#229: Hedges in the news

Hedges were in the news with a report on the BBC News website by Helen Briggs saying that the length of the UK's hedgerows would go round the world ten times. It's based on some CEH data here.

Of course it used to be many times more, but miles of hedgerows have been lost - grubbed up to make more space, or to make larger fields to make farming more 'efficient'. Hopefully some protections are now put in place, and other new hedgerows can be planted - I noticed some going in on the edge of my Norfolk village last weekend.

The news article was picked up by a few Twitter accounts.

About half of Britain's hedgerows were lost 1940s-1990s, mostly in England - intensive farming & development.

Loss has slowed since 1990s, but neglect, damage & removal remain big threats.

Government promised in 2023 to create/restore 72,000km of hedgerows by 2050. https://t.co/8pXmqgQiRv

— Rachael Unsworth (@LeedsTours) January 30, 2024

There are plenty of overlaps with the potential content of the GCSE Natural History specification. Hedges are a linear habitat. Their existence reveals landscape change and links to the past, including enclosure. They are important for biodiversity, and vary in form in different counties.

Hedgelink has also shared the link to the mapping which has been done by CEH. 

Amazing hedgerow mapping from @UK_CEH 🌳 Hedgerow height and length has been mapped across England to build up a picture of the state of the nation's hedges. Click here for the data: https://t.co/UFDOQFz22w https://t.co/qlGi5iNDV5

— Hedgelink (@Hedgelink_UK) January 30, 2024

A comment on hedges from Robert MacFarlane to end this post. We will certainly be coming back to consider how we can create a resource related to the changing history of hedges. They need to be conserved and cherished according to this FT piece.

I like the description here by Robert of hedges:

Hedgerows are miraculous habitats: skinny wildwoods, bird-larders, carbon stores, species shelters.
Now first full (LIDAR) map of England's vast hedge-network is out.
Laid end to end they'd girdle the Earth ten times.
Let's celebrate hedges! Pics, stories?https://t.co/5Dx8UspiVq

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) January 30, 2024

He asked for contributions on the theme of hedges, and here is one that caught the eye, and is worth returning to:

"A bewitched curtain"...
here is the full poem, The Hedge, by @ZaffarKunial from "England's Green" (Faber) pic.twitter.com/Vdwb1sfwmI

— CeasefireNow (@lucyinnarnia) January 30, 2024

Update

Hedgerow schemes were featured on the BBC's Countyfile programme. There are some lovely quotes about the value of hedges in this feature on hedgerow restoration. 

The piece explores what makes a good hedge.

They have been part of our landscape since the Bronze Age, but more than half have been lost since the Second World War. Watch from 27 minutes in.

#228: A likin' for lichen

There is a British Lichen Society which provides all your lichen related needs.

Lichens are a particularly unusual class of organisms.

The plant-like living things are made up of fungi growing in association with other life forms, such as algae. There are more than 2,000 species in Britain and Ireland alone.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license.

The British Lichen Society website has some useful documents for those wanting to know more about these organisms. 

They can indicate the quality of the air in a city, for example, and the rate of growth can give clues as to when ice receded to reveal bare rock outcrops.

More to come in time...

Update:

Did you know?

Lichen survived 18 months attached to outside of International Space Station.

When lichens were attached to the outside of the International Space Station for 18 months they survived the vacuum of space, no water, extreme temperatures and the full onslaught of… pic.twitter.com/P5Zmqcvwid

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 4, 2024

#227: Banking on it

Nan Shepherd appears on the Scottish £5 note. This is one example of Natural History appearing on currency. What other examples can students find?

Here's the story of the design of the banknote. It's been in circulation since 2016. There is a lot of symbology in the image choices for the design.

Nan Shepherd is the author of 'The Living Mountain', about the Cairngorms. It's one of the most influential pieces of nature writing and has influenced othr writers such as Robert MacFarlane.

As well as an image of Shepherd, the RBS £5 note features a quote from the author’s first novel, The Quarry Wood – “It’s a grand thing to get leave to live” – and one from her meditation on the Scottish landscape, The Living Mountain: “But the struggle between frost and the force in running water is not quickly over. The battle fluctuates, and at the point of fluctuation between the motion in water and the immobility of frost, strange and beautiful forms are evolved.”

The reverse of the £5 note features an excerpt from Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean’s poem The Choice, which translates into English as “I walked with my reason, out beside the sea”

The note also features an image of a midge, to “represent the reality of everyday living in the Scottish countryside”, according to RBS. “It’s a reminder that Scottish nature nips us as well as thrills us,” said Macfarlane.

Bonus points too if you can identify the type of fish being shown on the back of the note.

#226: Forestry England - free Tree Trumps game download

Forestry England have made a free Top Trumps game available to download featuring UK tree species. This is found in the activities section of their website. May be helpful for those wanting to improve their identification skills.

#225: What's in a name?

Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist who we have mentioned elsewhere on the blog  The binomial (i.e. two-name) naming system that we use today, invented by a Swedish botanist called  in the 18th century, gets around this confusion by giving each plant its own unique name. 

Linnaeus' system means that anyone, wherever they are in the world, and whatever language they speak, is able to identify a plant, and communicate that information to someone else and they will understand which plant is being discussed. 

Students (and teachers) will need to know the basics of how this system works.

If you know a little Latin you can also work out what some of the elements of the names mean.

Colour
alba/albus - white
caerulea/caeruleus - blue
coccinea/coccineus - scarlet
argentea - silver

Habitat
alpina/alpinus - alpine
campestris - field
maritima - coastal
montana - mountain
pratensis - meadow
sylvatica - forest

Characteristics
angustifolia - narrow leaves
fragans/fragrantissima - scented
foetida/foetidus - smelly (unpleasant)
grandiflora - large-flowered
nana - small, compact
odorata - perfumed
officinalis - has herbal uses
tomentosum - hairy, downy

Habit
columnaris - columnar
dentata - toothed
fruticosa - bushy
gracilis - slender
reptans - creeping
scandens - climbing

Country or area of origin
chinensis - China
japonica - Japan
sibiricus - Siberia
occidentalis - America
orientalis - Asia

And here's his own name:

There will need to be a lesson sequence which introduces students to the system, and the way that it works and then tests their understanding of key words by giving them some sample names and they need to describe what the plant / animal is / likely to look like.

If anyone has some existing CC licensed resources to share on this that would be of interest.

#224: The Surprising Map of Plants

Made by Domain of Science.

In this map of plants I summarise all of the different kinds of plants from algae all the way through bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperms, monocots, eudicots, rosids and asterids. I explain how they are related to each other due to their evolutionary history, and the features that make plants so successful, leaves, roots, a vascular system, spores, seeds, flowers and fruits.

Download a large copy of the map from here.

#223: Forestry and Land Scotland

Forestry and Land Scotland is an organisation which has a broad remit, and manages land in Scotland. They have a LEARN section on their website, which contains some useful resources which may well be of value for those teaching the new specification.

These include the following:

- an ID guide to help identify Scotland's tree species

- the lifcycle of a piece of wood from seedling to finished product - exploring the various products from forestry may be relevant

- Scotland's heritage

- activity sheets

There's also a Future Forest podcast.

#222: A new quote from Mary Colwell

This features in a recent article in The Tablet - the International Catholic News Weekly - which appeared via my Google Alert which I have set up. The quote comes via an event she was speaking at called EA Sustain, an East Anglia festival in Colchester. I almost attended, but couldn't make it in the end. The event was about reframing education.

The article features the new GCSE Natural History and has a useful quote from Mary on the new specification:

“The natural world today is a focus of angst about climate change, people see a planet in meltdown and feel helpless. But that isn’t the whole story. Planet earth is also a place of wonder, joy, enlightenment and wisdom. By focusing on the individual species around us we find ourselves part of the unfolding drama of life on earth, we enter the story and feel empowered to protect it. We must look to life on earth, as well as earth’s climate, to get a whole picture and to find again the joy of understanding and caring for nature. Doing what it takes to mitigate the climate crisis will be much easier.”

The article seems to confirm that the qualification will now be available from 2026. A further delay...

#221: Making Space for Sand

Making Space for Sand is a project I was made aware of recently. Sand Dunes are an important habitat, but they face a number of threats.

The ‘Building Community Resilience on a Dynamic Coastline by Making Space for Sand’ project (also known as Making Space for Sand or MS4S) is one of 25 national projects funded by DEFRA as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme (FCRIP). 

The programme will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.

The project website has an excellent section outlining the formation of Sand Dunes, particularly within the located context of Cornwall.

Sand Dunes are an important part of the coastal defences in the locations where they are found. I am particularly familiar with the dunes on the North Norfolk Coast at places like Holkham. 

I've previously carried out fieldwork on those dunes with both GCSE and 'A' level students, and also 

Atkins has provided GIS support and created some visualisations of future landscapes.

#220: Winterwatch

The new series of Winterwatch starts tomorrow and as always there will be plenty of interest for those who are interested in the wildlife to be found in the UK, and a range of explainer videos and props to explain how animals and plants survive.

The trailer tonight mentioned a look at the temperate rainforest ecosystem along Lydford gorge, and also a look at the red squirrel population on Brownsea Island.

There's some useful content on the accompanying website e.g. a quiz to help identify UK birds of prey.

You can also sign up for natural history emails. This may be well worth doing.

#219: Brian Cook Batsford - representations of the natural world

Alongside the striking illustrations of the Ladybird Books illustrators I have previously blogged about, are those of Brian Cook Batsford.

Brian Cook Batsford was active in the 1940s and beyond. He was a politican and painter.

Here is one example of the illustrations that he produced for the series of books which were published.

I have a hardback book, which has gathered togther a whole series of covers from the publishers. They are distinctive and beautiful pieces of art.

Image: Copyright © 2022, Brian Cook Batsford Estate. All rights reserved.

#218: Natural History Reading List #15: 'The Lost Rainforests of Britain' by Guy Shrubsole

 I have a copy of this book and will be reading it when I get a moment.

Delighted that The Lost Rainforests of Britain has been shortlisted for the ⁦@wainwrightprize⁩ this year - I’ll be in Kendal on 14th Sept to chat nature recovery with other shortlisted authors :) Filmed this clip today in the temperate rainforest of Black Tor Copse: pic.twitter.com/eabi1n901V

— Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) September 9, 2023

Congratulations to Guy for his success...  

The investigation of temperate rainforests would be a suitable field visit opportunity for those who teach in the appropriate areas, depending on access, and the issue of damaging the very ecosystem that we are also told is fragile.

I've been to Wistman's Wood several times over the years. It's a dramatic location. I first went on an undergraduate field trip in the mid 1980s.

It was great to join @wildcardrewild & hundreds of other Devon residents yesterday to march for a wilder Dartmoor.

The Duchy has started to regenerate Wistman's Wood - there is much more to be done to restore temperate rainforest, peat & heath on Dartmoor https://t.co/ol7BVZLLsW

— Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) October 1, 2023

#217: Hedgelink

Hedgelink is a useful site to go to for anyone teaching about the value of hedgerows.

Hedgelink brings together organisations and individuals with a love of hedgerows. We share knowledge and ideas to encourage and inspire everyone to take action to manage, protect and conserve our hedgerows for the future.

They provide a range of resources on the value of hedgerows, which are not always guaranteed to remain where they have been for (potentially) centuries. There is plenty of information elsewhere on the importance of hedges in creating the enclosures of land and marking boundaries.

They have a Hedge Hub with all related resources. This CPRE guide is a useful one, for example, as it describes the techniques for investigating the origins and age of hedgerows by looking at the variety of plant species they contain. This might include an investigation into Hooper's Rule for ageing a hedge.

Wikipedia explains more

Hooper's rule (named for Dr. Max Hooper) is based on ecological data obtained from hedges of known age, and suggests that the age of a hedge can be roughly estimated by counting the number of woody species counted in a thirty-yard distance and multiplying by 110 years.

Max Hooper published his original formula in the book Hedges in 1974. This method is only a rule of thumb, and can be off by a couple of centuries; it should always be backed up by documentary evidence, if possible, and take into account other factors. Caveats include the fact that planted hedgerows, hedgerows with elm, and hedgerows in the north of England tend not to follow the rule as closely. The formula also does not work on hedges more than a thousand years old. 

The founding father of contemporary Local Studies W.G. Hoskins, also pointed out that the number and types of species vary from county to county, which casts further doubt on Hooper’s Rule as an accurate dating tool. So unless it can be verified with historic records, it cannot stand alone.

Hooper's scheme is important not least for its potential use in determining what an important hedgerow is, given their protection in The Hedgerows Regulations (1997; No. 1160) of the Department of the Environment, based on age and other factors.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge

Hedges are of particular significance in the landscape in Devon - see link here (PDF download)

#216: Wicken Fen- 125th anniversary

2024 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of Wicken Fen.

From the website:

Before 1899, the Sedge Fen area was home to a thriving sedge-harvesting community, and was frequented by naturalists who delighted in this remnant of undrained fenland. 

In the 19th century, Wicken Fen became popular with Victorian naturalists - while there isn't evidence that Charles Darwin actually visited Wicken, he is known to have collected beetles in the fens in 1820. Later, during the first half of the 20th century, Cambridge botanists Sir Harry Godwin and Dr Arthur Tansley - recognised as the fathers of modern ecology and conservation - carried out cutting-dge studies in the area.

In the late 19th century, with the local sedge and peat industries collapsing, naturalists paid villagers to assist with collecting trips on the Fen, and also bought up land from them. Distinguished entomologist Herbert Goss suggested the National Trust should consider saving Wicken Fen as early as 1898, as it was 'the haunt of much wildlife'. These naturalists then sold or gifted their land at Wicken to the newly-formed National Trust, including J C Moberley whose two acres were sold to the organisation for £10. Other notable donors included George Verrall, MP for Newmarket, who bequesthed 239 acres, on his death in 1911. Banker Charles Rothschild, an early influential figure in nature conservation donated parts of St Edmunds and Adventurers' Fens in 1901.

In 1999 - to mark the 100th anniversary of the first acquisition - the Wicken Fen Vision was launched, a 100-year project that will see the nature reserve expanded from Wicken Fen to the edge of Cambridge. Since 1999, the size of the reserve has more than doubled, for the benefit of wildlife, and for access into green space for people.

Image: © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

Wicken Fen is very close to Ely, and the school where I work.

#215: Six Inches of Soil

Six Inches of Soil is a new film, which explores the value of this material, which many people undervalue - not understanding its critical importance. I studied pedology (soil science) in the final year of my undergraduate degree, spending quite a lot of time carrying out experiments and fieldwork, and know very well how important it is to look after it.

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
*Drum roll*
We’re extremely proud to present our new #filmtrailer. Huge thanks to award-winning creative agency @Chinagraph_L for producing it for us. We hope you love it as much as we do. Feel free to leave comments on our YouTube https://t.co/kXFW6ag15M pic.twitter.com/gRAHmDrpGA

— Six Inches of Soil (@sixinchessoil) November 16, 2023

Here's the original quote which inspired the title of the film:

“Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains.”

Paul Harvey (1978) U.S. radio broadcaster

The trailer for the film can be viewed here:

#214: The Battle for Sheffield's Trees

A Long Read in The Guardian from October 2023 focussed on the battle to save Sheffield's trees during a period when their removal had been contracted out to a company that had no issues with removing an excessive number of trees which were causing no harm to people's property and were not diseased and dangerous.

At the time, people were arrested and had their lives disrupted and faced a criminal record to protect trees which were not causing any problems.

We know that trees are essential in cities and Sheffield was famous for having perhaps more trees than any other European city.

They had already lost elms during the period when Dutch Elm disease ravaged the tree species and changed the landscape in many parts of the country.

Today's Guardian long read on the battle for Sheffield's trees https://t.co/7Ep6vMFoXS

— GCSE Natural History (@GCSENatHist) October 24, 2023

 

#213: Cave Paintings #2 - Cosquer Cave

Another reminder that you can join the dedicated Facebook group for GCSE Natural History here. We have over 750 members of the group now.

One element of the proposed specification is a look back at the early representations of wildlife found in caves and painted many thousands of years ago.

This delightful little red mammoth can be found in the Grottes d'Arcy-sur-Cure near Burgundy. It was created by an ice age artist just before the last glacial maximum #IceAgeFrance 🎨 pic.twitter.com/WFZFoLS4s3

— Prof Jamie Woodward (@Jamie_Woodward_) May 1, 2022

I've been reading Max Leonard's 'A Cold Spell', and he mentions the cave at Cosquer near Marseille.

There was a long human occupation of the Cosquer Cave, from 33,000 BP to 19,000 BP, consisting of two major, almost uninterrupted, phases of human occupation. These dates have been obtained from around sixty Carbon-14 dating tests performed on forty-one samples collected between 1992 and 2012.

The Upper Palaeolithic Period was a period in prehistory that began in Europe when the first Homo sapiens emerged, around 45,000 years ago. The period was characterised by an intensely cold climate, and the fauna and flora adapted to the cold temperatures. The Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers developed various tools, hunting techniques, and dwellings to adapt to this environment. Around 10,000 years ago, the climate became warmer, which marked the end of the Palaeolithic Period.

The Gravettian culture was one of the major cultures of the Upper Palaeolithic Period in Europe. The culture developed from around 34,000-33,000 years ago to 23,000-22,000 BP. It was characterised by its very specific lithic industry, vestiges of which include, in particular, the projectile tips found in the cave at La Gravette, and very specific forms of artistic expression 'Venus’ figurines and negative handprints. The Gravettian geographical distribution was very wide, extending from the Iberian Peninsula to the Dnieper River Basin.

The Cosquer Cave, which was decorated with art at a time when the sea was several kilometres away, is now partially submerged due to climate change. The cave became inaccessible on foot around 9,000 years ago. The site, which has been protected from human intrusion for thousands of years, and which is now recognised as an archaeological heritage site, is therefore destined to disappear.

As with Lascaux, a replica cave system has been built to help protect the original from the impacts of visitors.

Image: Hay Tor - Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license 

#212: 'Nature Shakespeare'

Nature Shakespeare is a Twitter account.

A daily quote celebrating nature mentioned in Shakespeare.

#211: Gunnera

Students studying the GCSE Natural History will become aware of the impact of invasive species on the native plants and animals in an area. 

Several of these were originally introduced because of their ornamental appearance in the estates and gardens of wealthy people. They are now being removed, which is costing a lot of money in some cases.

One of them is gunnera. It looks like giant rhubarb.

UK bans popular garden plant Gunnera after study finds it an invasive species https://t.co/xKmxTudYxm

— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) December 8, 2023

Many years ago, I spent time working as a volunteer for Scottish Natural Heritage on the Isle of Rum. One of the jobs we had was to do was to remove rhododendrons from the vicinity of Kinloch Castle with chainsaws and burn them. I also painted a few doors in the cellars of the castle. This was a huge job as many of the slopes in the area around the castle were covered in the plant, which produced shade which led to the disappearance of other plants. There is a concerted effort to remove it from Scotland if possible.

Rhododendron ponticum is the most expensive alien plant conservation problem in Britain and Ireland. It was introduced in the eighteenth century, probably in 1763 from Spain, and was then described as a not fully hardy plant. 

It was expensive to buy. 

It was made hardier by artificial and natural selection and by hybridisation with Appalachian and other Rhododendron species. It is easy to propagate and became cheap and popular in the mid and late nineteenth century as an ornamental, for game cover and as a root stock for other ornamental rhododendrons.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233485570_Rhododendron_ponticum_in_Britain_and_Ireland_Social_Economic_and_Ecological_Factors_in_its_Successful_Invasion 

Image source: https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-gunnera/