Jays Might Be Responsible for Planting Half the Tree Population in England's Woodlands

Jays planted more than half of the trees in two new forests in lowland England rather than landowners, charity, or machinery.

Natural Regeneration

According to a new study, former fields quickly converted into a native forest without the need for plastic tree guards, irrigation, or expensive care, bolstering the argument for adopting natural regeneration to fulfill ambitious woodland creation objectives.

Instead, thrushes distributed seeds of bramble, blackthorn, and hawthorn during "passive rewilding," This scrub served as natural thorny tree "guards" for oaks that developed from acorns buried in the ground by jays.

The study traced the fate of two fields near Monks Wood, a nature reserve in Cambridgeshire, and was published in the journal Plos One. In 1961, one of them, a barley field, was abandoned. In 1996, the old grassland was left alone.

The grassland region, dubbed "the new wildness," had developed into a young wood with 132 live trees per hectare, with oaks accounting for 57% of the total.

The barley field, dubbed "the ancient wildness," resembled mature woods after 59 years, with 390 trees per hectare, 52 percent of which were oaks. In all situations, jays were the most likely source of the oak trees, as they generally carry acorns considerably further than wood mice and grey squirrels to stockpile for the winter.

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Planted by Wild Jays

"Many people dislike jays," said Dr. Richard Broughton of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the study's principal author. They've always been thought of as a nuisance. However, more than half of the trees in these areas were planted by jays and likely grey squirrels. These new woods were essentially designed by jays and thrushes."

Non-native coniferous plantations are expected to dominate the government's ambitious tree-planting plans to combat the climate problem with 30,000 hectares of new woods in Britain by 2024, which opponents warn can harm native species and carbon-storing peatlands.

Natural regeneration advocates, such as Isabella Tree at Knepp, a rewilded farm in West Sussex, say that people must learn to embrace "scrub," which arises when land is abandoned and serves as a wildlife sanctuary.

The significance of scrub, according to Broughton, was proven by a study of developing forest at Monks Wood, a former research site for breakthrough ecological investigations.

Despite a significant population of wild deer in the region, including roe and invading muntjac, and a succession of droughts over the years, trees in both the naturally renewing forests flourished fast.

Setbacks

Until recently, the agricultural financial support system deliberately prevented natural regeneration by taking away basic payment subsidies if acreage was "scrubbed up." However, the government's new Woodland Creation Offer, which started this month, gives funding to English landowners who wish to reforest using natural regeneration, which helps biodiversity, carbon sequestration, soils, and flood mitigation.

"There is every good reason to harness the force of nature in fulfilling our most welcome national aim to increase woodland," said Tony Juniper, head of Natural England. Monks Wood's natural forest regeneration is a great illustration of what may be done, with trees establishing themselves with the help of the wind, birds, and animals. The presence of feathery and furry foresters eliminates the need for intrusive digging, plastic tubes, or imported seedlings.

Woodlands in Lowland Britain

According to Broughton, rapid regeneration like that seen at Monks Wood is only likely to occur within a few hundred meters of existing woodland in lowland Britain. Still, sites further away from the native forest are likely to provide even more biodiversity benefits because the particularly wildlife-rich shrubland stage develops more slowly.

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