Colin Hawes
3 Silver Leys, Bentley
Ipswich, Suffolk, IP9 2BS, England
First, thanks are due to all contributors for providing such a wealth of material for the newsletter.
Congratulations and special thanks to Eric Parsons who with limited time at his disposal has managed to produce for readers a report on the recent proceedings of the SNS Conference 'Going Places'.
In this issue the Spotlight falls on Redgrave and Lopham Fen, the largest of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's reserves. Harry Barnett, project manager for the Trust at the Fen, details the developments that have taken place at the site over the past 30 years. It is interesting to look back and find that the 'major impetus ...... to safeguard this (special site) came from core members of the SNS.
Butterfly watching against the clock in Cyprus and in Suffolk - expeditions recounted by Rob Parker - throws a new light on county recording. Can anyone better 17 species by noon?
The above two features are but a sample of the variety to be found among the following pages.
As ever, the Society is grateful to Anne Beaufoy - her exquisite cover illustrations have become a noted feature of the newsletter. Particular thanks are due also to Brenda Arden of The Robert Stebbings Consultancy Limited who, under considerable pressure, found time to word process all the copy. Copy for the Spring issue of White Admiral should reach the editor no later than February 7th 1999.
In the meantime, seasons greetings to all readers and best wishes for the new year.
The complexity and biodiversity of dead-wood habitat is well-known to many entomologists, but how many naturalists and custodians of our trees and woodlands fully appreciate the intricate web of interdependency that is based on dead and decaying timber.
Dead wood is not a uniform habitat. It occurs in a wide variety of forms ranging from dead roots in the soil to dead branches in the tree canopy. It can vary in size from mature trunks to fine twigs; it can be part of a standing tree or occur as fallen timber; it can also be found as stumps. It may be located in sun or shade and can vary in its moisture content. There can be loose bark, rot-holes, partly decomposed timber, the burrows and cavities of organisms associated with decay and tree humus. Heartwood is chemically different from bark. The physical environmental conditions surrounding a dead root differ widely from those surrounding a dead branch. In short, dead wood in all its forms can provide a great variety of niches, each of which will have its own mirco-climate and distinctive community of organisms.
The survival of these communities is dependent on a continuity of dead wood and the specific conditions of micro-habitat. All stages in the process of decay are important and provide a succession of suitable niches each, in turn, essential for a succession of interdependent organisms. Biodiversity is greatest in standing timber of broadleaved native tree species which are long-lived and decay slowly.
Dying and dead wood is an exceptionally valuable biological resource, yet its removal from woodland, parkland and hedgerows continues apace. In some instances removal may be essential, for example where a dead branch has become dangerous or a decaying tree has become diseased, but all too often dead and decaying timber is unnecessarily cleared away in the name of tidiness. Dead wood is a fundamental part of our ecosystem. A vast assemblage of organisms is dependent on its continuity and cycle of decay. If fallen timber and decaying trees are removed the whole system is impoverished.
Continuity of dead wood can occur naturally in some woodland. Wherever possible it should be left undisturbed to undergo its natural decomposition and a wide range of forms should be retained; dead roots, stumps, fallen branches, fallen and standing trunks, as well as dead branches in the crowns of trees all have their part to play.
However, dead and dying trees, or tree remains are often isolated and when these have gone there is nothing to replenish them. In these situations it is difficult to see how continuity can be provided unless we constructively manage dead wood, moving it from less vulnerable areas to sites alongside decaying stumps and other decomposing timber.
Maintaining and/or providing dead-wood habitat is something in which we can all become involved. Many gardens already contain a significant amount of this resource in the form of stumps. Make sure that these are retained wherever possible. Increase the biodiversity of your garden by adding log-piles that are allowed to rot down.
Editor
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