27 April 2017
Country Walks, Exercise and Wild Flowers
Good for us but the flowers are not doing so well.
by Lynda Goetz
We may be suffering a rather cold snap at the moment, but in many parts of the country the sun is still shining and, rather sadly for gardens, there are still few signs of the showers normally associated with the month of April. It has, however, been good weather for walking, and like many others I have had the opportunity to do several longish walks over the Easter break and last weekend. The English countryside is beautiful at this time of year. The nascent leaves on the deciduous trees display a stunning palette of greens, visible only for a few weeks before they move on to becoming the blanket of darker, mature colour that characterises the summer. On the ground the wild flowers are easily visible, not yet submerged under the swathes of grass, nettles or brambles which choke them in later months.
This idyllic picture is however not all it seems, and many of our wildflower species are under threat. According to a study by the conservation charity, Plantlife, many of our native wildflowers are being killed off by excessive nitrogen, which is causing the soil to become too rich for many of these plants and encouraging a takeover by ‘thugs’ such as nettles and hogweed which thrive on the nutrient-rich soils. The blame for this does not lie in any one particular direction, but is attributable to transport, industry, farming and power stations. The emissions from all of these activities are causing ‘atmospheric nitrogen deposition’ which results in changes in soil chemistry and habitat degradation.
This, of course, is not a new concern, but it has hit headlines yet again in the early months of 2017, first as a result of the Plantlife workshops and report in January, and then in the last few days when Plantlife’s latest study on roadside verges has been featured by the BBC and the print media. With our flower-rich grassland much reduced (although government countryside stewardship schemes do exist to encourage farmers and landowners in the creation of species-rich grassland), verges are apparently now the home for many of our rarest and most endangered plants. There are some 238,000 hectares of roadside verges, but under 100,000 hectares of species-rich grassland, meaning that the former are vital areas for conservation.
The management of verges is the province of local councils, and not all of these display knowledge or understanding. Many are prone to mow too early, which has a detrimental effect on later-flowering species as they do not have time to set seed before being cut down. Although in recent years cash-strapped councils have not kept verges as neat and tidy as was their wont at one stage, this tendency to neatness and order (in some instances, of course, for reasons of safety) does not only have a negative effect on the plant life, but also on other wildlife such as bees and butterflies. In an article in The Ecologist back in 2013, Lorna Howarth pointed out that the area of lowland meadow in England and Wales declined by 97% between 1930 and 1984, ‘devastating the habitat of some of our rarest species of flowers and insects’. This leaves roadside verges with an important role to play in maintaining such habitats.
It is becoming increasingly clear to many of us that our stewardship of our planet has been severely lacking in a great number of areas. The publicity in the last few years over the toxicity of diesel fumes has been yet another wake-up call. The emissions from diesel cars are causing sickness and death; not only to human beings living in cities, it would seem, but also (in conjunction with other sources of particulates) to our ecosystem. Ironically, those very roadsides which exist because of our polluting vehicles are also a last bastion for some of our rare plants.
Finally, various news sources reported on a ‘study of studies’, done by the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise in Canberra, which showed that moderate exercise several times a week not only helped keep the body in good shape, but was good for the mind as well. These studies referred to the over 50s (when body and brain are sadly in natural decline) but would presumably also apply to those younger as well. In any event, it is quite clear that those Easter walks were a ‘good thing’, not only for the dogs (who in any event covered about five times as much ground as we did) but for all of us as well. In addition to a resolution to keep up the exercise, I have also determined to be able to identify more of the flowers I spot whilst I’m out, so that not only can I distinguish between the English and the Spanish bluebells (the former have flowers on one side of the stem only) and notice the delicate wild violets, but can also differentiate the Stitchworts and maybe remember what Lady’s Smock actually looks like. That way I might even know if I spot something rare in the verge.
The conservation charity Plantlife is running a campaign to keep verges safe for wildlife. http://plantlife.love-wildflowers.org.uk/roadvergecampaign2016
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