Simon: Interesting. What species of trees are you planting? Is there any sponsored attempt to do this sort of thing on an ongoing monitored basis? On Thursday, November 20, 2003, at 12:43 PM, Simon wrote: > In current Orcadian terms they are significant. > > We don't have acres of natural woodland for the same reason most of the > highlands are denuded of trees, and many other parts of Europe. SHEEP. > 5000 > years of grazing will knock back the trees a bit. > > We do have 25 hectares of native trees planted in the last few years by > private citizens. I am planting 1500 in the spring on a further 3 > hectares. > If you plant one tree in your garden it will most likely die. If you > plant > 100 80 will live, and 20 will grow very well. If you plant 1000 the > survival > rates increase and so will the size of the most favoured. (The Balfour > effect). If all the farmers planted trees rather than grass Orkney > would > become substantially fully forested in less than 50 years. > > Species wise, the reason many trees which thrive in far worse coastal > region - Canada, Alaska, etcetera, is because of our lack of cold > weather. > Firs/Evergreens need prolonged frost/sub zero temperatures and > effectively > dry conditions to hibernate through the winter. Our winters are wet > and mild > and therefore these species never turn off, and fail to thrive as a > result. > > I am surprised Sigurd that you don't know this. Jenny Taylor can > supply you > with the facts, as per the URL I supplied. There was also a full day > given > over to trees in Orkney at the Science festival in September, which > was very > enlightening. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com> > To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 11:20 AM > Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > > >> On 19/11/03 at 11:00 Simon wrote: >> >>> Otherwise we have no problem growing significant woodlands - >>> Binscarth, >>> Balfour, Woodwick, etc. >> >> I think I'd draw the line at calling Binscarth and Woodwick >> 'significant > woodlands'. >> >>> but Orkney could be nearly entirely forested (and was 5000 years >>> ago) if > so >>> wished. >> >> Nonsense. If that were the case why do we not have acres of natural > woodland? >> >> The climate 5,000 years ago was considerably more suited to woodland >> that > it is now. By the Bronze Age temperatures dropped and rainfall > increased. > With it came an increase in winds. This climatic deterioration saw what > woodland areas remaining gradually die out. >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Sigurd Towrie >> Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney >> Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com >> >> >> >> ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== >> To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the >> word >> 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >> > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >

The species I am planting are a mixture of those generally agreed to have been present in the original woods which are Downy Birch, Hazel, Rowan, Aspen, Willows, Roses, Honeysuckle and Juniper. Evidence for the early presence of these trees has been found in pollen analysis studies and in pieces of timber or hazel nuts found preserved in the peat. The genetic stock we are using comes from Berriedale on Hoy, recognised as the most northerly native woodland in the UK. Jenny Taylor is the project officer of the Orkney Woodland development project (Native Tree Restoration) she lives in Stomness and can be emailed at jtlarch@btinternet.com. The following URL gives more information about native species, the paragraph below is an extract. As an addendum, from the Science festival it became clear that as the trees were cleared in late meso and Neolithic times their is an additional effect, namely you break the line of defence and cause a natural erosion of the environment damaging more than the original clearing and creating a negative feedback loop which accelerates far beyond any man made activity. Something to do with balance and nature, that mysterious stuff. This may in part explain the very rapid disappearance of the Woodlands. regards, Simon. http://www.firth.orkney.sch.uk/trees/natrees.htm The History of Native Trees in Orkney (Extract) It is often assumed that the windswept Orkney landscape has always been largely open and treeless. However, it seems that Orkney, like many other parts of the British Isles, originally had an extensive tree cover. This consisted mainly of dense birch/ hazel scrub with a tangled understorey of roses and honeysuckle. Approximately 5000 years ago, the Orkney climate may have deteriorated, perhaps with an increase in on-shore winds. This may have started the decline of the woods, at least in exposed coastal sites, or perhaps the activities of Neolithic farmers (eg grazing, fire etc) brought about the rapid loss of most of the tree cover. Towards the end of the Neolithic period, there seems to have been a period of less extensive farming which permitted a minor regeneration of the woodlands. The blanket peat which covers large areas of Orkney today did not start to form until about 1800 BC ie. well after the woodlands had declined. Perhaps the loss of the trees produced more water-logged soils and this stimulated the peat formation. By Norse times, there were probably only patches of woodland remaining in sheltered areas. There are still unanswered questions about the original tree cover of Orkney - did it cover all of Orkney (including the outer isles), was it complete or in scattered groups, exactly which species were present and, was it climate or man (or both) that caused its almost complete, and very sudden, loss? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Davie" <stephen.davie@sympatico.ca> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 6:24 PM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > Simon: > Interesting. What species of trees are you planting? Is there any > sponsored attempt to do this sort of thing on an ongoing monitored > basis? > On Thursday, November 20, 2003, at 12:43 PM, Simon wrote: > > > In current Orcadian terms they are significant. > > > > We don't have acres of natural woodland for the same reason most of the > > highlands are denuded of trees, and many other parts of Europe. SHEEP. > > 5000 > > years of grazing will knock back the trees a bit. > > > > We do have 25 hectares of native trees planted in the last few years by > > private citizens. I am planting 1500 in the spring on a further 3 > > hectares. > > If you plant one tree in your garden it will most likely die. If you > > plant > > 100 80 will live, and 20 will grow very well. If you plant 1000 the > > survival > > rates increase and so will the size of the most favoured. (The Balfour > > effect). If all the farmers planted trees rather than grass Orkney > > would > > become substantially fully forested in less than 50 years. > > > > Species wise, the reason many trees which thrive in far worse coastal > > region - Canada, Alaska, etcetera, is because of our lack of cold > > weather. > > Firs/Evergreens need prolonged frost/sub zero temperatures and > > effectively > > dry conditions to hibernate through the winter. Our winters are wet > > and mild > > and therefore these species never turn off, and fail to thrive as a > > result. > > > > I am surprised Sigurd that you don't know this. Jenny Taylor can > > supply you > > with the facts, as per the URL I supplied. There was also a full day > > given > > over to trees in Orkney at the Science festival in September, which > > was very > > enlightening. > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com> > > To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 11:20 AM > > Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > > > > > >> On 19/11/03 at 11:00 Simon wrote: > >> > >>> Otherwise we have no problem growing significant woodlands - > >>> Binscarth, > >>> Balfour, Woodwick, etc. > >> > >> I think I'd draw the line at calling Binscarth and Woodwick > >> 'significant > > woodlands'. > >> > >>> but Orkney could be nearly entirely forested (and was 5000 years > >>> ago) if > > so > >>> wished. > >> > >> Nonsense. If that were the case why do we not have acres of natural > > woodland? > >> > >> The climate 5,000 years ago was considerably more suited to woodland > >> that > > it is now. By the Bronze Age temperatures dropped and rainfall > > increased. > > With it came an increase in winds. This climatic deterioration saw what > > woodland areas remaining gradually die out. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Sigurd Towrie > >> Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney > >> Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com > >> > >> > >> > >> ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > >> To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > >> word > >> 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >> > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > > word > > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >