The UK is experiencing an increased wildfire risk due to climate change, exemplified by record heatwaves and dry conditions. Noteworthy incidents have highlighted the vulnerability of heathland-woodland ecotones. Proactive fire risk management for land managers has become essential, with recommendations focused on forest design, community partnerships, and clear emergency protocols.Continue Reading
I received an interesting query from a reader recently. Where could they find information about the natural lifespan of trees? In other words, how long do trees live under natural conditions?Continue Reading
England’s National Parks are no longer fit for purpose. Even before the climate emergency, their lack of naturalness is impeding attempts to halt declining biodiversity, but now there is a real urgency to renew thinking towards our 10 National Parks. We need a new version for our National Parks, a version 2.0.Continue Reading
It is ten years since I started following the life of an ash coppice stool. A return visit finds the tree still alive but much of its regrowth dead from ash dieback.Continue Reading
A paper published recently has presented ‘ten golden rules’ which the authors say should be followed to help deliver sustainable reforestation around the world.Continue Reading
More than 50 interesting and unusual names for environmental specialists and experts in the natural world from acarologist to zoologistContinue Reading
I was inspired to write the poem You People after following a one-sided vitriolic ‘debate’ on Twitter last year. Continue Reading
Recently I contributed to an article about the dark web which lurks beneath the woodland floor, namely its fungi.Continue Reading
An update to my long-term photomonitoring project of two trees at Piles Copse on Dartmoor, first noted in a publication in 1922.Continue Reading
Nestling among the barren wilderness of Dartmoor is one of three rare wild woods. Piles Copse is a woodland mainly comprising pedunculate oak Quercus robur. The trees, festooned with mosses and lichens, are rich in biodiversity. It is an English rainforest, and a relic of woodland which once covered much of the hilly region.Continue Reading
One of my more recent co-authored research articles has been selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in The Applied Ecologist’s Blog . The paper, Maintaining ecosystem properties after loss of ash in Great Britain by Louise Hill et al, focusses on the importance of using plant functional traits to predict potential changes to an ecosystem, following the loss of a key species.Continue Reading
Silvology: redefining the biological science for the study of forests With co-author Jens Peter Skovsgaard I propose a formal definition for a term that describes the scientific study of forests and woods: silvology. In contrast to other disciplines no terminology has developed to distinguish the practice of silviculture fromContinue Reading
This week Sylva Foundation published the long-awaited report for the British Woodlands Survey 2017: Shaping the Future of Forestry. It’s been a labour of love working alongside my fellow authors. We were victims of our own success in attracting such a fantastic response from so many people across Britain: 1,630Continue Reading
In September 1852 young Scottish plant hunter John Jeffrey came across an attractive flowering plant in northern California. After samples were received by his sponsors at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh it was named in his honour.Continue Reading
Add your voice by signing the Tree Charter. The Charter for Trees, Woods and People will be launched in November 2017 and marks the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest signed by Henry III in 1217.Continue Reading
