Natural habitats have been disappearing for a long time - as a result of human activity.  The last century saw hundreds of miles of hedgerow disappear, and the same is true for ponds and wild flower meadows.  Agriculture, transport networks and cities have expanded - woodlands have become fragmented.   Now, sadly we have seemingly daily reports of our rivers and seashores being polluted with sewage.  Indeed, thousands of such incidents have been reported and many rivers and seaside resorts are now unsafe places to swim (or row?).  Clearly, the infrastructure (much of it victorian) is unable to cope with the demands placed upon it.  Surfers against sewage have collected and collated information about sewage, and on their web site there is a map of coastal areas experiencing sewage discharge. If this situation was not bad enough,  run-off from major motorways is also being discharged into our rivers and streams.  Indeed, the Environment Agency has acknowledged this as a serious issue, accounting for some 18% of ‘water quality failures’ in England.  Like sewage, it is damaging. So what does this road run-off water contain?  It seems to be a mix of particles from tyres, clutch and brake pads, motor oil, transmission fluid, coolant, gear oil, and power-steering fluid. In addition, rust or corrosion from the car / vehicle body and galvanised parts can release iron, zinc, and aluminium. Modern tyres contain natural rubber, synthetic rubber etc. so when you brake, or speed up, the tyres shed thousands of tiny rubber and plastic fragments. They form as a result of the friction between the tyre and the road; they are referred to as ‘Tyre Wear Particles’ or (TWPs)*; and are a significant source of microplastics.  Microplastic are seemingly everywhere, in the oceans, in habitats across the world and even in us.  Scientists have found even microplastics in human semen, and also follicular fluid ( the fluid that surrounds a developing egg in the ovary). During and after heavy rain, TWPs and other materials are washed off the roads, with most entering stormwater networks, which channel the run-off into rivers, streams etc. Due to their density,  the TWPs etc sink and form a sediment layer.  The BBC has reported on the ‘black gunk’ in the River Lambourn (Berkshire).  The Lambourn is a chalk stream with crystal clear water as it makes it way through Welford Park, before passing underneath the M4.  Thereafter, it turns brown and murky. This has consequences for the invertebrate animals that live in the waters of the stream or on the stream bed. It is possible to mitigate some of the effects of this run-off / stormwater. For example,  near the A38 in Devon the National Highways have built a reed bed . This filters the run-off from the busy road. There are only 210 true chalk streams worldwide, and most of them are in England.   For example, the Test and Itchen in Hampshire, the Wensum in Norfolk and the Piddle in Dorset.   They are a unique contribution to global ecosystems. The National Highways is aware of the pollution problem across the road network and is using a computer model to identify which stormwater outfalls to tackle. More than a thousand locations that are "potentially high risk" have been identified.  Under its current plans, a limited number of high-risk sites will have had a mitigation in place by the end of last year. *TWPs may be swept up into the atmosphere and transported to remote regions like the Arctic.

Since its formation, the earth has undergone change.  Life forms have come and gone.  There have been five major extinctions, the last being at the end of the Cretaceous Period; it killed off the dinosaurs and many other species.  This particular extinction event is thought to have been particularly rapid, due to an asteroid impact.  It caused a series of cataclysmic events and a rapid cooling of the Earth’s climate. Other changes, such as intense volcanic activity and tectonic uplift, may have pre-dated the asteroid impact but the event saw the elimination of many, many life forms. We are witnessing significant global change, that is also rapid in geological terms. Changes in the Earth’s climate and species composition usually take place over millennia, indeed over millions of years.  However, recent years have been very warm.  Global temperatures have changed noticeably. The warming that has been recorded “is exceptional relative to any period since before the last ice age, about 125,000 years ago”.  This warming has resulted in extreme and severe weather events in this country and across the world.  This year a record breaking January temperature of 19.9oC was recorded at Achfary, with storms Henk, Isha, and Jocelyn in the same month. The Earth’s warmest year on record (between 1850 to 2023) was 2023.  In early September 2023, the UK experienced a significant heatwave when daily maximum temperatures exceeded 30°C [somewhere in the UK] for seven consecutive days. [caption id="attachment_35526" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Drought![/caption] Such changes are not without effect. Phenology observations indicate that trees are producing their leaves earlier, woodland plants are coming into flower earlier. See the woodlands blog “Spring is on the move”.  A concern with these changing phenologies is that ‘mismatches’ can occur.  When trees come into leaf determines when caterpillars can feed and that, in turn, affects when birds can feed on the caterpillars and raise their young.  If these events do not occur in synchrony then the ‘functioning of the ecosystem’ is disturbed.  [caption id="attachment_25123" align="alignleft" width="300"] Leaf 'unfolding'[/caption] The agricultural and horticultural ecosystems that we have created are also affected by climate change. This year, heavy rainfall has meant that farmers in many parts of the UK have been unable to plant certain crops [such as potatoes, wheat and vegetables] during the key spring months. Some crops have rotted in the soil. In April, there was 111.4mm of rain, [the average for April is 71.9mm]; the sixth wettest April of the last 189 years.  Persistent wet weather also affects lambing, and can mean it is not possible to turn dairy cattle out onto grass / pasture, which in turn affects milk production. Monthly temperatures are more likely to be above average than below as climate change take effect.  This was true for the first three months of the year.  Warmer air holds more moisture and it can evaporate more water from the seas / oceans. A one degree (Celsius) rise in temperature adds 7% more moisture in the air.  Woodlands are affected by heavy rain as soil becomes waterlogged, which affects woodland flowers, and wet winters do no favours for animals that hibernate. The UK is not the only place to be affected by extremes of weather, be it rainfall and flooding, or high temperatures and drought.  India has recently experienced a period of extreme temperature, with temperatures approaching 50oC.  Such temperatures push human physiology to its limits.  Just as extreme rain is a problem for farmers, so is extreme heat and / or drought.  Brazil has been the main exporter of oranges for producing orange juice, but its recent crop has been substantially reduced as a result of flooding and drought; resulting in the worst harvest in decades. Spanish orange production has also been reduced due to drought. Like California, large parts of Florida ‘the Sunshine State’’ has seen its once-famous citrus industry reduced over the past two decades. Two diseases, greening and citrus canker have taken their toll, and then Hurricane Ian in September 2023, hit the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.  Large parts of the one famous citrus industry (oranges and grapefruit) have been lost and farmers are turning to the PONGAMIA tree to repurpose fallow land. [caption id="attachment_41381" align="alignleft" width="650"] Pongamia  : image thanks to Sarangib on Pixabay[/caption] This is a climate-resilient tree from India. They do not need fertiliser or pesticides.   It has been grown as a shade tree. As a member of the Fabaceae, it produces small, brown beans.  These are so bitter than not even wild hogs will eat them.  However, the beans are easily harvested by a machine that shakes the tree.  A San Francisco based company has found a way to remove the bitter tasting chemicals and use the beans in food production, as they yield a high quality protein and also an oil.  The bean (a legume) has been used to make a table oil, protein bars and a biofuel.   Orange juice production is not the only drink to be affected by changing climate.  Drought affects coffee plants and damages the quality of the soil, and excessive rainfall ‘favours’ fungal disease [e.g.coffee leaf rust and cherry rot], all of which will impact the yield and quality of the beans harvested.  Similarly, chocolate production is threatened. Cacao trees are impacted by global warming,  they can only grow and thrive within 10 degrees of the Equator, needing stable temperatures, high humidity, and ample rain.  However, temperatures are rising while rainfall has decreased. These changes lower the humidity. The trees are also under attack by a virus - cacao swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). Changing temperatures and rainfall patterns will influence what crops can be grown and where, it will also influence their cultivation and the working patterns associated with those crops.  Climate change is thus a factor contributing to food inflation and insecurity across the world.    

We are dependent on ecosystem services . At the most basic of levels, early humans benefitted from the ‘products of nature”; that is fruits and seeds to eat, animals to hunt.   Ecosystems, like woodlands, provided shelter from some of the harsher aspects of climate and weather.  Now we can add in ‘services’ such as the provision of medicines, waste removal, nutrient recycling and recreational experiences. Read more...

The science journal Nature has published the results of another insect survey, specifically of pollinating insects.   The UK pollinator monitoring scheme looked at some 353 species of bees, bumblebees and hoverflies.  The survey analysed 700,000+ sightings of pollinating insects over thirty years or more (1980 to 2013).  The survey yielded information about the changes in the range of these different pollinators - that is the different parts of the countryside that these insects were found in.  The survey did not attempt to determine actual numbers of bees etc in an area.   There were “winners and losers’ in the survey but the overall picture was somewhat depressing. Read more...

Today there are more deer in the UK than at any time since the last Ice Age.  They no longer have any natural predators in woodlands or fields. Total deer numbers are conservatively estimated at about 1.5 million and the rapidly expanding deer population threatens woodland biodiversity.  Over-grazing and browsing, particularly in ancient woodland, continues to have two very unfortunate consequences for conservation.  First, it can lead to a decline and loss in plant species in a given area, which often includes oxlip and bluebells.  Deer frequently damage saplings and cause other damage by stripping bark with their antlers. Read more...

We are all dependent on ecosystem services even if we are not quite sure what they are.   At the most basic of levels, early humans benefitted from the products of nature (fruits and seeds to eat, animals to hunt) - that is, food or provisioning .   Shelter from the harsher aspects of climate and weather was also needed and provided; be it by the canopy of woodlands and forests, or the branches and other materials in woodlands used to make a simple shelter. Ecosystem services permeate every aspect of our lives. Take soil, for example ‘Where would we be without fertile soil ?’  Obviously fertile soils provide us with the best conditions for our agricultural crops and for maximising growth in our greenhouses and orchards, but beyond that soil has many important functions. The organic material of the soil, humus, can absorb and retain water.   It plays a vital role is the regulation of water run-off.  Read more...

When I went looking for woodland to buy, I looked at the ground before the trees, which probably sounds a bit odd.  If you’ve seen people looking at the floor in a car park and wondered what on earth they were doing; unless they’ve dropped their keys, they’re probably botanists.  What is growing on the ground can tell you all sorts of things like how old the woodland is and what type of soil you have. I am only an amateur and although I do have the advantage of some professional training in the field of surveying for wildlife, you don’t need it if you want to survey your own wood. Read more...