We have been experiencing our worst drought since the 1970s during the summer, and more ‘normal’ weather patterns look a distant prospect. We have become well used to our lawns and fields looking like straw in recent months. Some trees in Hagg Wood have already responded ahead of Autumn by shedding their leaves. This is not a state of confusion but a natural response to dehydration. To conserve water, trees initially close the pores in their leaves that allow carbon dioxide in and water to escape. This temporarily reduces water loss and the supply of carbon dioxide but also stops photosynthesis in leaves, with the shortage of new supplies of water causing leaves to perish and further water loss from evaporation through their leaves to be contained. Older more mature trees will be better able to withstand the drought conditions, but younger trees, planted in poorer soil, are likely to wither and die. With predictions that hotter summers will become more frequent, ensuring that our natural environment can cope with the additional challenges will merit further attention.
We have two events in our Autumn Programme that will look at two different local natural environments:-
Sunday 2nd October: Visit to Potteric Carr. We will leave the Reading Room car park at 9.30am, to visit the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s nature reserve and wetland near Doncaster. This has a rich mosaic of habitats to explore. This year the reserve has fortunately seen the successful hatching of four Black Winged Stilts, the most northerly breeding success for this species ever in the UK.
Thursday 27th October: Woodland Creation in Yorkshire. We will have an illustrated presentation at 2.30pm in the Reading Room from Andrew Mason, a project manager for the Northern Forest project.
Forestry England contractors are currently undertaking extensive work in Hagg Wood, thinning selected areas to encourage the regeneration of native trees. This is a great boost to our guiding principles of promoting native woodland and increasing bio-diversity. This gives FOHW an opportunity to reassess the current health of Hagg Wood and where we can apply our efforts as we seek to restart our Woodland Working Parties. For further details of all our events, please visit our website at http://www.fohw.org.uk
Friends of Hagg Wood 