Blog - ecosystem services

Swiss forestry is growing, especially in the alps

Swiss forestry is growing, especially in the alps

by Angus, 4 November, 2013, 1 comments

Forestry is a surprisingly important part of the Swiss economy and the sector employs 90,000 people, with 1.3 million hectares of Switzerland being given over to forestry. To put this in a UK perspective, it is about the same amount of forestry land as Scotland and is a little more than England (which has 1.1 million hectares of forest). The reason why Switzerland, smaller in size than England, has as much forestry land is that a much higher percentage of the countryside is given over to trees - Switzerland has 31% tree cover which is much more than England's 9% and is high even compared to Scotland which only has 17%. In fact European countries are generally more forested than the UK - with Finland at a whopping 76% tree cover and even France is 27%, so Switzerland stands at just above the european average. Read more...

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services

by Lewis, 22 August, 2013, 1 comments

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...

Mosses - indicators of nitrogen pollution.

Mosses – indicators of nitrogen pollution.

by Chris, 29 September, 2012, 2 comments

Nitrogen pollution, in the form of nitrates, ammonia and various oxides of nitrogen, is a threat to ecosystems, ecosystem services and biodiversity. Monitoring and measuring such pollutants in rain and air borne particles is expensive and, ideally, needs frequent samples. It has been estimated that some 400,000 tonnes of airborne pollution are deposited over Britain each year. Research by Dr H Harmens et al at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (Bangor) has indicated that there may be a simpler and cheaper way of gauging nitrogen pollution - through the assessment of the state of local moss populations. Read more...

Chelsea, urban gardens and ecosystem services.

Chelsea, urban gardens and ecosystem services.

by Lewis, 7 June, 2012, 0 comments

One of the gold medal winners at this year’s Chelsea Flower show was the garden entitled “Gardening for Champions”. This garden shows how simple changes to urban gardens can help the environment through Encouraging pollinating insects Saving water Cutting carbon dioxide emissions The garden, which was designed by Martin Walker, is based on research carried out by academics ** from the University of Leeds; it shows how simple changes to urban gardens can make a positive contribution to ecosystem services. The garden offers a number of practical suggestions, Read more...

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