What Lies Beneath
2019-09-14
Recently I contributed to an article about the dark web which lurks beneath the woodland floor, namely its fungi.Continue Reading
Long-term photomonitoring in Piles Copse
2019-06-22
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
An English Rainforest
2019-06-21
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
Best replacement tree species to mitigate the loss of ash in Britain
2019-05-26
As the spread of ash dieback across Britain becomes noticeable, there is a peak in interest about the consequences of ash dieback, with landowners and conservationists seeking good advice about what tree species is best to plant to help nature recover. Here’s a simply summary for landowners, based of peer-reviewed research.Continue Reading
Rewilding Dartmoor
2017-03-25
For my short story in Arboreal (Little Toller Books, 2016) I decided to write from the perspective of an old man looking back on the transformation of Dartmoor due to the withdrawal of farming subsidies and application of visionary environmental policies. I drew a couple of sketches that didn’t make it into the book.Continue Reading
Pacific northwest forest ecosystem in Scotland
2012-12-15
As part of the research for my book, The New Sylva, I visited recently a remarkable place in Scotland where many so-called exotic coniferous species are not only thriving but are forming a functioning forest ecosystem similar to that found in the Pacific northwest of America. There are …Continue Reading
A hidden world of fungal cords
2012-04-28
Next time you crunch or squelch through a rich leaf litter under trees, stop and get your eyes down to the forest floor. Carefully tease apart the rotting leaves, twigs and decaying branches and you may be lucky enough to see some fungal or mycelial cords. Quite a number ofContinue Reading
Piles Copse – extreme oak woodland
2011-08-23
Piles Copse is a magical oak woodland nestling at high altitude on the bleak and beautiful Dartmoor National Park in south west England. Twenty years after my last visit I return to continue my long-term photomonitoring of two trees.Continue Reading
Biblical dendrology
2011-04-22
Today is Easter Day or the day of ressurection in the Christian world. Trees feature as very sigificant elements of the bible …Continue Reading