Transforming Lifeless Monocultures Into Biodiverse Woodlands
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- In our latest project we're restoring the understory ecosystems of three woodlands in Scotland. While we've planted hundreds of thousands of trees in multiple countries, trees are just one part of the rich and complex ecosystems you'll find in forests and woodlands. The understory however is often left neglected yet is so crucial for a biodiverse and healthy forest, which is exactly why we took this on!
🌳 If you think this project is worth supporting then be sure to check out the Mossy Earth Membership: mossy.earth/
🍃🙋♂️ Check out Rob's channel: / leavecurious
🙌 Subscribe to Mossy Earth: ruclips.net/user/MossyEarth?...
💪 OUR PARTNERS IN THIS VIDEO
===============================
Eadha: www.eadha.co.uk/
START REWILDING OUR PLANET TODAY
===============================
With us, you will restore nature and fight climate change every month
🌲 Plant native trees to capture carbon
🐺 Rewild habitats to support biodiversity
🐉 Support underfunded species and ecosystems'
💙 Join our Discord for members
Become a Mossy Earth Member: mossy.earth/?...
⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:38 Wait who's the new guy?
1:15 Our project locations
1:28 Why we chose this project
3:29 How we're funding this
4:22 Progress so far
🧐 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
===============================
We've joined forces with Eadha to try and restore the understories of three forested areas in Scotland! While our £14,000 budget for this isn't huge, we hope to use these projects to learn more about understory restoration and use that knowledge to scale up efforts elsewhere, including in our own forests.
We've also partnered with Rob from Leave Curious to help us present this project to you, so in this video we'll go into detail on exactly what we're doing at the start of this intervention!
🔎 Project page: mossy.earth/projects/understo...
#MossyEarth #rewilding #nature
🌲 If you would like to support our rewilding projects by becoming a member you learn all about them here: www.mossy.earth Every single member is essential and it is ultimately what makes our work possible. - Cheers, Duarte
I was surprised to see you planting ivy.
Ivy eventually smothers and kills off the tree it grows on.
Was that the idea (to take out some trees to break up the top cover of trees) ?
Please put the common and scientific names of those plants in your video description. I wanted to look up a few of them and I looked at your video description hoping they'd be there, luckily I can remember long names long enough to type them into another tab but a lot of people can't. You could also sell seeds for your plants to fund your project, to people who like to grow rare plants. Anyway after typing in Stellaria Graminea I found it's as edible as the Stellaria Media that grows in my yard in California (aka common chickweed) and Hypericum Pulchrum can be used the same way as Hypericum Perforatum (aka "common" or prostrate St. John's Wort." You should put a few seeds of each plant in a "mixed seed bag," I'd grow them and show to people who visited compared to the related species that I have because I think stuff like that is cool.
@@Tao_Tology that's not really true, ivy cannot itself "smother" a tree, at least not a mature one, and it is not strictly parasitic as it is just using the tree as a way to reach light.
Very broadly speaking, it can cause secondary damage through moisture retention and increased chance of fungal infection, and it can cause a deciduous tree to topple in storms due to the added wind resistance.
The benefits of ivy to the Biotop it is in are however very great, due to it's flowers and extra living room it provides
When I walk my dog to nearby similar monoculture forest, I always take handful of nuts/seeds of local trees, flowers and bushes. Then just drop them as I walk into holes I make with shoe.
One day I will conquer that grid thing, which should not be called forest.
How do i become part of the project
Scotland’s absolutely covered in these monocultures of invasive evergreens, and when you walk through them they just feel dead, no bird song no flies no bees no moss nothing, just these big tightly packed trees blotting out the sun, compare that to old growth forests like Loch Lomond or chatelherault in Hamilton and it’s evident why these projects are so important and cool.
Greenwashing is a very real issue in this industry, and unfortunately it often results in forests like you mentioned that have either been planted with the sole intention of future logging or projects that just haven't been properly thought through. Nothing beats an old growth forest, so in my eyes reforestation projects should begin with that end goal in mind! - Tom
Same here in South Wales, our local forest is a living death
Yep, lived near Bracklinn Falls for a while and the way to them has a forest with just huge trees, nothing on the ground layer, very sad to see.
Try to remember that Sitka monocultures in the UK are there to provide timber primarily for construction - think of it as farming trees instead of corn or hops. They are also teaming with life (wood ants, fungi, raptors etc) and can sequester much more carbon due to quicker rotations
Yep same in sweden. We have almost no natural forests left or even lightly managed forests. Almost all forest are under clearcut management. And then heavy soilpreparation before replanting in straight lines.
It's eerie silent in that forest. When you go to a living, healty-ish one, you hear noises from everywhere - bugs, birds, different texture on the wind. Good job trying to revive the forest
Thank you Plamena! We think it could be a great new project type for us to implement in many places. - Cheers, Duarte
This project has a lot of potencial and can also claim attention to the fact that a healthy forest (a good carbon sink) isn't just trees but entire layers of herbs and plants. Those plants will also help in enriching the soil and improving the hydrological cycle wich can help the trees absorve more carbon to and also makes the forest overall more resilient
Spot on, every layer of a forest has an important role to play! - Tom
@@MossyEarth Can I fill you in on a little secret
People are so estranged from nature in the US that many don't realize that forests are more than just trees.
"MUH CARBON"
Carbon is good for plants and the environment.
@@morgantully6424 Not good, its essential. That, however, doesn't mean adding it without a single care at unnatural rates and unnatural levels is good
The thing I like about your organization is that you don't just literally throw money at a problem and assume it's gonna fix itself but actually hire people to do the work that's needed
Ecosystems are complicated things, not only are there countless connections that keep them thriving but no two ones are exactly the same! Because of this we make sure to do our due diligence when it comes to researching the area properly and working alongside specialised experts, but even then there's no guarantee. At the very least we can maximise a project's chances of success! - Tom
Yes I love the focus on doing actually effective conservation!
@@MossyEarth I wish folks would just let Mother Nature do her thing. I mean, she's been taking care of the earth for millenia until humans got greedy and messed things up. Still, I guess ya gotta start somewhere to restore the balance and I am grateful you are here to do this. Wish I was 20 years younger; I'd drop everything and help out...
I remember being a kid going to a local nature reserve in Finland, and being amazed at how the trees formed these clean corridors. Then I asked about it, and was told it's because they are planted there that way, and that the forest has already been cut down before.
Pretty quickly realized there wasn't really much of anything in between the trees. Just birches in a line, and grass or bare soil in between. Luckily there's still a good amount of natural forest here too but the memory still sticks. Some replanted rows of trees don't really make a forest.
Exactly! There is a lot more to a forest than just rows of trees... however, those monocultures can be "saved" and its a worthy effort. - Cheers, Duarte
So much of what might look like a forest up here in Sweden & Finland aren't really forests, they're wood farms. Monocultures ment to be clear-cut every few decades. Iirc depending on how strictly you define a natural forest, it's way less than half of woods in Sweden that are forests.
Yeah, it's not much of a nature reserve if there isn't any nature left.
@@feuerling It was a plot of land at the edge of it, I think once you crossed the river towards Helsinki it was natural forest.
@@GustavSvard Yeah, same here in Germany. A lot of monoculture tree farms. It's just saddening
Really enjoyed creating this video with you Mossy Earth, well done everyone involved, looking forward to making more! :) 🌿
Thanks for your help Rob, I look forward to working with you again! - Tom
@@MossyEarth You should pin their comment so everyone can see it!
I've been watching both channel's videos and love them. This is a great match! 👍
Glad you are teaming up with Mossy earth! Been watching you both for awhile and I am loving everything you do!
@@MossyEarth Can I fill you On how to save an ecosystem document the plants and trees to find in it before it is destroyed then put them back again so they will be as healthy as they were before they were destroyed
Oh! This feels like my childhood dream! I remember walking around the monocultural woods around my village and constantly thinking what kind of trees I would plant there to give it more diversity. Especially after I learned that although the spruces feel like they've been there forever, the original woods actually consisted of oaks and beeches.
And I kept telling everyone in the village that something should be done and that I want to do it and everybody just thought I'm a silly child with crazy ideas. Now here you are, doing exactly that. One of the reasons I became a member.
You could beging by logging 1 trees and planting a native oak or beeche instead IT would make a différence even if its small
I'm taking BS Environmental Science currently a 3rd year college student and I've recognized the topics that were discussed here (monoculture reforestation, understory species and canopy levels) because last sem we had to do an individual review paper and I encountered this topics while doing my paper.
I've also learned from my prof that when doing this projects, you need to consult a professional or an expert in the field that you'll be working.
Biodiversity is really an important component of a functional ecosystem not just on forest ecosystems but also for different aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems because without biodiversity, an ecosystem will be lifeless.
The mature woodland on Scotland's West coast is heavily influenced by moisture-laden air produced by the Gulfstream.
This classifies the woodland as 'temperate rainforest' also known as Atlantic woodland and Celtic rainforest.
Globally, temperate rainforest is more under threat than tropical rainforest so protection of this unique ecosystem is vital.
Very true I live in the Pacific Northwest in North America and it's such a small area that is habitually logged heavily.
Greetings from South Africa. You are inspiring me to rewild my mind and in doing so I have incorporated these attitudes into my lessons with my learners at school. Ill be showing them this video! Great work guys.
Thank you Alain! That is brilliant to hear, we really appreciate it :) - Cheers, Duarte
But isn‘t South Africa one of the few countries in the world that is rather balanced in terms of nature and cities?
@@1zebbe3 Well it's hard to expand when you're broke and a bunch of rock and grass isn't exactly the msot prime target for "culturisation".
@@crazydragy4233 Sorry but I don‘t have any clue of what you are trying to say…
@@1zebbe3 A lot of land is not exactly the best land for cultivation and most areas are poor and wasted because of corruption 🤷 Not the prairie's
So fantastic. This gives me hope in humanity.
Thank you very much guys.
May the land of my ancestors see restoration and peace. (My grandfather Thomas McManus’s family was from Scotland, I take pride in that.)
Thank you for the kind words my friend! - Cheers, Duarte
I'm a Brazilian primatologist who worked in Scotland. I just bumped into your channel by chance and I'm loving it! Thank you for the content! It makes me so glad to see these initiatives. In Brazil, grassroots movements like this are much more rare and also dangerous. Brazil is perhaps the most dangerous country for conservationists because big companies keep running the country and threatening indigenous people and locals.
Great work to all involved! Also big thanks to Rob for presenting this and showing more energy per frame than I've shown in my entire life
Haha thank you! 😁🤙
It makes me really happy that we are focusing on the forgotten understory. It helps bring more attention to the importance and complexity of forest ecosystems and is a way for us to do work that could be left behind otherwise! Well done everyone on getting the project off the ground and for the top notch video!
A year ago, I moved across the USA, from the lush forests of the pacific northwest to the factory forests of Pennsylvania. I was appalled at the lack of undergrowth and still am. There are parks that have the most gorgeous undergrowth and I wish the other woods were given the same respect. I had never considered the restoration of undergrowth, but now I've been given new hope! Thank you!
I just love you guys and the positive impact you’re making around the world.
Thank you John, we really appreciate all the support that allows us to do this work. It is really appreciated :) - Cheers, Duarte
Thanks John appreciate the kind words!
The Netherlands can use some of this too. Our forests are consistently empty in the underbrush almost everywhere.
It would also be very nice to have you guys do a once over our planted forests in reclaimed land. Obviously they aren't natural but we can make them as such
I think a lot of forests suffer from the same problem, especially ones planted on reclaimed land, as forestry efforts often focus solely on planting trees. If you're building an ecosystem basically from scratch, you need to start from the ground up! - Tom
The Netherlands should try and restore more bogs. Because 1. in most of the Netherlands it's what naturally occurred before people went in and harvested all the peat and drained the swamps. 2. bogs and wetlands are really efficient at capturing carbon and storing it into the ground. After all peat is mostly carbon.
@@MossyEarth next to Iceland the Netherlands has the least forest coverage in Europe. I absolutely despise our government and the people living here
Yeah i live in Flevoland, walk in the biggest forrest of europe every week. But its Just dead. Only trees, they ones were planted for the wood industrie and it Just looks ugly and dead. Especially with insects.
That has also to do with, belief it or not, too much wildlife. Especially on the Veluwe, the deer numbers are just way to high for natural forest regeneration.
I'm so proud to be a member of Mossy Earth now, to support amazing projects like this! You guys just don't miss with the work you do!
Thanks for giving me the chance to help make an actual impact! 🧡
Enthusiastic and informative video for the rewilding novices like me .
Glad you enjoyed it! This is something most people could do in their local area. We will include it in an upcoming course :) - Cheers, Duarte
this channel restores my faith in humanity lmao
Haha thank you FrontierGG, I’m happy the videos bring some hope :D - Cheers, Duarte
It genuinely does 💜
It is similar here in Turkey too. The forestry department plants monocultures of non natives and conifers. They even cut down oak and juniper woodlands just to plant conifer monocultures.
It's great that you show that reforestation requires much more than replanting some trees. This is why it's so important to stop deforestation also.
Well done Peter and Hannah for getting this project off the ground :D Also great job on the video Rob and Tom :)
A great effort from all involved! - Tom
Beautiful initiative. Forests are great for breathing clean air, breathing is life ! 🌍🌏🌎
Love this as a concept, and really intrigued to see the results from it, so that we can then replicate it elsewhere. Welcome to the team Rob!
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how we can use this knowledge going forward! - Tom
There’ll be plenty of opportunity I’m sure Paul 🙂🙏
For viewers not familiar with Scottish forest ecology, it would be useful to explain if Quercus petraea, Juniperus communis, Sorbus rupicola and Sorbus arranensis are typical understory species, or if they are expected to one day taking over the canopy from the originally planted tree species (succession).
Nearby Glasgow gets pretty wild on a Friday night without any assistance from Mossy Earth! lol
Great stuff, thanks
Glasgow is a wild place... Now some areas outside of it will be wild in a whole different way! - Tom
Glad to see Rob joining the effort I love his enthusiasm.
I think Rob did a brilliant job presenting this, it was a joy to edit! - Tom
Ahhh cheers will & Tom!
I can just hear all those trees taking a deep "aaaaaahhhhh" breath as the plastic is taken away.
The young woodland needs thinning, there's no light reaching the woodland floor for flowers to grow. Compare that to the ancient woodland you showcased, there's a big difference.
Always a problem, although I know there is light getting through in most of Locherwoods at least. Since this was planted on reclaimed land though not much has had a chance to arrive and grow there, and of course some of the species planted are quite rare in the area, so it needed a good old-fashioned bit of planting! - Tom
Woodlands thin themselves.
@@MossyEarth Ok thanks for the info!
@@iseriver3982 It depends, most developing woods in the UK need thinning as we lost our megafauna (European elk, bison, aurochs, tarpan). They would browse and graze, as well as uproot young trees. So humans need to recreate that in a young woodland, have it spacious so that young trees can grown larger and healthier, and allow light to hit the forest floor.
It goes in cycles throughout the year. Understory starts growing before the trees leaf out, then different plants will die off every 2-3 months so something else can take over.
If you have a backyard, look into native species. It's amazing to support these projects and grow your own native species if you can afford to do it!
Bamboo could be a good replacement for the plastic tree protectors. Just an idea
I read that indigenous people have more biodiversity on lands managed by them than there is even on protected areas (USA). Do you work with them? And if so, it would really be interesting to learn how they handle and live with nature. I would love a video on that. Thank you for everything you do.
I got so teared up by what y’all are doing. From deep within; my ancient DNA, feeling moved, and overall feeling a sense of hope and relief. Thank you for what you are doing Mossy Earth and your partners!
Your videos are perfection!
especially this one
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love your documentation of these changes!
keep up the good work, my guy!
We'll keep doing our best! - Tom
Would you consider coming to Jersey (UK) and do an episode? We have several tree planting projects in the works but I fear that they will not consider the importance of the lower vegetation. Many thanks and good luck 😉
No current plans but we have added the idea to the list! - Cheers, Duarte
Not all about the trees, great job guys! 🙌
Thanks Bob! - Tom
Thank you all so much for your work in helping our beautiful Mother Earth, especially those wonderful volunteers!!! 🙏💗✨ I hope to be able to volunteer myself
Love to see this, thank you.
Important work not only doing this but getting the word out
I love this project! It's actually teaching me a lot of strategies for rewilding artificially replanted and poor quality forests in my continent. I hadn't even thought of diversifying the groundcover and not just reintroducing endangered trees that weren't originally replanted.
Rob is a great addition, I thought he was a core member of the team :)
you guys are so thorough and transparent i absolutely love and adore your team.
Thank you for your work and enthusiasm!
This is great inspiration for people to take care of their local ecosystems.
YES! Cool to see Rob here 💪
How wonderful !!!
It's so fun learning about native species, they're all such great neighbors!
What a noble job!
Seeing your projects made me realize how few native plants and how depleted of biodiversity a lot of Dutch forests are.
This is exactly what I strive to do, not only transforming lifeless landscapes. But also transforming concrete back into nature. How it should be.
Massive thanks and much, much appreciation for these fantastic efforts.
Thanks!
Great as always and very interesting info!
I love the work they do!
Fantastic work. 💚
Great work. We need this more and more!
I've been watching Leave Curious recently and love Rob's enthusiasm. I always feel energised after a video from him. Great addition to Mossy Earth.
Hey thanks :) we’re going to make some more videos together, keep sharing this brilliant work!
@@LeaveCurious glad to hear ☺️
Beautiful
For a moment, I forgot that ivy is native to UK and Europe. Being from North America, it's so invasive here; so when you referenced planting it, I could feel my heart trying to sink.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE WORK YOU DO KEEP IT UP !!
Can't wait to see the results in a couple years!
You guys are amazing!
Glad to see yet another way to enrich the biodiversity of our planet, great job !
Congratulations, great work
Thank you for everything you do for our planet! :)
It wouldn't be possible without the efforts of everyone involved, including all the members and everyone who watches these videos! - Tom
Yes thank you for watching and being part of it!
thank you for all your work guys!
Thank you for the support, our work wouldn't be possible without it! - Tom
@@MossyEarth ill consider joining in the membership
You are doing great job! Cheers!
I grew up in the woods and something I've realized is that, if a person didn't, they might not realize how small a component trees are to the whole thing. The trees always felt like a greenhouse, kind of. A special roof over your head that lets all sorts of amazing and unique plants grow. You can't have the plants without the roof, but just like how a greenhouse without plants feels pointless, a collection of trees without the forest understory just doesn't feel like a forest. There is a sharp difference between just a collection of trees, and actually stepping into the forest. The air even smells and feels different depending on how dense the trees are, the understory, and even the soil. It all interacts, and when you're in a forest it *feels* alive. There's nothing like it.
Cool. I'm rewilding a small woodland that was planted with Norway Spruce just after WW2. I'm returning it to mixed native woodlands on the Surrey / Sussex border.
Keep up the good work! So glad you've teamed up with Rob, been a watching him for awhile too!
Thanks
Amazing 🌱
I love Dog Violet. They always look lovely.
This is so cool!
Keep up the great work guys!
It's a very good reminder to people that just planting native trees is not the final chapter, especially if the chosen area is isolated.
I'm surprised your planting Ivy, because a lot of woodland in britain is blighted by Ivy that is taking over.
Ivy has fully taken over some woodlands, however it does have a role to play! According to the woodland trust it supports at least 50 species on its own, the berries are high in fat and important for many birds and the flowers are also important as they come about right before many insects go into hibernation, among other benefits like providing shelter (bear in mind this is native ivy and not Boston or Poison Ivy, both of which are North American species) - Tom
Love this!
Can't wait to see the before and after of these areas.
I wish I could do the work you do. Thanks for helping the planet & our future.
I love Rob from Leave Curious. This is so cool to see him on another channel I love
Great to see Rob here !
We hope to work a lot with him going forward! - Tom
Congratulations to the 100k subs!!!
Love your stuff kick on love it
Well done
My two fav channels partnering up!!
We're hoping to do so more with some of our UK projects, keep an eye out! - Tom
Ahh awesome! Yes we’ll be making more together!
Real Super heroes to Save Earth
Very interesting indeed
Great video can’t wait to see more. Also well done ‘Leave Curious
Very informative video on an excellent project
Thank you Christine! We appreciate the support and the kind words :) - Cheers, Duarte
this is so cool
Three species of Sorbus all in the same area, I am impressed with that density and diversity in one genus!
Seems like an uphill war that. . . but then I remembered I've rewilded my small acre right here. The believers in monocrops are all around me. But 20 years ago when I quit mowing, nature rebounded quickly and there's now a wooded wild space. Last year I started planting specialized indigenous pollinator plants and the place was literally buzzing! The plan for this year is to double those plants. Also to add more shrubs to strengthen the understory. It's a food forest for any creature who happens along. Including me. ; )
I’m looking forward to the follow up video of this!
Great video
I wish to pay a membership for Mossy Earth, but sadly, it doesn't offer to pay in Canadian Dollars, and I don't want to see the difference in cost disappear in the pocket of banks. But let me tell you, the moment that option will be available, I'm paying that membership for sure! The videos are so inspiring and those projects so important! I hope that at least, my views helps you get a lil bit of that RUclips money to help your organization.
That’s the way to go
RESPECT!