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By Martyn Stenning
December 2023
At 7 pm on 10th November, the temperature outside was 6.6° Celsius. It was pitch dark since before 5pm. Next morning it was 2°C. at 08:00 h. Frost decorated both garden and car. In New Zealand, folk were experiencing daytime temperatures of c. 23° Celsius. Their days are lengthening and warming and ours shortening and cooling as the globe tilts them further south towards the sun. Winter is surely upon us. Also, we are experiencing low pressure fronts swinging in from the Atlantic Ocean across these islands and giving us a frequent drenching. All this affects the living natural world in many ways. Humans are part of this, and many homes have been flooded already in parts of these islands. Homes of animals will have flooded too. Hibernating hedgehogs and lizards will have been disturbed. Many invertebrates will have drowned and be washed away as they hibernate for winter. Most birds will have been able to fly to dryer areas, but will desperately look for food in new places to keep their tiny bodies warm through metabolic heat generation.
Fundamentally, there are 2 types of animals when it comes to keeping warm. These are 1. Endothermic animals like us and most other mammals, who keep their bodies warm by eating and ‘burning’ calories to maintain body temperature as we do at c. 36.8° Celsius. The body temperature of other endothermic animals may be different, for example, many birds maintain a temperature of around 40° C. The other type are 2. the poikilothermic (or exothermic) animals, whose body temperature is regulated by the external temperature. These are the invertebrates and primitive vertebrates such as fish, amphibians and most reptiles.
Animals that hibernate allow their body temperature to drop and fall into a kind of sleep, more accurately described as suspended animation, this includes some mammals such as dormice (dormir, French for to sleep). There are many dormice within the countryside around Uckfield. I used to monitor them in Lake Wood for many years. Even when they are sleeping, they sometimes squeak if they are disturbed, and can also be heard to snore on occasion. I know of no birds that hibernate, these little feathered animals must find extra food to keep them warm in winter. That is where we can assist by providing feeders and water in our gardens.
November 2023
No focus on climate change facts today, just a bit of natural history observation. Autumn is running late this year as we enjoy calm conditions and temperatures in the mid 20’s during the 1st 3rd of October. However, days are getting noticeably shorter as the Northern hemisphere of planet Earth spins away from the sun towards the shortest day solstice on December 22nd at 03:27 h. life adapts with migration and hibernation.
I went walking on the South Downs yesterday. It was a beautiful day with sheep grazing peacefully and Sussex Red cattle mostly lying down chewing the cud. There were flocks of several dozen skylarks hovering and calling to each other and generally ‘larking about’ with the joy of a warm bright day. Similarly, there were even larger flocks of meadow pipits doing similar things making their characteristic seep calls as they bounced around on the wing like a flock of very large gnats. Other notable birds were a red kite being mobbed by a carrion crow, and also a kestrel hovering statically as it watched for a vole or some other prey.
There is a dew pond near Ditchling Beacon, probably built hundreds of years ago by the shepherds of old, to maintain a supply of drinking water on the top of the chalk South Downs. Because chalk is porous, surface water is rare on chalk hills. However, for thousands of years, Sussex shepherds have grazed sheep up there. So, to provide water for humans and animals, the people dug these bowls, often in a natural depression in the chalk, with a diameter ranging from 15 to 30 metres. They lined the ponds with chalk ground down with the hooves of oxen that pulled a wide wheeled cart to smooth out the lumps. They often lined the pond base with Weald clay, and soot to deter earthworms from burrowing though and causing leaks, and straw to prevent the lining from cracking under the sun before the pond filled with water. Any moisture in the atmosphere would then fall in, or condense on the pond to eventually fill it. This should provide constant fresh water for a large community of animals and plants. I have even found rare and unusual fairy shrimps in the above mentioned dew pond, these are one of the most unusual species of animal known. They actually love living in ponds polluted with animal excrement and have the ability to live almost forever!
October 2023
I have decided to continue the theme of climate change this month, simply because I think it is important for folk to understand what is happening, and what is at stake. It will affect us all as time progresses.
70% of oil deposits existing today were formed in the Mesozoic age (252 to 66 million years ago). This was when there was a mass extinction of life forms caused by a huge meteorite that crashed into the planet where Mexico now exists. The explosion cut out sunlight from much of the planet for years. Most life forms perished, but not all. The dead life forms decayed into oil, gas and coal. The survivors evolved into the abundant biodiversity that we see today, from bluebells to blue whales.
We are now digging/pumping that oil out of the ground at a rate of 93.9 million barrels per day. That is about 14,928,906,994 litres, this is slightly less than the maximum year (2019, about 95 million barrels/day), to serve 8 billion humans.. The upshot is that we are not reducing oil production and use by very much yet, and the reduction is slow at present.
So how much oil is burned and produces carbon dioxide per year? Answer = 35,442,913,090 Barrels. This figure is huge, and produces about 34 billion tonnes (Gt) of greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide per year.
How many oil fuelled aircraft are flying globally at any moment? Answer: between 8,000 and 13,000. This is continuous. There are also billions of fossil fuelled terrestrial vehicles (cars etc.) still on the global roads. Also oil, coal and gas fuelled power stations and heating systems. We are tapping the energy from billions of life forms that lived millions of years ago and burning them to sustain our modern lifestyle.
100 years ago, it was coal fired steam engines and chimneys that were polluting the world. Now it is mainly oil, but the mechanism, combustion, is still the same. However, we do have the technology to turn it around. 200 years ago, it was the build up of horse manure in city streets that concerned people. Now it is carbon dioxide and particulates. We all need to do something as 8 billion small adjustments = 1 solution.
September 2023
It interests me that last summer, the British Isles experienced record breaking high temperatures and a drought. This year, temperatures have been generally below the average norm. Also, it has been unusually wet. So what is happening to the climate? These islands have not experienced any general disaster this year so far. The fact is disasters have been experienced elsewhere. For example, More than a million displaced people and dozens dead after record rain drenches north-eastern China.
May 2023 was the world's third warmest May on record in 174 years. We are already seeing devastating fires in North America. Global sea ice has reached a record low. This will reduce the albedo effect. Ice reduces global heating by reflecting the sun’s rays into space. July 2023 was the hottest global month on record. Global average daily sea surface temperatures (SST) hit 20.96 Celsius in early August, breaking the record of 20.95°C, reached in 2016, according to the Copernicus climate modelling service. Scientists say the record will continue to be broken. It is usual for oceans to be at their global hottest in March, not August. This is because most of the global ocean is in the southern hemisphere.
It is encouraging that the BBC is beginning to regularly mention climate relevant facts on the news, because I feel too few people in Britain are aware of them. We have heard many reports of how thousands of British holiday makers have gone on holiday to Mediterranean countries only to find they need repatriating to Britain because of the heat and fires. It also helps us to understand that many folk from “hot countries” are trying to migrate to Britain because of our more temperate climate. Sadly, rich people in those countries invest in air conditioning in their homes, which incidentally, contributes to climate change by using fossil fuel generated electricity to export heat from their rooms to the world outside. But poor people who maybe cannot afford such a luxury decide to migrate north.
The British Isles has its own air conditioning system that may keep us warmer than our continental neighbours in the winter and cooler in the summer. This is called the Atlantic conveyer, or the North Atlantic Drift. This is a current of water that flows from the Caribbean Sea to the British Isles. This is accompanied by our prevailing, rather wet, SW winds.
August 2023
As an ecologist, I am constantly wrestling with my conscience concerning life decisions. The world, like individual life forms, is fragile and can be damaged by meteors, volcanos and life-form occupants. However, the biosphere is also robust and will change in response to an insult from the life forms that occupy it. An insult can be a physical abuse as well as a vocal one. Currently, humans are insulting the planetary biosphere by digging up the composted, fossilised material of past life and burning it in the atmosphere for energy that destabilises in the global climate. With this in mind, we all have to make day-to-day decisions that may contribute to this condition or ameliorate it.
I am committed to working for the maintenance of biodiversity and a healthy globe, and I regret any consequence of my actions that may lead to the death of some life form. Examples include insects killed in collision with my car as I drive, or damage to ecosystems when I release pollutants. However, sometimes self-preservation kicks in and I find myself having to deliberately control some organism or other. I always mentally express my regret for doing so. The other day, I noticed a paper ball being formed in my garage roof. It was an Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) colony forming. There was a queen and about 20 workers building this nest. However, a sting from this species has been known to kill a human, so I had to make a decision to stop this colony from increasing. Therefore, sadly, I had to humanely send them to the great hornet’s nest in the sky. Asian hornets have only recently found their way to Europe (c. 2004), and this is almost certainly due to human activity. However, European hornets (Vespa crabro) are altogether more passive, more so than their sometimes aggressive smaller common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) cousins, and I for one am content to leave the native hornet species, even though it is larger, to complete its life cycle. Generally, they will not bother a human if a human does not bother them.
So how do I try to offset my negative consequences? Well, I try to adjust my lifestyle, for example, planting and cultivating new trees, establishing nest-boxes for animals, recycling as much as possible, mowing as little as possible, reducing meat consumption, using legs, cycles and public transport when appropriate, but, not flying in planes if it can be avoided.
July 2023
By the time you read this (in July) we will have had the longest day (21st June), but that does not mean that it will be any cooler. Sometimes we get our warmest weather as late as August. As I write, we have had about 2 weeks of persistent north-easterly wind and no rain. We are being effectively blow-dried. The prevailing wind here in England should be a wet south-westerly. Therefore, I am finding it a bit odd, and I expect the rest of nature is too. I have been filling my bird water-baths daily.
The lovely thing about June is that days are long, but it is not normally too hot nor too cold. It is a good time to be out and about. I was watching 4 well grown fox cubs from our upstairs window this morning at about 06:00 h. just playing with anything they could find. We have seen them with their mother on previous evenings. Sadly, our singing male blackbird has been caught and part eaten by either the foxes or one of the neighbours’ cats. However, that is nature, and I am sure he will soon be replaced. The female is still foraging, presumably for her offspring. I was also watching some swifts feeding on flying insects over Uckfield’s houses this morning. These aerial wonders arrive from Africa in early May, breed in buildings or cliffs, then return with their youngsters to Africa in August. They are among the last spring migrants to arrive and the first to leave after raising normally 2 offspring per pair. However, they are one of our longest lived small birds, regularly living 10 and sometimes as long as 21 years, during which time they rarely land. They feed, drink, sleep and mate while flying, stopping only to care for young.
I was alarmed to see the news yesterday about the forest fires in Canada, covering 40,000 hectares, that is 98,000 acres. The smoke from these fires was making it hazardous for breathing as far away as New York. I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come in other parts of the planet this summer. It has been predicted that we may have record breaking temperatures this year. We all need to be prepared for that.
One way that we keep our roses lush is to put fresh lawn clippings around them. If lawns have to be mown, the very best thing to do with the clippings is to put them, fresh, around the roses. This may not work for other shrubs and trees as it can induce fungal infection, but not on roses.
June 2023
Nature is in full productivity mode as I write these notes in May. All plants are growing like there is no tomorrow. These are producing flowers and leaves that are being visited by countless millions of insects as they harvest nectar and by doing so, pollinate the flowers that go on to produce the seeds for the next generation. Other insects such as caterpillars, which are the larvae of butterflies and moths will be eating the leaves in order to grow fat and reproduce for the next generation. All the time, larger animals such as amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals will be eating the surplus insects for the energy that they provide, that in turn allows them to breed. Soon the world will be full of fledgling birds begging food from their parents to make them strong so that they can breed next year. All the above forms the pyramid of numbers, resulting in energy from the plants flowing through the different components of the pyramid, with each one known as a trophic level.
This description is simplified, as, like us, many animals eat both plants and other animals. But, if this pyramid is disrupted, say, by removing one of the components such as for example the sparrowhawks, or the frogs, who are both tertiary or quaternary consumers, you get an increase in their prey, then a decrease in the prey of the prey and so on. This is called a trophic cascade and can lead to plagues of a particular species such as quelea birds in Africa or locusts. Usually this is only temporary as nature tends to compensate.
We are all stewards of the planet, and we should understand how things work. Ecology is becoming more important as we realise the consequences of complacency in the things that we have done to the planetary ecosystem. We can change things, just by adjusting what we do in day-to-day life. No-mow-May is a good way of saving some wildflowers and the insects that depend on them. Putting up a nest-box in the garden or elsewhere is a good way of helping birds. Digging a pond will help frogs. Making a bee hotel in the garden is another idea, or keeping bees to yield honey and help pollination is also good. Campaigning to save biodiversity hot-spots is a brilliant way of conserving nature for the next generation, but also making room for the fellow inhabitants of the planet wherever you live will make a difference.
May 2023
It is a sad reflection on our islands that the UK is recorded by the World Wildlife Fund as “one of the most nature depleted countries in the world”. 30% of our native bird species are “threatened with extinction”. Most of this loss is due to human activities that degrade the natural environment. A motto of the RSPB is “giving nature a home”. The RSPB establishes nature reserves in partnership with other organisations. These reserves give nature a home which in turn supports birds that depend on ecological biodiversity hot-spots. Birds fly from disturbed areas to undisturbed areas. However, they are then in competition with other birds that are already in those areas. The only way to stop this degradation is to recognise local biodiversity hot-spots and save them.
All habitats have what is called a carrying capacity. If animals are forced to move from one location to another, they become refugees. As such, they have to compete with others for food, nesting sites and just space. The result is density dependent mortality due to this competition. The total population is reduced to the carrying capacity of the habitat, for example a woodland or a meadow or a pond, lake, or river.
Many species depend on habitat diversity for their homes, such as song thrushes. Thrushes forage in grass-lands as well as nesting and singing in trees. Herons also nest in trees but hunt their food in water-bodies. Where large numbers of species live (biodiversity hot-spots), we need to follow the current national initiative to reverse this trend of species loss. In Uckfield we have such a dilemma. The northern perimeter of Uckfield is such a biodiversity hot-spot with protected areas like Buxted Park SSSI, Lake Wood LWS, West Park LNR LWS, Uckfield Cemetery LWS and many more. There is an application to make Lake Wood and Downlands Farm an SSSI like Buxted Park. However, some folk want to build a housing estate there. This would destroy the habitat mosaic and reduce biodiversity. If you would like to see the site saved for the rich biodiversity of plants and animals etc that it contains, please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/wealden-council-uckfield-town-council-stop-building-on-downlands-farm-uckfield. I personally have recorded 70 different bird species using this site and have a 20 page list of all species that I have recorded there, including kingfishers.
April 2023
By the time you read this, day-light will be longer than night-dark. The dynamic awakening of spring will be well underway. Leaf buds on most deciduous trees will have burst open, revealing the billions of little green oxygen producing solar panels that we all depend on and call leaves.
Deciduous (Latin deciduus) plants (decide to) cause their leaves to “fall off ” ready for winter, and re-leaf each spring. This plant behaviour is confined to a relatively narrow band of global temperate zones. The alternative is to be evergreen, like our native Scots pine, juniper and yew. All other conifers are alien. Holly is the only truly evergreen British native broad-leaved tree. Box is native, broad-leaved and evergreen, but is generally considered to be a shrub. All other broad-leaved evergreen trees, such as holm oak, or bay (laurel) are alien. Bay is a true laurel, and supplied the leaves that made up Julius Caesar’s laurel crown. The garden hedge-plant often referred to as laurel is a species of cherry in the Prunus genus. Its full name is cherry laurel. This species, like Rhododendron, has become an ‘Alien Invader’ and colonised many ancient woodlands with problematic consequences. All plants in Britain are either alien or native and invasive or non-invasive. An example of a native invasive plant is bracken. A non-invasive alien example is Dahlia, which is native to north and central America. A native non-invasive example is pyramidal orchid. Two examples of invasive non-native species are noted above. These inhibit and outcompete native species.
Ivy is clearly not a tree, but a native climbing vine. Being evergreen gives ivy a function similar to holly. Owls like to roost during daylight in ivy-clad trees. Honeybees and other insects feed on nectar from ivy during autumn, because ivy is one of the last plants to flower. The berries of ivy, yew and holly feed countless birds especially woodpigeons during the winter. The seeds of these plants pass through the bird’s body and are dispersed throughout the woodland to germinate and produce new trees, or climb up old ones. Ivy-clad trees provide a roosting and hibernating habitat for many species of animals, especially invertebrates. Ivy rarely kills trees, but just uses them for support, may limit their branching ability, make them wind-opaque and may hasten their demise.
March 2023
March 20th (2023) at 21:24 h. universal time, is the solar equinox. That day, globally, day-light equals night-dark in length, i.e. 12 hours of each across the whole of planet earth. After this date, daylight hours are longer in the northern hemisphere and shorter south of the equator. Hence, one global thing that does not change, with human induced climate change, is the cycle of day length variation. Earth will continue to orbit the sun and spin on its axis resulting in seasonal change. Meanwhile, down here on the planet surface, us enterprising and increasing humans are continually finding ways to make life easier for ourselves, such as better modes of transport, more and warmer houses, convenient plastic packaging, efficient waste disposal like landfill, combustion and the open oceans. Also, industrialised farming, better quality food, deeper open cast mines and oil wells digging out more valuable raw materials.
This is all very well, but where does oxygen to do it come from? Answer = nature. Where does our water come from? Answer = nature. Who deals with our waste products such as CO2? Answer = nature. Who looks after nature? Answer = we are supposed to as stewards of our environment. Are we succeeding? Not really. Why not? Because we seem to have confused our priorities. This has resulted in 3 linked by-products of our technological revolution, namely, pollution, species extinction and climate change. So, how do we deal with those? That is difficult. In truth it has become a priority to have big airports with more aeroplanes so that we can holiday in more exotic locations. It has become a priority to make bigger, more intensive farms to produce more animal feed to make more meat for ‘luxury’ food such as beef, lamb chicken and pork. It has become a priority to dig out and burn more and more fossil fuels to service our desire for a more luxurious life. However, in doing this we are damaging the very land that feeds us and the very paradise that we desire to be part of. Sadly, the greed of the few is increasing the suffering of the many. In truth, many folk will migrate from hot countries to cooler ones like ours to escape the ravages of climate change. This migration is not confined to people, animals too are changing their locations as their home ranges become uninhabitable due to drought or starvation. As time moves on we are learning more about the consequences of our work. Hopefully, we will soon start to see the solutions making a difference.
February 2023
Albedo (Latin for whiteness) is a term used in science to describe the amount of light from the sun that is reflected back into space. Namely, by clouds, snow, ice and anything white on the planet surface. In other words, the more light is reflected, the cooler the planet will be. For example, a white car, or any other white object, will reflect a little of the sun’s rays, and be more visible than a dark colour, and also have a minute beneficial effect on global warming. Many animals have dark areas on their bodies to absorb light from the sun to keep them warm. It is not only humans that like to sun-bathe. As the days lengthen and the sun gets higher in the sky, many animals will sun themselves to get warm. Look out for birds doing it, also, reptiles and insects such as bumble bees.
Less light is reflected into space as polar ice and snow diminish. We should expect another hot summer this year. A good way to prevent drought affecting your garden is to install water butts to catch any rain that does fall. South-East Water Company often have offers to supply water butts at a subsidised price. Also, plant a tree, but make sure it is at least 7 metres from the house. I planted several trees in my Uckfield garden when we moved to our current house in 1987, now, the largest, a sessile oak (Quercus petraea) is about 10 metres tall and shades parts of the garden, absorbs CO2 and is a magnet for insects, birds and squirrels.
I had a camera ‘trap’ for my birthday this year, so I set it up in my garden to record moving animals. It has an infra-red light and camera that is triggered by movement, day or night. The camera also has a solar panel on the top to charge its internal batteries in daylight. With this camera, I have discovered that there is a wonderful healthy fox visiting our garden almost every night. The camera also records animal sounds. Other animals recorded and filmed includes humans, cats, squirrels and birds.
It has become increasingly important for us to understand, conserve and live with the rich and vital biodiversity that lives around us. Human populations are increasing and we are invading more of the natural world that we depend on. I have found it very rewarding to observe and study the natural world around me. Unless we understand it we cannot value it.
January 2023
Nature is every natural thing in the universe, living and non-living. As far as we know, the universe is infinite. One thing is certain, us humans can have no measurable influence on it. Also, space is a very unhealthy place beyond the limits of our atmosphere. We learn more about it daily. Life on earth depends on the sun, moon and planet Earth for physical wellbeing. Other astral bodies provide an impressive sight nightly.
Our planet is our local life support system, there is no planet B, we influence it and it influences us. From it we come, and to it our bodies go. If we wish this to continue, we must have a plan to maintain it. A few centimetres of soil depth and the water bodies yield all our food. Countless species of organisms, that share the planet, process these resources along with the atmosphere to make it sustainable for all.
Ecology comes from the Greek words ‘oikos logos’, which means ‘home study’. Meaning - studying the of homes of all living organisms on the planet. What we do not always remember is that our bodies themselves are ecosystems, supporting c. 10,000 species of micro-organisms. Most of which we need as much as they need us, to help the body digest food, strengthen the immune system, and ward off dangerous pathogens. So, what we consume also supports them and in return they help support us.
The upshot is that nature is multi-dimensional, and keeping it in balance is called homeostasis, meaning the tendency towards a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements. For example, a human and bacteria, or food consumption and space taken to produce it. This definition can be applied to nature at all levels. All life is interdependent.
Our influence on the world around us must be proportionate to the needs of all organisms. This is a difficult balance to achieve as some activities have a greater impact than others. For example, we can reduce our global impact by walking or cycling instead of driving. We can grow some food or buy local produce where possible. We can avoid using aeroplanes, or install solar panels and heat pumps. We can eat less meat. Producing meat requires far more land than cereals, e. g. 1 hectare can produce 40 kg of beef, but c. 8 tonnes of cereals. Also, cereals do not produce harmful (climate changing) methane, but cattle do, mostly from their mouths!