeed one’s garden, there are often bits of wood and trimmings lying around.  Sometimes these can be useful in a woodburning stove or used to support peas & beans / vegetables but another use is in hugelkultur. Hugelkultur or hugel beds are basically raised beds with a difference - they are filled with rotting wood and other biomass.  They are simply packed with organic material, nutrients and air pockets. They can be an effective way of creating a productive area for growing fruits and vegetables in your garden / woodland.  Instead of putting your wood offcuts, branches, leaves and grass clippings into bags for the ‘green collection’ or the compost heap, consider building a hugel bed.  Read more...

The blog has reported on moorland fires and the importance of peat-based ecosystems on a number of occasions.  However, a new report has raised serious concerns about the state of peatlands, not just in the U.K but across Europe and Scandinavia.   Many ‘peatlands are in a dry and fragile state’, so that rather than acting as natural carbon sinks, they start to release carbon.   Peatlands actually store about five times more carbon than forests (across Europe). Read more...

Paul Stamets in his mycological bible Mycelium Running writes that “Mushrooms can be placed in 4 basic categories: saprophytic, parasitic, mycorrhizal, and endophytic, depending upon how they nourish themselves,” pointing out that many deploy a mixture of all these strategies. The woodlands blog has featured the mycorrhizal types such as the Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) that derive their energy by forming mutually-beneficial relationships through extending the root systems of trees and other plants. Both parasitic and endophytic types sustain themselves by living on or within other organisms, be they plant, animal or whatever, the former to the detriment of its host, the latter harmless and sometimes even beneficial. The pathogenic Honey Fungus (Armillariam sp.) is a good example of a parasitic type, while the relationship between Tar Spots and the leaves of the sycamores and acers that they appear on is best described as endophytic. Read more...

It might not be much to look at, but Laetiporus sulphureus sure tastes good on a plate. A relatively common adornment to many a tree in Summer and early Autumn, the legendary Chicken of the Woods is one of the tastiest edible mushrooms found in the UK, and also one of the most highly prized: as the name suggests, it has the taste and texture of chicken, and its firm flesh makes an ideal substitute in stews, stroganoffs, curries, pilaffs and other meat dishes. Easily overlooked by those not in the know, it is instantly recognisable to the gourmet fungi forager, and bares little resemblance to other poultry-named fungi like the Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) or the Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa), the Japanese delicacy known as maitake. It is a bracket fungus that grows in large clusters of undulating fan-shaped shelves, the colour ranging from bright yellow to orange on its topside (hence the alternate common name Sulphur Shelf), with its yellowish underside pitted with pores from which it releases its spores and a firm white fleshy interior. Read more...

Some twenty five years, the U.K. was battered by a storm – said to have been the worst that this country has experienced in three hundred years.  Hurricane force winds raged across southern England and the Midlands before the storm finally exited via the Wash.  It is often referred to as “The Great Storm” **. Millions of trees were uprooted, woodlands flattened, parks and gardens destroyed, the National Grid damaged, cars hit by falling branches and 18 people died.  Places like Wakehurst Place, the Sussex outpost of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) had lost some 60% of their tree collection as a result of the storm. Read more...