#491: Ancient Woodlands

In Britain, an ancient woodland is defined as:

"an area of woodland that, through documentary, archaeological or botanical evidence, can be shown to have been in existence before 1600."

This was a time before the widespread planting of trees began. The pervasiveness of planting makes it less likely to be sure that the wood predated 1600. 

Few of these ancient woodlands will date back to the original wildwood: the arboreal canopy that flourished as the glaciers withdrew from the country.

Are there any near where you live?

Image: Wistman's Wood - ancient woodland in Dartmoor - Alan Parkinson - shared on Flickr under CC license.

#445: National History Reading List #23: 'Oak and Ash and Thorn'

Another book that would be good to add to the developing reading list of books for those who are developing curriculum resources for the new GCSE Natural History.

It is a book about the ancient woodlands, as well as the more recent forests of Britain. 

It is written by Peter Fiennes, and focusses on some of the species that have been around for the longest. It would sit nicely with some of the other tree related books I have mentioned before on the blog.

There are plenty of possible locations for field visits here too - and I hope that young people explore woodlands as part of their teaching.

The image shows a useful chapter on the importance of trees in cities. Regular readers will know of the the vital part that trees play in ensuring lower temperatures, and the link with the London National Park City campaign.

#281: Natural History Reading List #17: 'Irreplaceable'

'Irreplaceable' is a book by Julian Hoffman.

It is subtitled 'The Fight to Save our Wild Places' and focusses on a number of locations which are threatened with being lost.

 It has a useful section on ancient woodlands which outlines very clearly what that term means, and the distinction between that and the wildwood.

Each section is relevant to particular types of ecosystems, and the book explores the nature of the threats they face, and the efforts being made to protect them. By the time I read through it, there were lots of post it notes for potentially useful sections.

A very good book as an introduction to the idea of wilderness, and the relationship between humans and nature.

He touches on the plastic threat when he visits the beach in the chapter entitled 'A world within water'.

He describes the discovery of the plastic nurdles which make up a part of any handful of beach sand in most of the world.

"For all its unquestionable usefulness for the human race, a convenience that's turned out to be irressistible to us, plastic places an unearthly burden on the rest of the living world."

My copy was loaned from Norwich Library service.

#233: Natural History Reading List #16: 'British Woodland" How to explore the secret world of our trees'

This is a new book written by survival expert and TV personality Ray Mears. I can attest to the power of Ray's storytelling as I attended an excellent talk he gave in Ely Cathedral several years ago, organised by Topping Books of Ely.

This book explores British Woodlands, and is very nicely designed.  The book is organised under themed chapters, but the trees themselves are arranged in alphabetical order, starting with Alder, and working through Beech, Elm, Horse Chestnut, Pine, Sycamore and many others, ending up with Yew. A final chapter explores the Future, and the book begins with a look at the past, when there were no trees in much of the UK as it had been scraped clean by glaciers. The trees soon returned to colonise the land, before people then stripped them all away.

There is some nice photography and the story of each tree is joined with a narrative. Each tree has a double page of information and a picture of their leaves, to aid identification perhaps. 

A focus for the narrative is on the usefulness of each tree for different things. The photography also explores toxic and edible plants and fungi as well as berries and other fruits which can be found in British woodlands. The book covers a whole range of associated topics e.g. Phototropism.

I liked the section on 'How not to get lost', which is all to easy of course in dense woodland. There are also photos of some of the indicator species of ancient woodlands towards the end of the book. 

This would make a fantastic addition to any library of Natural History books, and also a great gift for someone.

I obtained this book from the Norfolk Library Service. It was published in 2023.

The paperback edition comes out on the 21st of March, 2024 and I will be adding a copy to my GCSE Natural History library.

#107: Can you see the wood for the trees?

The latest in a series of posts on organisations which aim to protect some aspect of Natural History, and may be involved in the creation of teaching materials for the specification.

The Woodland Trust was created in 1972, so 2022 marked its 50th anniversary. 

In that time it has planted over 50 million trees, and also undergone some changes in its strategy over which trees it should planting in specific locations. 

The Woodland Trust has produced a range of resources that would be of interest for those preparing materials for the new specification. 

Temperature deciduous woodland is the climax vegetation for the UK, although most of the country is held in plagioclimax by humans. 

Ancient woodlands are very few and far between, with tiny remote pockets such as Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor. I shall post about Guy Shrubsole's excellent, and award-winning book separately.

Recent research has pointed out the importance of mature trees. It is important to keep them in place. A few saplings in plastic tubes do not perform the same function.

We also need far more trees in urban areas to provide shade on the hottest of days.

Urban trees are #biodiversity heroes in concrete jungles, reducing energy use, improving water quality, and increasing property values.

🌳🏙️🌳

Via @FAO pic.twitter.com/khEZRFBry1

— UN Biodiversity (@UNBiodiversity) June 29, 2023

There is also Woodland Trust's work in Scotland, who also produce learning materials. I am a fan of their Primary pack for Learning Outdoors which has lots of nice activities in an attractive downloadable pack.

Their work on saving Scotland's temperate forests is outlined here.

I've visited several of these locations, including Uig wood on the Isle of Skye.

#78: Time to vote for the Tree of the Year

I would hope that students taking the GCSE Natural History would be interested in voting for the Tree of the Year.

The tree above is the Waverley Abbey Yew, which was the Tree of the Year for 2022.

The image is courtesy of the Ancient Tree Inventory.

Is there an Ancient Tree near you?

A tree may be a village’s oldest inhabitant, a founding figure in a region’s identity or a natural monument integral to a nation’s story. It can also be a much-loved local landmark, a place to play and exercise, a gardener’s pride and joy or a space for communities to gather.

You can follow the voting link below to vote for the Tree of the Year 2023.

Voting is open until Sunday 15 October.

🏆 Cast your vote in #TreeOfTheYear 2023!

🎉 We've just released the shortlist for Tree of the Year 2023, celebrating 13 spectacular #UrbanTrees.

🥇 Each has its own story, but only one can win!

🗳️ See the full 2023 shortlist and cast your vote here: https://t.co/MjCN6QDfdl pic.twitter.com/0bDjrmlQfg

— Woodland Trust🌳 (@WoodlandTrust) August 15, 2023