Structural complexity across a continuum of woodland establishment methods from planting to natural colonisation
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@watts-km
Principal Scientist - Landscape & Restoration Ecology ππ³π²π¬@forestresearchuk.bsky.socialπ³π²π¬Biodiversity πΌπ π¦π¦Experiments π³π²@wrenproject.bsky.social π³ Hon Prof @stir.ac.ukπ
Structural complexity across a continuum of woodland establishment methods from planting to natural colonisation
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
π³Structural complexity across a continuum of woodland establishment methods from planting to natural colonisationπ³
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Looking forward to the #BES2025 Annual Meeting next week!
If you're interested in restoration, food webs, landscapes and species recovery, join me for the session:
"Species interactions and recovery under global change" - Tuesday 16th - 5:30pm - Lammermuir 1
There are problems with binary definitions of nativeness
βDilemmas arise from the dynamic nature of species' distribution ranges on longer time scales,
in the application to smaller regions defined by arbitrary borders,
& limited knowledge of species' past distributionsβ
doi.org/10.1002/oik....
Looking forward to #BES2025 this week! If you're interested in restoration, complexity and ecoacoustics you should definitely check out my talk on Thursday π³π²π³π¦π¦ββ¬
Could a 'lightweight' digital twin of a river system be a low cost tool to help us manage water quality and other pressures? We have a new PhD opportunity between Cardiff University and @natreswales.bsky.social to test this idea ππ§ͺ www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Itβs been a busy few days in the field, but weβve now established 200+ experimental plots for the LERN (Large-Ecosystem Recovery Network) across four post-agricultural sites in England. A major milestone for the project and exciting to see the configuration finally taking shape π³π¦ ππΌ
Very timely paper on the importance of long-term large-scale experiments π
Weβre just in the process of trying to set up the βLarge-scale Ecosystem Recovery Networkβ
π Experiments are central to understanding community dynamics, yet their use is declining.
We're trying to understand why.
If you work in community ecology, we'd really appreciate your input in a quick survey (<5 mins).
ππΌ link.webropolsurveys.com/S/2022629791...
Reposts welcome!
Check out our new preprint. In this review we show the comparative decline of experimental approaches in community ecology and discuss some alternatives to push the field forward
Experimental community ecology in decline: A call to embrace technology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.22.683879v1
Good question - yes, LERN (Large-scale Ecosystem Recovery Network) is designed to be a long-term BACI experiment. Perhaps we should join the @ect-uk.bsky.social network??
We managed to add in some ground preparation treatments to our 2nd LERN site before the plough broke - experiments seem a lot easier on paper π€£
Another 48 plots laid out on our 2nd LERN site in Herefordshire (incl some ground prep treatments) ππΌ 2 more sites still to go π³
On my way to Research-Practice Event to talk about using natural processes to create new woodlands π³ britainsforestfuture.zohobackstage.eu/event
π¨Job opportunityπ¨
We are hiring a 3yr research technician. If you love fieldwork, are passionate about forests & mountains, and want to up-skill in remote sensing, sensor networks and running field experiments this could be the dream job for you!
π§ͺπ³β°οΈπ°οΈπ‘οΈπ
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
You'll be working closely with a team of researchers @bristolbiosci.bsky.social and alogside some amazing partners at Forest Research @watts-km.bsky.social and a wider network of collabroators across Europe.
Do get in touch if you have questions about the role. Applications close on 27 November
Amazing 3-year βfield technicianβ position at @bristoluni.bsky.social to work with @tommaso-jucker.bsky.social @forestresearchuk.bsky.social & others on some really cool forest π³ experiments π #dreamjob
If we focus on restoring ecosystem processes rather than a reference species assemblage
Can we derive general rules?
Here we find plant-pollinator networks in grasslands
& plant-herbivore ones in woodlands
both become more complex with restoration age & area
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Restoration of ecological interactions: The influence of site and land... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New output from the restreco.com project
π¨PhD opportunityπ¨Come and work with us & Stirling Uni to understand the role of woodland creation π³in nature recovery πΊπ¦
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
more PhD info here www.linkedin.com/posts/efuent...
π’ PhD opportunity: βUnderstanding the ecological interplay between tree planting and natural processes to create future forestsβ πͺ΄π±π³ working on space-for-time & @forestresearchuk.bsky.social large-scale experiment network (LERN)
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
π½οΈ Two farmers, from Lincolnshire and Cornwall, talked to us about their values and how they influence their decisions about trees.
π Read some of the case studies 'Further paths to embracing trees on farms': www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications...
Supported by Defra.
Creating woodland through natural processes: Current understanding and knowledge gaps in Great Britain
Great to contribute to this #OpenAccess paper published in Ecological Solutions & Evidence: doi.org/10.1002/2688... #rewilding #forests #trees #nature @ukceh.bsky.social
New OA publication from TreE_PlaNat project @uktreescapes.bsky.social in Ecological Solutions and Evidence: Creating woodland through natural processes: Current understanding and knowledge gaps in Great Britain besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Another nice output from TreE_PlaNat project @uktreescapes.bsky.social: a video on integrating natural processes into woodland creation has just been released www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0N2...
Is there really a strict divide between (active) tree planting and (passive) natural processes when creating new woodlands β or should we be combining both approaches?
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Weβve also tried to capture some of the benefits & challenges of using natural processes in woodland creation in this short animation @uktreescapes.bsky.social youtu.be/i0N2PBJM0dQ?...
As part of www.uktreescapes.org/projects/tre...