Everything in posts one & two are relevant to this next post: Re-establishing our forests. I was going to say restoring, but restoring can mean bringing something back to a state that was not healthy anyway like contributing to monocultures or inappropriate tree species. Everything I have learnt & wrote within this blog which is precisely on fungi & trees, is transferable to everything I write now; so it'd be cool if yous could kindly check out my other stuff, thank you!
Undoubtedly, it is hard to go for a walk without the unordinary to become ordinary wherever we roam . That is that how our ecosystems cannot become unnoticed of there clear demise; or misunderstood. The fact this is now more prevalent is a clear indication of not just the scale of humanity's problems; but the increasing speed of it.
Increasing natural disasters such as droughts are leading to an ecological imbalance. If you look at the Paris agreement back in 2015 when it was agreed that 196 countries agreed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius; preferably 1.5. With this countries will aim to achieve a climate neutral world by the half century. Furthermore a study carried out by The European Geosciences Union found that an increase of that figure from 1.5 to 2 would see a third more extreme rainfalls, heat waves lasting a third longer, with sea levels the same fraction, & with tropical reefs suffering greater more. See the full link at the bottom of post. Putting this into context of this post, looking at trees, drought will shut down a tree in order to conserve energy resources by living slower & thus prolonging water supplies. Therefore a tree will lose it's leaves early & the risk of this is that it exposes itself to attack from beetle bark (peter wolbhen book). Not only this but a severe lack of precipitation will cause a "decline in leaf expansion, reduction of photosynthetic machinery, premature leaf senescence, and associated reduction in food production" in a case study by Dr. Kim D. Coder at the University of Georgia.
Tree imports rose 700% from 1992 to 2019. This coincided with 267 non-native plant pests arriving and establishing themselves here. Ash dieback alone could kill 80% of UK ash trees at a predicted economic cost of £15bn. For as long there is importation disease will come with it; globalisation is crazier than it has ever been, so this will only be an increasing issue. Even if you're analysing this at an economic value; environmental factors among other factors will always be attached, otherwise you will lose both. Trees are not used to such rapid changing conditions, afterall they have lived for hundreds of millions of years without dramatic changes in short periods of time & cannot adapt at the rate of human interference. I guess that's why many people say we have moved from the holocene period, simply because we as a lone species are altering the climate & in the natural sense, physicality of the planet.
In the UK, the value of imported trees has doubled in just four years from 2016 to 2019 worth £100 Million. Outdoor plants have seen significant increases too from £19 Million in 1990 to £90 Million in 2020. This economic priority is effecting native species, according to the Woodland Trust 20 pests & diseases. With the climate warming up brings wetter & humid atmospheres particularly in dense woodlands, therefore increasing the risk of spread. Foreign diseases obtain fewer attackers, a native species cannot fend off. Prior to 50 years ago, most trees were native & had to protect against native pathogens inc. fungi, bacteria, viruses, or pests etc. Now however at least the last 50 years where we have seen massive influxes of tree swapping I guess we can call it, bring with it new pathogens. For example the most damaging bacterial disease of
trees is probably Citrus greening or huanglongbing caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. This was originally Asian origin, but present in many countries worldwide. This is happening in so many species from Americas natives to Asia & more. One of most significant in recent years is the Dutch Elm across Europe & here in the UK.
We often are see the increasing diversification of trees mixing with natives. This can kill dominant species & alter the structure of a forest etiquette. One drawback of this thinning can be forest fires. With less trees, so these could be recently felled trees, due to either dieback which actually poses a bigger threat to remaining community in that they will find more difficult to withstand major weather events such as high winds. So with an emptier forest, brings a warmer environment within it, a fallen tree will provide fuel to the potentiality of a fire.
Photosynthesis in leaves converts Co2 from the atmosphere into carbon compounds that the tree uses to live and grow. If the tree can no longer use the carbon, it stops maintaining its leaves and they fall. Chlorophyll indicates this; however once these colours change, we know a tree is readying itself for winter; & stops photosynthesising (production of sunlight into energy). This is obvious for a tree to sleep & store vital energy throughout winter until spring arrives. Carotenes become visible as a result which turn leaves yellow & if above freezing, anthocyanins are produced to bring the abundance of pinks & reds in leaves. This is not working in uniform which is why there are various colours on a single tree. I guess we can look at this & other stages such as leaf dispensing on another post but quickly trees stop acquiring more energy through winter is less sun but also constitutes to the loss leaves to hold moisture in the trunk to prevent from drying, save more energy from distributing throughout itself & by centralising it to it's trunk/root network, & also like I have mentioned, to prevent harsh winter weather events such as snow or wind from impacting a tree/or community of. But the reason I mentioned photosynthesis & trees readying themselves for the cold months ahead is because how climate change is effecting the whole collective behaviour in trees & tree communities; & furthermore consequences of the many factors written already in this post already which are being amplified through human activity.
Looking at climate change, trees that lose their leaves in the autumn may be doing so earlier as climate change forces them to store more carbon earlier in the warmer months. Researchers looked at tree data from Europe harking as far back as 1948, and found that warmer temperatures, more carbon dioxide and more light led to trees shedding their leaves earlier, a result they also replicated in controlled settings. They write that this might happen because, at some point, roots and wood cease to use carbon that’s captured in leaves, making them costly to hold onto. It is not known what specific factor, or combination of factors, triggers this halt in growth, but it may be the availability of nitrogen. About 94% of deciduous trees cannot supply their own nitrogen, so the researchers think their findings are likely to apply to most trees in temperate zones around the world.
With droughts being a consequence of warmer temperatures, this also effects photosynthesis; caused by declining leaf expansions, reduction of photosynthetic machinery, premature senescence of the leaf, & reduction of food production. Even worse, even when droughts end, a tree may not even return back to it's normal functioning as in photosynthesis & transpiration. Also growth, cell division generating new cells is slowed, such as shoot growth. Internal deficit in water supplies prevent growth of new shoots (nodes & internodes). Other growth constraints are of Cambium & roots. The width of the annual ring in that it's distribution to the branches & trunk. Last years annual ring sets the material growth supply limits for the next year. Roots are effected, or more precisely, young roots are most impacted through drought. These are the annual roots, not the woody roots seen when a tree is dug, but rather any bark or crack is sealed off so little water is sent to these areas & water is more so extended toward new roots. The problem is these youngsters are ones who absorb most of the water & nutrients that are mostly effected by drought. (Dr. Kim D. Coder, University of Georgia)
Why is re-establishing our forests important?
Some of the obvious things we know are that forests clean our air & whilst doing so reduce Co2; & that many people depend on these habitats. But let's look a little closer at this. A healthy forest, is also a healthy civilisation. Humans depend on the forests for up to 25% of medicinal drugs in the developed world which are plant based, & up to 80% in developing nations. Other relative dependencies are by-products like cosmetics & detergents. 300 million people live in forests, 60 indigenous, 13 million are employed in these environments/industries, that is a big percentage of people who live in these regions therefore is key to survival. Not only this but forest food provides healthy diets. Indigenous people rely on over 100 different types of wild food in there diets. With much of these people's economical dependency is. Sustainable forestry can increase green jobs. Over 86 million people. 90% of which are dependent for this continuity. Yes you may see a lot of work in rural communities who no livelihoods but for palm oil forests, but this will die & what next? The only platform is to create a scenario where yes it benefits the etiquette of everyone involved to make it last, people, plants & animals. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder right is how the saying goes right? But to who's opinion & what & who will it benefit? I think value is a key word... living things are merely seen as commodities, misunderstanding of land use & life surrounding it, or lack of, is damaging. Afterall, we share these habitats together & working as a collective will make everything last longer. Look at lichens for example, I read today coincidentally in Merlin Sheldrake's book Entangled Life (about fungi) that lichens are made up of multiple bacteria who together rely on each other's attributes to exist. We are talking about the same organisms in the eukaryotic family, the oldest bacteria on earth, which until recently (2016) was a billion years old, now known to be 2.4 billion (fossilised mycelium). Lichens are able to live in outer space, withstand 12000 times more levels of radiation than humans, capable of handling shockwaves of 10-50 gigapascals, 100-500 times greater than the pressure of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on earth, can remain dormant for years, survive dehydration, live in atmospheres similar to Mars on Antarctica, & produce more than a thousand chemicals that are not found in any other lifeforms. What I'm saying is what better example to go off of prolonging life than the oldest example of?
How do we go about re-establishing forests?
Dr. Elisabeth Pötzelsberger, Head of European Forestry Institute states an eclectic framework of people including: Scientists, practitioners, & policy makers to create feasible ways of keeping forests & woodlands functioning correctly & healthily. Field workers such as practitioners & forest managers integrated into the solutions because they have the wealth & knowledge of what is working & isn't. The problem is, like I have mentioned we are seeing life reacting to unprecedented situations of rapid change. More personnel creates more transparency & democracy, I can only think the more credible & more people you have working at all levels & environments will pose a much insightful & obvious solution. I'm no educator or expert I just like to offer my opinion on a subject I enjoy photographing & in general inspired about. But one thing I have not read particularly is people educated in the life of trees, is not many mention the importance of life underground, afterall this is the exact life that brought plants out of the ocean & eventually into trees & work in symbiosis with one another. This is of course, fungi.
I wanted to end lastly on saying, & appropriately displaying the thumbnail image of a Caledonian forest in Scotland I took a photograph of in 2016. 05% of these native trees remain. This photograph represents the severity of where we find ourselves, we are at the fringe of ecological disaster...
Thanks for reading, until the next one... stay free!
List of references:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/tree-pests-and-diseases/what-we-are-doing/
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/tree-pests-and-diseases/what-we-are-doing/
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