#532: Lichens: a Curious Geographer Podcast

A really useful podcast recorded and shared by Ellie, the Curious Geographer.

Stones might seem lifeless — but what if they’re not? All around us, from monuments to buildings, stones are quietly alive, inhabited and transformed by lichens. As these organisms grow, they merge with the stone itself, blurring the line between what is living (biotic) and what is not (abiotic). 

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Nicholas Carter, biogeomorphologist and Lecturer & Subject Lead in Geography at Christ Church College, University of Oxford, to explore what lichens are, how they interact with stone and challenge the way we understand the world around us. 

This interview is ideal for A Level and GCSE Geography students, especially those studying Ecosystems and Geomorphology (including coasts) — and for anyone fascinated by the hidden connections between organisms, place, and environment.

Also would be a great resource for the new GCSE Natural History - I'm assuming lichens will be one of the things explored in the specification and possibly assessments.

#531: Palaeontology

Or without the 'a' in American sources... such as the one referenced here...

This University of Berkeley classification is useful in showing the different sub-disciplines.

Paleontology is traditionally divided into various sub-disciplines:

Micropaleontology: Study of generally microscopic fossils, regardless of the group to which they belong.

Paleobotany: Study of fossil plants; traditionally includes the study of fossil algae and fungi in addition to land plants.

Palynology: Study of pollen and spores, both living and fossil, produced by land plants and protists - this is very important in climate change research for reconstructing past climates from lake bed sediments etc.

Invertebrate Paleontology: Study of invertebrate animal fossils, such as mollusks, echinoderms, and others.

Vertebrate Paleontology: Study of vertebrate fossils, from primitive fishes to mammals.

Human Paleontology (Paleoanthropology): The study of prehistoric human and proto-human fossils.

Taphonomy: Study of the processes of decay, preservation, and the formation of fossils in general.

Ichnology: Study of fossil tracks, trails, and footprints.

Paleoecology: Study of the ecology and climate of the past, as revealed both by fossils and by other methods.

In short, palaeontology is the study of what fossils tell us about the ecologies of the past, about evolution, and about our place, as humans, in the world. Palaeontology incorporates knowledge from biology, geology, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, and even computer science to understand the processes that have led to the origination and eventual destruction of the different types of organisms since life arose.

A useful summary, and elements of these sub-disciplines would I imagine be included in any draft specification once it emerges.

Image: Fossil from Staithes cliffs, North Yorkshire - Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license.

#530: Published on this day

In 1859, Charles Darwin's landmark book 'On the Origin of Species' was first published. 

The work is one of the foundations of evolutionary biology, and one of the most important scientific works of the 19th century.

#529: NHBS: the place for Christmas gifts for the Natural Historian in your life

NHBS started out as the Natural History Book Service.

These days they sell a wide range of equipment and resources for those interested in wildlife and natural history. whether that's books, binoculars or bird boxes... and that's just the B's....

The perfect place to buy Christmas gifts for nature lovers... give Amazon a miss this Christmas...

#528: Spotify playlist - growing nicely

When I first started the blog I created a Spotify playlist of songs linked to nature, and have added to it as time has gone on. There are now over 3 hours worth of songs and pieces of music.

Check it out.

#527: Gersmehl Diagrams

Check out this TES Resource which includes an animated Gersmehl diagram option.

Gersmehl diagrams were developed by Phil Gersmehl

They are particularly important when explaining the relative stores and flows of nutrients within an ecosystem. The thickness of the arrows or connectors and the size of the circles relates to the transfer or storage. For a rainforest, the nutrients are stored in the biomass for example, and nutrients move from the litter into the soil by decomposition and the work of detritivores.

I would imagine that they may end up being in the draft specification - perhaps only for UK based ecosystems e.g. deciduous woodland, heathland etc. but you never know.

e.g. a Tropical Rainforest.

Image source:

https://thatbiothing.wixsite.com/ecologyconservation/single-post/2015/12/07/the-gersmehl-cycles-nutrient-cycles

#526: John Clare and an Inherited Perspective

Another name which I hope the new specification introduces young people to is the poet John Clare.

He is the subject of a book by the London-based writer and psychogeographer Iain Sinclair, who traced his footsteps. The cover of the book can be seen below. It is called 'Edge of the Orison'.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-clare

Click the link to download the whole eBook - thanks to Nottingham Trent University. (PDF download)

Image via Wikipedia - Public Domain

#525: Bugs Matter 2025 results

The annual Bugs Matter survey results are out.

This draws its data from the bugs that are splattered on license plates after car journeys. The paper templates I used to use have been replaced by a digital version with before and after images.

In years past, a journey would have resulted in a lot of insects that would need to be cleaned off windscreens.

Terrifyingly, the loss of those insects is a sign of deep problems for food chains and ecosystems generally.

Headline summary:

Thanks to all the citizen scientists who took part in 2025, we can now share the shocking results discovered thanks to Bugs Matter.

The 2025 Bugs Matter findings, which are published in a report released by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife (Bugs Matter Summary Report 2025), show that the number of flying insects sampled on vehicle number plates across the UK has fallen by a staggering 59% in just 5 years. Analysis of records from more than 25,000 journeys shows an alarming annual average decline in bug splats of 19%, since the survey began in 2021. These findings are consistent with research which has widely reported declining trends in insect populations globally.

#524: Man

By Steve Cutts - made in 2012, but only just came across it... looks at our relationship with the natural world - dark humour, so don't watch if you're particularly sensitive.

#523: Seal webcam on Blakeney National Nature Reserve

A webcam has been set up on Blakeney National Nature Reserve to observe the seal pupping season on the end of the Point. This is a relatively local place, which is easy for me to get to the end of the Point, but there is no public access to the reserve itself.

Some companies continue to operate at this time of year, taking visitors to the end of the Point.

The National Trust site describes it as follows:

Blakeney Point, on the Norfolk coast, is home to England’s largest colony of grey seals. Each winter thousands of seals haul out on to the beach and dunes for the pupping and breeding season. Until recently, a boat trip was the only way to see this remarkable wildlife spectacle – but nestled among the dunes we now have a solar-powered wildlife camera bringing you a live stream from the heart of the colony.

The webcam YouTube page provides further information. Click to view.

Thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies for funding this livestream. 

PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS AN UNFILTERED LIVE CAMERA AND VIEWERS MAY SEE FIGHTING, MATING AND SCENES OF A DISTRESSING NATURE. 

The cameras will be live until mid-January 2026 when the seals and the new generation of pups will return to the sea. During that time we estimate around 9000 pups will be born. 

It's one of England's most extraordinary wildlife spectacles. Edward Stubbings, the National Trust’s Area Ranger for Blakeney Point, said: “Last year we trialled the seal camera for the first time and had some great feedback from those who viewed the livestream, as watching the seals can be both fascinating and relaxing. Some of the highlights included a live seal birth, cows suckling their pups and bulls vying for dominance and the chance to mate with the females.” 

The long-term growth of the Blakeney Point seal colony is also now confirmed thanks to the latest data from biologists at the University of St Andrews. 

Latest figures published by the Seal Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) estimate that: 

• Pup numbers have increased by more than three-quarters (77%) in just five years from 5,036 in 2018 to 8,946 in 2023. 

• Over the past decade, pup production has increased more than five-fold from 1,614 in 2013. 

• With no natural predators, growth at Blakeney Point has outpaced national increases, making it England’s largest grey seal colony 

Because of the sheer size of the colony, manual counts are no longer practical or safe.

Image: Seals at Blakeney Point - Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license.

100 000 page views

A nice little milestone for this blog, which I hope has not been produced - and populated with hundreds of ideas to be of potential help to teachers of a new GCSE Specification - for nothing.

The recent Curriculum and Assessment Review did prompt a DfE response that they were looking to move ahead with the GCSE Natural History, although what shape may take remains uncertain. I look forward to seeing what comes next...

#522: Environmental Improvement Plan 2023

You can download a PDF of the new Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for 2023 on this link (PDF download)

This contains a range of information about the Government's plans to protect the environment. Perhaps it should start by not allowing water companies to pollute the rivers.

Plus a whole range of other work that is not being done....

#521: National Tree Week 2025

The resource pack from the Tree Council for this year's National Tree Week has been made available as a PDF download via this link.

The week itself runs from the 22nd to the 30th of November.

By the way, for an excellent book on British woodlands check out 'British Woodland' by Ray Mears. A lovely book! It's in my library...

#520: Knepp Wilding

There will be a lot of organisations that schools will look to connect with to make use of their expertise. We will feature some of them on the blog.

Here are some of their projects: 

The White Stork Project's live stork nest camera at Knepp went online this week and here's a screenshot from this morning! Observe a beautiful pair of storks in real-time, who have successfully raised young in this nest for the past two years: https://t.co/yryORjGX35 #Knepp pic.twitter.com/OKw0PFuqOi

— Knepp Wilding (@KneppWilding) March 9, 2024

The beaver wetlands at Knepp have come into their own during this rainy spring 🌧️#Rewilding Manager @SaraKingUK recently took these photos that show how much water they're holding, mitigating flooding while creating a diversity of habitats that support a mass of nature. pic.twitter.com/ymC8YOIp27

— Rewilding Britain (@RewildingB) April 5, 2024

#519: Beanz meanz

This BBC News story from 2023 talks about a successful haricot bean harvest in Lincolnshire.

Baked Beans from companies such as Heinz are generally imported as the beans haven't traditionally done well in the UK.

In 2025 we also had rice successfully grown...

In the future we may see a very different English countryside to the one we have become used to seeing.

Sharing the blog on Substack

I've been sharing my blogs over on my Substack Newsletter. This comes out weekly and provides an update on blog posts, projects, news, books, images and events linked to geography.

Subscribe here.

#518: Beaver Trust

The Beaver Trust is a UK based charity.

It's aim is to support the reintroduction of beavers because of the work they do in the landscape to help change the landscape to become more resilient to climate change, and to reduce the flood risk on the rivers they live on due to the dams they build. 

They have also produced a short documentary which is described as follows:

A brand new short documentary produced for Beaver Trust, following science communicator Sophie Pavelle on a journey of discovery, as she visits sites around Britain where beavers have been reintroduced. Meeting the extraordinary people behind their story so far, this film explores what a future might look like, with beavers living wild in our landscapes and rivers across Britain.

A pair of beavers that were released into the wild have bred for the second timehttps://t.co/R06LL0rZMk

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) July 18, 2023

It would be worth focussing on beavers.

The Beaver is Europe's largest rodent.

Have you seen them in the wild?

#517: Anthropocene - are we living in it?

The Anthropocene is an era which is contested - some believing we are still in the Holocene, which began at the end of the last Ice Age, 11, 700 years ago. Others believe that we have changed the planet in many ways which mean humanity has changed the planet's surface and atmosphere (along with our plastic charged oceans).

This piece in the Observer from January 2023 is well worth reading.

It mentions the Anthropocene Working Group.

They are working out the location of some places where the Anthropocene may have started.

There are nine trial sites

1. Marine sediments in Beppu Bay, Kyushu, Japan

2: Mud layers in Crawford Lake, Ontario, Canada

3: Coral in Flinders Reef, Coral Sea, Australia

4: Marine sedimens in Gotland Basin, the Baltic Sea

5: Ice from the Palmer Ice Core, Antarctica

6: Silt from the Searsville Lake, California

7: Mud from Sihallongwan Lake, Jilin Province, China

8: Peat from bogs in the Sudetes mountains, Poland

9: Coral from West Flower Garden Bank, the Gulf of Mexico

One site proposed in this paper here is the Trinity Site. (PDF download)

This was the site for the testing of the first atomic bomb as profiled in the Christopher Nolan film "Oppenheimer".

#516: UK Soil Observatory Map Viewer

The UK Soil Observatory has a Map Viewer. 

This will be of  particular value when students are exploring the vital material that is soil - more of that in other related blog posts.  Soils were one of the topics that I focussed on in my undergraduate studies. There were also some connections with the work I did on various mass movements in the north of England.

Soil is significant as 

Land Cover Maps can also be created and download.

#515: Norfolk oysters and lobsters

Norfolk has some excellent seafood and some very good places to buy it.

Think Norfolk and you think of Cromer crabs, or brown shrimp caught by boats which head out from the Fisher Fleet in King's Lynn.

There are several projects aimed at developing 

Norfolk Oysters

Oysters are getting a new reef off the Norfolk coast where they can live and grow according to a report from September.

This is a man-made structure, but will help the oysters grow.

Norfolk Lobsters

This project is rearing lobsters and then releasing them when they are still very small, so that they can repopulate the Wash off the coast of Norfolk.

Discover the Wells Harbour Lobster Hatchery, where we’re dedicated to sustaining the local lobster population and preserving Wells’ rich fishing heritage. Through our innovative rearing practices, we boost lobster survival rates and support a sustainable fishery, benefiting both the marine ecosystem and local fishermen. Our hatchery is also a centre for research, education, and community engagement, offering tours that provide a unique glimpse into marine conservation. Join us in our mission to protect Wells Harbour’s marine life for future generations.

Both of these projects are aimed at increasing the sustainability of the local seafood industry. A whole variety of coastal pubs and restaurants are keen to secure fresh produce.