The Woodlands.co.uk Blog - March 2011
Biochar at the Centre for Alternative Technology: business opportunity for small woodland owners or climate change solution
Biochar may be used to mitigate climate change brought on by global warming, by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking the carbon into the soil, if James Lovelock (originator of the seductive Gaia hypothesis) is to be believed. Others say the numbers just don’t work. Biochar is also put forward as a very effective soil improver, which can reduce fertiliser use, reduce pollution, increase crop yields, and as an approach to agriculture may be traced back to the terras preta (black soils) of the Amazonian rainforest. Read more…
The Fairytale Forest – a Source of Symbolism
Anyone embarking upon the journey of exploring forest symbolism finds themselves, perhaps like Little Red Riding Hood waving goodbye to her mother at the garden gate, on a vast voyage punctuated with the joys and dangers of the psyche, steeped in ancient myth and legend and infused with spiritual meaning.
It is no accident that so many fairytale characters find themselves having to traverse danger-laden tracts of woodland. In a most practical sense, as the ancients dreamed up those stories and even when the oral traditions were finally written down in the middle ages and later, the lands of northern and western Europe were thick with woodland. The dangers were palpable: from rogues and bandits lying in wait for unsuspecting travellers to opportunistic wolves hungry for the kill. Read more…
Leaf variation – Holly (and Ivy).
Holly leaves are prickly. But the leaves of the lower twigs and branches are said to have more prickles than the those higher up the tree. Ivy (Hedera) has lobed leaves but entire leaves can be found on the projecting branches (which bear flowers and fruits) – again often high up and in the light.
The range in variation in any species can be considerable – thinking about holly, their leaves may vary in :
- The number of spines on a leaf
- The number of spines on each side of the leaf
- The length of the leaf (do longer leaves have more spines?) Read more…
Annual rings : counting the years ……
Most trees and shrubs that grow in temperate regions, where there are clear alternations of seasons (cold – warm, or wet – dry) produce annual rings in their stems or roots. Annual rings come about because there is a difference in the “wood cells” (xylem : see below) formed when growth is fast, as in the Spring, or slow, as in late Autumn. This is in marked contrast to the trees or perennials of wet, tropical forests where the climate is more uniform, as is the wood formed. Read more…
Are children suffering from a “nature-deficit”?
This is the central question in Richard Louv’s book, “Last child in the woods,” and this concern is shared by the broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. As Attenborough says, “all children start off being interested in the natural world, it’s deep in our instincts…”. Children may have theoretical knowledge but not touchy-feely experience. As Louv explains, ” children today are aware of global threats to the environment but their physical contact, their intimacy, with nature is fading.”
Nature-deficit surveys
Natural England did a survey recently in which they examined changing relationships with nature across generations and they found that fewer then 10% of children now play in natural places (such as woodlands and heathlands) compared with 40% of today’s adults who did so when they were young. The BBC Wildlife Magazine carried out another survey which found that many children now cannot identify common species such as bluebells and frogs. Read more…