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All hail Sphagnum ! (Read 2205 times)

shark

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carlisle slapper

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#1 Re: All hail Sphagnum !
April 22, 2021, 09:26:26 pm
The forestry commission could have a field day on this. It's the only bloody thing that lives below the battery farmed spruces. Must help that they planted most of them on peat bogs and it dies back nicely once they rag the forest harvester through. https://www.flickr.com/photos/beastmaker/50371830922/sizes/z/

carlisle slapper

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#2 Re: All hail Sphagnum !
April 22, 2021, 09:40:25 pm
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/irish-forestry-net-emitter-of-greenhouse-gases-1.4394707

I'd pitch my vote that it might be worth preserving the absolute f**k tonne of it growing in the plantations rather than chopper dropping that salad garnish in. Having climbed in this environment for years i can only agree with the Irish times article. Literally thousands of acres of sphagnum are wiped out monthly in Kielder at the moment as a by product of the harvesting ops. If its so important treat it like a rainforest and stop it getting wiped out after its established itself over a 60year period in some of the stands rather going all action man on the moors as a first port of call and seeding it.

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#3 Re: All hail Sphagnum !
April 23, 2021, 08:11:19 am
Interesting but the BMC is naturally focussed on what it can do in hills and mountains with partner organisations rather than what it can’t in commercial forests.

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#4 Re: All hail Sphagnum !
April 23, 2021, 11:05:32 am
And its great to see the tiny area with its low broad moorland hills that is the peak district being looked after, as it does have a massive population base surrounding it. Its all a good cause. I'm just a little confused as to how if mosses are so important how come the people involved in that arent putting any clout into preserving or transplanting their largest habitats which are under threat?

Have the BMC ever tried working with the FC? theres a wildwood being planted by northumberland wildlife trust up at kieldermoor which is a good collaboration example

If i may, do the hills in the 650 square km area around kielder not count for the BMC then? or the hills in redesdale or the cheviot? All of which sit between 4-800m and are some of the most remote environments in England. They're much less important yes but in this particular scenario they could be a far more valuable place to make a difference (if you want a wild remote walk that is 100% mossy i can recommend many in that area) They are also some of the most manmade and already with huge management infrastructure, you dont need helicopters to access the km Sq of mosses, it would certainly be a viable place to access them for transplanting. I would hope the FC would be fairly receptive to detailed sphagnum surveys in their various stands and they should be doing their own and shouting about it. if its of great carbon importance it might outweigh the price of the timber if the carbon economy ever gets started (Timber price has also been inflated through the whole "green" biomass push). I have no idea of the importance of mosses but i do see more square km of it there than anywhere else, both in the trees and on the moors. The unplanted peat uplands already have a great variety of mosses in. Anyway great message but if you know anyone whose job it is to be pushing this type of thing maybe get them to have a look round the plantations and get some surveys and impact assessments done for what happens after all these hundereds of square km of mosses get decimated? as donating to a worthy cause to put one square KM back whilst i watch hundreds get removed seems counter intuitive from my perspective, especially when the latter has been 60+ years in the making. One of those plastic straw and reusable bag type of policies/ campaigns rather than a closing a hole in the ozone type of policy. Do you have any journal links as to mosses super powers/ importance?

shark

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#5 Re: All hail Sphagnum !
April 23, 2021, 11:25:12 am
Good point about forests in upland areas. I’ve bounced this up to the BMC office. I’m not aware of the BMC working with the Forestry Commission on ecology projects. Presumbly there has been liason on access.

 

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