Show your stripes, Oxford

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In: climate crisis, environment

Thanks to a clever idea by scientists at the University of Reading, you see how much average temperatures have risen where you live as part of an international campaign to highlight the importance of climate science. You can then ‘show your climate stripes.’Continue Reading

Piles Copse

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In: ecology, environment, film, landscape, oak, woodland visit

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

Wood Wise, Summer 2019

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In: economy, environment, oak, science

If we look at the utility of trees in a new light, and through a new lens, we may be surprised by what we can see and what we can value. Among all trees, the oak is perhaps best placed to gift us a renewed sight. Continue Reading

trees per person per country

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In: environment, trees

Did you know that Canadians have more trees to enjoy per person than Russians, or that Brazilians have half as many trees per person than Australians? I hope you enjoy my interactive global map below which shows the number of trees per person per country, right around the world. But first, here are a few headlines.Continue Reading

Ash trees at dawn in Cumbria

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In: ash, disease, environment, science, tree health, trees

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

Ash trees at dawn in Cumbria

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In: ash, disease, ecology, environment, plants, science, silvology, tree health

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 defined

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In: ecology, environment, science, silviculture, silvology

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