Biodiversity – Page 4 – The Green Tau

Counting on … day 166

9th September 2024

A rich biodiverse habitat is a habitat that is regulated by both competition and opportunism. The balance is not always even in the short term but longer term imbalances level out.

This year’s wet weather has seen an explosion of slugs that has not been fully balanced by an increase in beings that prey on slugs. Although conversely the wet weather may have produced excess amounts of plant growth on which the slugs have been feeding!

It is not just gardeners but farmers too who find their hard work devastated by hungry slugs – but research is in hand to find ways of creating a better balance between slugs and plant growers – for more information or to help – https://bofin.org.uk/2024/08/29/slimy-invaders/

Counting on … day 165

6th September 2024

Biodiversity is also an important component of our relationship with God. The following comes from the Centre for Action and Contemplation, and invites us to look again at nature.

“It might’ve been being at the beach and seeing a flock of seagulls in flight that suddenly made you aware of beauty in a way you’d never felt it before, or it may have been the first dog that you really knew, loved, and connected with. It helped you think of intelligence that was different than your own, and beautiful in its own unique way. It might’ve been some other scene where you felt sacredness, and holiness, and depth in the natural world. It’s easy for us … to forget that childlike wonder at this beautiful world. We don’t need to put God and nature in competition. Nature is God’s original self-expression”.

There Is No Competition

Counting on … day 163

4th September 2024

A biodiverse rich ecosystem is a more stable ecosystem, and that stability benefits all the component parts. A biodiverse rich environment will thus support a better life for humans as well as other creatures, plants and life forms. Such an environment will be healthier for humans – including cleaner air and water – and will ensure a richer, more reliable food supply.

Counting on … day 162

3rd September 2024

The State of Nature report 2023 states: “The UK, like most other countries worldwide, has seen significant loss of its plants, animals and fungi. The data from State of Nature cover, at most, 50 years but this follows on from centuries of habitat loss, development and persecution. As a result, the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.”(1) This includes a 54% loss in the distribution of flowering plants, meaning more than half of the land is less rich in biodiversity.

Yet a rich biodiverse environment is better able to cope with and tackle the causes of climate change. (2)

https://stateofnature.org.uk/

(2) https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity

Counting on … day 161

2nd September 2024

There are 50 days remaining until this year’s biodiversity COP. Biodiversity COP16 will take place between 21st October and 1st November in Cali, Colombia

Biodiversity is a measure of the number of different varieties of life forms found in earth. Some ecosystems are richer in biodiversity than others. The richer an ecosystem is in biodiversity, the more stable is that ecosystem. Globally biodiversity has been shrinking at an alarming rate. The Biodiversity COPs are tasked with finding ways of reducing and turning about this loss of diversity.

Counting on … day 155

23rd August 2024

Ecosystem engineers have an ability to modify resources they have to hand to alter their environment. This alteration maybe to change or to destroy or to maintain (ie prevent change) a habitat. Coral species that form coral reefs, and trees that form forests, both have the impact of radically changing the environment into which they move. Beavers are well known for creating new habitats by felling trees and damming water ways. Prairie dogs by tunnelling and turning over the soil, provide accessible habitats for other burrowing mammals, birds, snakes and toads. They also keep the grass nibbled short, providing a favoured habitat for various birds, as well as enabling the prairie dogs to spot would-be predators – and their whistled alarm alerts other creatures in the vicinity too.

Many living beings, on land and in water, are important because they can engineer environments that support a greater diversity of life forms than might otherwise be the case. Humans fall into this category of ecosystem engineers but the outcome is not always one that promotes greater biodiversity.

Counting on … day 150

16th August 2024

There is a movement called ‘We are Nature’ (1) which aims to redefine the word ‘nature’. Dictionary definitions of nature define nature as being other than what is human. This setting apart appears assumes that that which is human is superior,more important, than nature, and thus to undervalue nature. The definition this group is looking to introduce would be along the lines of “The living world comprised as the total set of organisms and relationships between them. These organisms include bacteria, fungi, plants and animals (including humans). Some definitions may also include non-living entities as part of nature – such as mountains, waterfalls and cloud formations – in recognition of their important role underpinning the web of life.” This one comes from The Conversation – https://theconversation.com/a-new-campaign-wants-to-redefine-the-word-nature-to-include-humans-heres-why-this-linguistic-argument-matters-229338

If we see humans as being integral to, and not separate from, nature then how will that affect our understanding of what is a natural environment? For surely by this new definition a natural,

environment is not necessarily an environment free from a human presence or influence? Might a natural environment be better defined then as an environment in which there is a harmonious – long lived? – numerically rich biodiversity?

(1) https://wearenature.org/our-story/

Counting on … day 146

12th August 2024

The so called ‘Glorious Twelfth’ marks the start of the shooting season for grouse. Over the next few months some 700,000 red grouse will be shot on moors across the UK. These birds, whilst they remain wild, are husbanded by the owners of the grouse moors using methods that involve burning heather and shooting predators and competitors such as foxes, crows and magpies, and birds of prey. The burning of the moorland heather is intended to maximise the new shoots which the grouse feed on, but at the same time it damages the underlying peat and reduces biodiversity, killing insects and small mammals, and by inhibiting the growth of a wider range of native plants.

Grouse-moors are an artificial construct and do not equate with maintaining a ‘natural’ environment.

“Grouse are charming, sensitive birds who can survive as far north as the Arctic circle and are devoted parents to their chicks. They deserve better than being killed in cold blood for someone’s twisted idea of entertainment.” https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/grouse-shooting/

Counting on …day

22nd April 2024

Today is Earth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated in the USA in 1970. It is now an international day of celebration (always 2nd April) calling on people to protect the planet.

Do we understand and value the importance of the earth to our continued life and wellbeing?

For example do we care about the health of the soil? A healthy soil has:-

1. Good structure: A healthy soil has a crumbly texture with a good balance of air, water, and pore space. This allows water, nutrients, air, plant roots and microorganisms to move through it.

2. Nutrient content: A healthy soil contains the right balance of nutrients essential for plant growth. These can include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

3. Organic matter: Decaying plant and animal material improves soil structure, water retention and nutrient cycling.

4. Good soil pH: A pH range between 6.0 to 7.5 is ideal for plant growth.

5. Active soil microbiology: A healthy soil contains a diverse range of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. All of which play important roles in nutrient cycling, soil structure and plant health.

6. Low levels of soil compaction: A compacted soil can restrict root growth and reduce water infiltration.

7. Low levels of soil erosion: A healthy soil is not easily eroded by wind or water, which can lead to loss of topsoil and nutrients.

8. Good water-holding capacity: A healthy soil can hold water, preventing it from running off the surface or being lost through deep percolation. (https://insight.study.csu.edu.au/healthy-soil/)

If we use our farm soils in such a way that it diminishes or destroys these attributes, then we will not be able to grow enough food to feed ourselves. Further we will find that we have also diminished or destroyed local ecosystems leading to a reduction in biodiversity – ie of wild plants, birds, animals and insects. And that will have a knock on effect increasing risks of flooding, of accelerating climate change, and – particularly with the loss of pollinators- further risks to food security.

Earth Day reminds us that we must live in harmony with the earth and its natural systems.

Counting on … day 79

4th April 2024

Bioenergy can also be obtained from trees – the timber is burnt to either as direct form of heat from a stove of fire, or in a power station to drive steam turbines that generate electricity. Burning timber is the most common form of bioenergy used in the UK. Whilst it can be claimed that only waste timber is used – cuts and shavings from timber plants – the reality is that power stations such as Drax import timber which already starts to add to its carbon footprint. International rules imported timber is zero carbon as the emissions are counted in the country where the trees are harvested. In fact these emissions are often not recorded at all. And whilst the timber arrives here as preformed pellets, the timber intact comes from whole trees from mono culture plantations or from virgin forests.

In reality burning timber as a bioenergy is not a zero carbon option. The carbon stored in the timber is going to be released at some point in the future but if that tree is left to grow, and in its own good time, die, that carbon is locked in longer. Even better as the tree decays in its natural environment it will take years to decay during which time it will provide a habitat for a great variety of different plants and creatures. Further a large part of the carbon will be absorbed into the soil, again storing it away. If on the other hand the tree, having been felled, is used to make doors, floor boards, paper, furniture etc so the carbon is locked away for many more years to come.

For further reading – https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-we-do/influence-government-and-business/nature-protection-and-restoration/bioenergy

Is burning wood for energy worse for the climate than coal?

Biomass Basics

Carbon capture and storage CCS for the ongoing burning of fossil fuels to generate energy – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/26/tone-deaf-fossil-gas-growth-in-europe-is-speeding-climate-crisis-say-activists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other