Newsletter Cylchlythyr

THE FRIENDS OF TREBORTH BOTANIC GARDEN

CYFEILLION GARDD FOTANEG TREBORTH

NEWSLETTER CYLCHLYTHYR

Number / Rhif 51 September/Medi 2014

COMMITTEE

Judith Hughes ([email protected]) Chairman Dr David Shaw ([email protected]) Vice-Chair Sarah Edgar ([email protected]) Secretary Cathy Dixon ([email protected]) Treasurer Nigel Brown ([email protected]) Curator Angela Thompson ([email protected]) Membership Secretary Dr John Gorham ([email protected]) Events Secretary James Balfour ([email protected]) Publicity Enid Griffith Committee Member Tom Cockbill ([email protected]) Committee Member James Stroud ([email protected]) Committee Member Ann Illsley ([email protected]) Committee Member Berta Rosen ([email protected]) Committee Member Brogan Feasey ([email protected]) STAG Representative Alex Hulley ([email protected]) STAG Representative

Newsletter Team

John Gorham (layout, photos) email as above Grace Gibson (adverts, articles) [email protected] Angela Thompson (commissioning articles, email as above planning, editing)

Cover Photos:

Front: Two Dragons Project. Dr. Sophie Williams with Prof. Chen Yin and Vice Chancellor Prof John Hughes [p. 5 ]

Back: Paintings by Marianne North. Fig. 19. Sacred Lotus in Java. (top) and Fig. 20. Not One Flower bt Many Protea cynuroides Linn. Van Staadens Kloof (bottom) [p. 42]

Unless otherwise stated, all contributions to the newsletter are copyright of the author.

Issue No. 51 September 2014

CONTENTS

Chair’s Introduction 3

Membership Renewal for Annual Cheque and Cash Payers 4

Curator’s Report: April to July 2014 5

Weather and Wildlife: April to July 2014 8 An Alphabetical Quiz for the Friends of Treborth 11

FAKING IT: an Antarctic Garden in the Temperate Zone 12

What is Happening in the Treborth Rhizotron? 14

Mattie Davies and Dorothy Lloyd Lewis 17

Just Another Day at Treborth 18

Organic Farming Boosts Biodiversity 20

Visit to Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia 21

Adventures in Lichenology 24

Evaluating the Role of Rhizotrons in Research and Education 26

If you go down to the Woods today….. 36

The Ecological Role of Grassland Fungi 37

Marianne North 42

Quiz Answers 44

Chair’s Introduction

This is my last introduction to the newsletter, as I shall be retiring as Chairman of the Friends and coming off the committee at the AGM in October. I told you all at the last AGM that I would leave within 2 years, and I had hoped to carry on until next year, but my health and personal commitments will not allow me to do so.

If elected, I will stay on as a Director and I shall still be around at Treborth. I am going to retire to the Maize House to help Ann Wood with the propagation. I will also be organising the plant sales with the established team.

Sarah is going to stand for Chairman, and if she is successful, I hope you will all give her your support. James Stroud has indicated that he would be willing to take on the role of minutes secretary, at least for the next year, but we still need someone, or several people, to take on the rest of the secretarial role. If you think you could help, or want to know more, please get in touch with Sarah. A strong, efficient committee is vital to the smooth running of both the Friends andthe Garden.

Thank you again to Angela and the newsletter team for putting together another information-packed edition. This is a huge commitment of time and energy which I’m sure is appreciated by us all.

Judith Hughes

And…

News in brief

Ann Wood, former secretary of the Friends, is currently enjoying watching Red Squirrels in her garden (which a few years ago won the Wildlife Trust’s wildlife gardening award) in Llangoed. She says, “My first sighting on the hanging nut feeder, 3 m from the kitchen window, was on 12 July, a slim glossy female that had the longest whiskers I've ever seen. She was joined on the 19th by another female, darker in colour, with soft non-tufty ears, and a frisky youngster, half size, fearless in exploring my old stone walls and rooftops. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have these enchanting animals in full sight. The temptation to stay near the kitchen window is immense. Wildlife gardening doesn't get any better than this!”

There are two interesting programmes to catch on Radio 4. Plants – From Roots to Riches was broadcast in the summer but is available as a series of 25 podcasts, each 15 mins long. It’s a brief history of botanical science and our

changing relationship with plants, drawing upon the archive collections and scientific research at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, and presented by Professor Kathy Willis, Director of Science at Kew. The other programme is Shared Planet, presented by Monty Don. It’s a series exploring the complex interface between a growing human population and wildlife, and is broadcast on Tuesdays at 11 am, repeated the following Mondays at 9 pm. Again, podcasts are available.

Donations: Thank you to Jennifer Rickards who donated the proceeds of her plant sales from her two open garden days: this was a total of £500. Gary Carvalho also gave us the proceeds - £74 - of his plant sale when he opened his garden. We would also like to thank the Beaumaris and Menai Bridge Camera Club, and the Bangor U3A Group, for their donations following their visits to Treborth, and Mr and Mrs Whowell, Mrs Conran and Mr and Mrs Robinson for their kind donations.

Angela Thompson

Membership Renewal for Annual Cheque and Cash Payers

It’s that time of year again when we’re asking you to renew your membership. The subscription year begins on 31 October so most of you have about a month of membership left. Members who joined after 1 May 2014 will have another 12 months in addition.

A reminder of our subscription categories:

Concessionary Full Student membership (three Free undergraduate years plus one post graduate year if applicable) Individual membership £7 £10 Joint (two adults per address) £10 £15 and family

The Friends are dependent upon your membership contributions to provide a steady income for improving Treborth and facilities. The Garden has never looked better, and many people arriving at Treborth for meetings etc comment on what a great asset it is for the local community. This is in no small part due to the careful spending of precious income from you.

So for those of you who pay on an annual basis, please would you fill in the enclosed form and return it to me with your cheque or cash. Alternatively, you may like to complete the Standing Order form (on the back of the membership form) so that you can ignore my reminder next year. Standing orders make life easier for all concerned!

On the subject of Standing Orders, you may remember our plea to those of you who made out mandates to pay our Barclays account to cancel these and set up a new mandate to pay our Co-op Bank account. There are a number of members who are still paying to our Barclays account – please could you print out a membership form from our website at www.treborthbotanicgarden.org, complete the standing order part and send it to Treborth. We will do the rest – thank you.

Angela Thompson

Curator’s Report: April – July 2014

The period has been one of very mixed emotions for all involved with the Garden and one in which, as ever, I am grateful for the enormous support of the Friends. Highlights have included the pleasure of accommodating the Patchwork Meadow exhibition on behalf of Plantlife, delivering 20 lively sessions for local schools, welcoming hundreds of punters to two highly successful Plant Sales, hosting a phenomenally popular Kite Festival and, perhaps most notably of all, welcoming a range of high profile guests to the formal launch of a Chinese Garden and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between China and Bangor to further the study and conservation of plants.

This last-mentioned event was held on 8 May in association with the Confucius Institute. Our guests of honour were Prof Chen Yin, Director of all the Chinese botanic gardens as well as head of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden in Yunnan (a garden with which Bangor is closely linked through Dr Sophie William’s participation in teaching in both Bangor and south China), and Prof Stephen

Blackmore, recently retired Regius Keeper at Edinburgh Botanic Garden and a botanist with considerable experience in conserving the Chinese flora. Also officiating at this event were Prof John Hughes, Vice Chancellor of Bangor University, and Dr David Joyner, Executive Director of International Development at Bangor University. Dr Sophie Williams gave an inspirational address advancing the aims of Treborth Botanic Garden through international partnerships and priming Treborth to welcome horticulturists and botanists from China through initiatives such as Bangor University’s new MSc in Plant Conservation launched in March this year and the Two Dragons Project highlighted in the last newsletter.

In stark contrast it is very sad (for all of us at Treborth) to report that Rosie Barratt resigned from her Gardener’s post in May. During her 6 month full-time position, she achieved a great deal and raised standards of horticulture and performance throughout Treborth. Everyone who came into contact with Rosie benefited from her tremendous horticultural experience and enthusiasm and energy as well as her constructive and helpful manner. She will be sorely missed and we wish her well in the future.

Recent graduate and regular STAG volunteer at Treborth, Tomos Jones, stepped into the breach for the summer period and adopted Rosie’s role from the start of June. He has proved a very capable replacement at such short notice, turning his hand to a wide range of tasks including taking school classes and providing the necessary cover for me while I led a field course to Bardsey in June. He moves on in September to continue his studies at postgraduate level at Leeds University having gained a First in Geography here at Bangor. We say, “Diolch yn fawr, Tomos, and good luck over the border!”

Tomos has been ably assisted by seasonal student gardeners funded by the Friends as in previous summers and their performance has been creditable in every way – Katie Fincken, Dan Loveard, Raisa Clericuzi and Al Hulley have not only helped with routine garden matters but also major projects such as the Bog Garden as well as Limestone Pavement construction on the Rock Garden. Chris Glass has successfully completed a 6 week work placement at Treborth as part of his BSc in Geography at Bangor University. He focussed on the Great Orme Plant Conservation Project initiated by STAG a few years ago, carefully upgrading the plant husbandry of all the relevant taxa we presently grow and starting the building of a large limestone pavement within the present rock garden to accommodate some of the Orme’s special lime-loving species. Chris also gave very able support to Tomos during a busy summer period including helping with school groups, as did Katie Fincken.

All our summer students worked hard on the Chinese Garden Project one day a week mostly under the supervision of Erle Randall and funded through the Confucius Institute. This has been an arduous effort involving the removal of large stumps and difficult perennial weeds, but the results are rewarding.

The Garden has hosted a number of successful social events including an annual summer gathering for staff in Biocomposites joined this year by colleagues in Research and Innovation. The Friends provided graduation teas for students and their families and friends on two occasions during mid-July. Our congratulations extend to all this year’s graduands especially those who have devoted so much of their spare time and energy to Treborth during their time at Bangor.

Later in July, new flooring was laid in the lab and involved a great deal of associated work from the Friends – thank you to all concerned.

This year’s annual ecology field course for Kew was held in late July and the Friends welcomed 11 final year Kew Diploma students to Treborth on 28 July. Mark Long gave them a guided tour of the carnivorous plant collection later in the week and in between I gave them a grand ecological tour of north-west Wales finishing on the Great Orme and including the west coast of Anglesey, Cwm Idwal, the oak woods of Merioneth, the fens of east Anglesey and the old mine sites of Gwydir Forest.

James Balfour has pressed on heroically with the enormous task of digitising the University Herbarium resulting in stunning images of seaweeds and higher plants, some of which we have already used in displays.

As a new academic year presses, the main concern is for a full-time replacement for Rosie Barratt, something which seems far from certain in these economically testing times and yet so vital to maintain the glorious momentum she and the Friends and all our students have so generously provided. The prospect of welcoming our first cohort of MSc students in Plant Conservation without the support of a Gardener is indeed a challenging one.

Nigel Brown

Weather and Wildlife April - July 2014

Month Rainfall Temperature Number of Days mm inches Max Min Rain >10deg >15deg >20deg >25deg April 42.1 1.66 18.5 3.75 15 30 11 0 0 May 125.5 4.94 20.0 6.75 17 31 21 3 0 June 43.8 1.72 22.75 6.0 9 30 29 8 0 July 62.4 2.46 26.75 9.75 14 31 31 21 5

Another dry April followed by a disappointingly cool, wet May. Then the pleasure and warmth of mid summer punctuated by some exciting thunderstorms, eg 7 June when the glasshouses shook beneath an explosive volume of sound and 9.5 mm of rain fell in 15 minutes. July’s total of 21 days above 20 degrees was particularly welcome though not as impressive as 2013 (28 days). By the end of the period, 665.6 mm (26.2 inches) had accumulated in 2014 compared to 417 mm (16.5 inches) by the end of July last year.

April oozes activity in the natural world whatever the weather and even though day time maxima may not exceed 15 degrees, local surfaces and situations heat up appreciably more in spring sunshine prompting Holly Blue (Celastrina argeolus) to sunbathe on the generous, reflective surfaces of Griselinia leaves, each one sampled in turn according to their preferred angles to the sun. By the end of the first week, Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) had claimed many woodside territories with their superlative singing, accompanied on a handful of mornings by sibilant strains of another trans-Saharan arrival, Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), whose fleeting presence here at Treborth en route to northern breeding quarters only serves to increase their appeal and the preciousness of their song. One’s left bereaved, hoping to catch their silvery song one more time, wishing you could follow their passage north and encamp in their territories in ‘boreal forests‘ and enjoy such sweetness, summer long.

Following the same northerly transect of the continents come whistling Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) – four pipers at breakfast on 17 April, following in a loose linked line above the Strait, their calls discernible long after their angled, rhythmic forms are mere specks in the cloud. At lesser height and in far greater numbers, come the terns, Sandwich (Sterna sandvicensis) first, then as the spring lengthens, Common (S. hirundo) descending on the little island they called Welltog and there encamping for the season and by their presence adding yet more vitality to the Swellies.

Early May gives us Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) for the first, and last, time this year, 10 days later than the single record in 2013, a species for whom modern technology has revealed more than most about fantastical migratory journeys, theirs spanning 8,000km and undertaken without guidance, simply instinct. Welcome back Cog! How was Central and Southern Africa?

May gave us Mallard ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos), the first brood hatching un-announced on the curator’s office roof and immediately jumping off straight into the boiler fuel tank bund! Elsewhere in the newsletter Sarah gives us an amusing account of their rescue and safe re-location to the new pond, with instructions to stay out of the way while we played host to the Director of all the Chinese botanic gardens (see my Curator’s report). A few weeks later, the same individual’s second brood again appeared un-announced, this time in the courtyard at the back of the lab where they had hatched within large bushy heather by the back door. They spent the next few days chasing insects, lazing in the warm sunshine and paddling in the small pond at the back of the Temperate House before disappearing en-masse one morning despite the presence of a suitably high fence – somewhat of a mystery. Despite such effort (with 10 ducklings in each brood), the population of Mallard at Treborth remains the same as it began the year and the whole drama is a salutary illustration of the mortality of ducklings.

A fledgling Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) arrives at the feeding station by 7 June – what relief! May’s disappointing melee of weather, especially since the 18th, has not prevented success in raising at least one sturdy youngster who sits and watches its parents dig out peanuts from the feeder and present them dutifully. It seems divorced from the hubbub around, peers this way and that in detached mode, shuffles nervously along its chosen bough and observes its arboreal domain - such contrast to the dim closeness of the nest hole carved years ago in the ‘big ash.’ Later in the month it will be joined hereabouts by adolescent Jay (Garrulus glandarius) and Magpie (Pica pica), both species overtly displaying their breeding success with demanding, entertaining offspring. And as the month progresses and slips into July, the numbers of softly plumaged young titmice and robins steadily grows until each feeder is dressed with fidgety fledglings – a good breeding season for our common-or-garden passerines, it seems, despite the unpromising weather earlier.

And a good growing season for native plants – Adder’s-tongue Fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum) reared its most un-fern like fronds in several fresh sites in the parkland area, and Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella) repeated its flowering of last year to even greater effect. Dune Helleborine (Epipactis dunensis) once again appeared on the rock garden among various creeping willows from Scotland, Broad Leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) flowered strongly in sheltered places about the pigeon loft copse, and Common Twayblade (Listera ovata) extended its known range at Treborth to include the lower arboretum. Common-spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) flowered abundantly in the meadow plots throughout June.

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) sightings proved few and far between this spring and summer with just a small handful of reports near the Britannia Bridge. Grey Squirrel (S. carolinensis) numbers peaked by June but an intensive cull reduced their numbers to zero, for a while. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) was recorded on two occasions in broad daylight but fewer sightings of other carnivorous mammals is disappointing and surprising, given the large population of Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) at Treborth this year.

Highlights of the nightly moth trapping include 2 of the Footman species. Two Red-necked Footman (Atolmis rubricollis) on the night of 6/7 June were the first since 2007 of this mainly southern and western species of lichen-feeding moth. Two specimens of Four-spotted Footman (Lithosia quadra), one on 17/18 July and a second on 20/21 July are exciting, as this is a Nationally Scarce A species. Coincidentally, another specimen was trapped in July at Pentraeth by Charles Aron and we are left wondering whether this influx represents immigration from the continent or whether a mild winter allowed this southern species to overwinter further north than usual (its normal limit is the southern coastal areas of England and Ireland, and possibly Pembrokeshire) – it also feeds on lichen, especially Dog Lichen (Peltigera canina). Other moths of note include the first melanic form of Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) for many years, and a Poplar Kitten (Furcula bifida) whose caterpillar relies on trees and shrubs in the Salicaceae (Willow, Poplar and Aspen) and is scarce in north Wales - again Treborth’s first since 2007. Overall moth numbers and diversity peaked with the fine warm weather of July with several catches of over 300 individuals of 50 or more species culminating in 405 moths of 52 species recorded on 25/26 July. My thanks to Val Lane for ably identifying a week’s worth of moths during my absence in early July and as ever to Pat Denne who steadfastly digitises the data, despite a broken arm!

Finally returning to birds, when the call came that a young flightless Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) had been found abandoned in the Ancient Wood early in May, my wife and I confidently thought it would be a case of locating the nest hole and returning it to its parents, but that evening no hoot penetrated the windy dusk and no obvious tree hole displayed tell-tale signs of occupancy. The young owl peered up from its cardboard box and slowly swept its eyelids closed – and we enjoyed its wide-eyed gaze and slow motion scrutiny for the next seven weeks. The children’s old ‘Wendy House’ made the perfect lodging to begin with, and, sustained with white laboratory mice, ‘Fluffy’ grew strongly and transformed gracefully into adult plumage. An aviary in the back garden provided the next step, eventually leading to its release in July. One fledgling out of hundreds launched into the world at Treborth this summer and therefore nothing special, but for us the most captivating of new lives in the Garden.

Nigel Brown 10

An Alphabetical Quiz for the Friends of Treborth

(All names are surnames)

A : Otherwise known as Columbine…………A…………………………………………………

B : A common herb or Mr Fawlty………………B……………………………………………….

C : If you spell this fruit with an ‘e’ you stray into the realms of physics………C………………

D : A pointed stick for making holes for seeds/seedlings…………D…………………………….

E : We know it as Aubergine (2 words)………E………………………………………………...

F : Digitalis……………F…………………………………………………………………………

G : A hairy fruit to signify being an unwanted 3rd person………G………………………………

H : They can define boundaries, provide privacy & obscure unsightly views…H……………...

I : A girl’s name and colourful plant……………I…………………………………………

J : You can have 2 types of this plant, ‘globe’ is the other ………J…………………………….

K : A member of the brassicas, similar to turnips……………K…………………………………

L : Swedish botanist who laid the foundation of binomial nomenclature………L………………

M : The food of silkworms……………M…………………………………………………………

N : …or water lily…………N…………………………………………………………………….

O : basis of so many culinary experiences : soups, curries, quiches………O……………………

P : Passiflora (2 words)…………P……………………………………………………………...

Q : Its acid fruit is used for preserves………Q…………………………………………………

R : Has edible red stems……R…………………………………………………………………...

S : A person of profound wisdom as well……S………………………………………………….

T : This is what HMRC do to you and me (or yew)……T……………………….

U : What you need for walking round Treborth in the rain……U………………………………

V : Another girl’s name, also a plant for rock gardens & dry walls……V………………………..

W : An aquatic salad vegetable……W…………………………………………………………….

X : Phloem is the other one……X………………………………………………………………

Y : A genus of perennial shrubs and trees (is that enough of a clue?)…Y……………………….

Z : We called them courgettes………Z…………………………….……………………………

Chris Howard

FAKING IT: an Antarctic Garden in the Temperate Zone

Tasmania has a heady flora rich in endemics, many of which are unknown to European gardeners. I stumbled across Diplarrena morea as a garden plant a few years ago, and was surprised to see it growing throughout Tasmania: one of the few familiar plants, but it is still not well known in the UK. How much less so is the sparse flora of Australia’s most southerly territories in Antarctica? Macquarie Island, some 1500 km off Tasmania’s southern coast in the latitudinal zone called the ‘furious fifties’, is barely 34 km long by 5.5 km wide, and has a mere 45 species of vascular plant, of no particular garden merit. Yet it has three endemics, including an orchid. One of these plants, Azorella macquariensis, is critically endangered. There are no bees that far south, so flower colours are restricted to white or greenish. None have any particular commercial or utilitarian use, although the crew of whaling vessels hunting in these waters once relied upon the Macquarie Island Cabbage to provide them with vitamin C and ward off the scurvy. There is, then, little incentive to grow any of these extraordinary plants, and the conditions required to do so are difficult to recreate, even in a cool temperate climate like Tasmania. In the Royal Botanic Gardens in Hobart, they have created a purpose built Sub-Antarctic house to address that challenge. It is a small building, 14m by 6m. Enter from the bright, warm January sunshine of Hobart (a particularly handsome city somewhat reminiscent of Plymouth) into a cool, misty environment, redolent with the gaggle of penguins and the throaty bellow of fur seal. This is the soundscape of Macquarie Island, to aid the visitor’s immersion into a contrived world. A path leads through recreations of Macquarie Island’s five terrestrial biomes: grassland, herbfield, fen, bog and feldmark – a Norwegian term for a vegetation community of severely restricted growth. The most obvious plant is the aptly named Macquarie Island Cabbage (Stilbocarpa polaris), although it is in the Araliaceae plant family and is more closely related to Ivy (Hedera helix) than to cabbage. It forms large, rhubarb-like clumps among the stands of tussock grass (Poa foliosa) and the recently-arrived palm sedge (Carex trifida). Stilbocarpa is easily worth visiting the Sub-Antarctic house for on its own, and would probably grow outside in the cooler climate of the west of Scotland, but somehow I don’t think the slugs would leave much. Unfortunately, Macquarie Island’s introduced population of rats and rabbits – stowaways from the whaling vessels – haven’t left much on Macquarie Island either.

Hence the scientific and conservation requirement for a secure isolated reservoir of plants, safe from the ravages of non-native aliens; but does it work as a feature? Certainly on a hot January day, it is enough to enter a meticulously recreated cool environment: perhaps the incongruity of stepping into the tropical house at Kew on a cold January day is a suitable inverse comparison. It certainly works on the grounds of uniqueness: there is no other Sub- Antarctic House anywhere in the world. The Tasmanian Royal Botanic Gardens have made a remote and mysterious part of the world accessible to anybody – albeit they would first have to make the journey to Tasmania! It may be less successful on the grounds of cost-effectiveness. From the feedback available through the website, visitors’ comments are generally appreciative of the experience, although some expected more, and others failed to appreciate the subtleties of a garden consisting largely of mosses and green things. None however, appeared to appreciate the conservation precedent. And therein is the dilemma. With the erosion of botany as a science in universities (it is no longer possible to do a degree in Botany at any Welsh University) and the threat of demotion for staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, botanic gardens need to redefine their usefulness in a world that questions their validity. Is it as a centre of science, or an amenity for the general public? Can it accommodate both, as some zoos have been successful in doing? We have certainly not been immune from this phenomenon in Wales. At its inception, the lack of an original vision from the National Botanic Gardens in Carmarthenshire was palpable, and closer to home still, Treborth has had to reinvent itself since the University pondered whether its value as a liquidated asset exceeded that of its educational potential. The Sub-Antarctic House in the Tasmanian Royal Botanic Garden is an enterprising example of the New Worlds that remain to be explored. Richard Birch

What is happening in the Treborth Rhizotron?

Research is underway in the Rhizotron! I am a PhD student interested in exploring the relationships between trees planted in mixed-species mini-forests, compared with trees grown in single-species mini-forests. I am interested in determining if mixed-species forests have specific benefits for tree growth and for development above and below ground. This project is designed to provide data on the following research questions:

1) Do trees grow bigger and taller when planted with different species, or with the same species?

2) Do tree roots grow deeper and longer when planted with different species, or with the same species?

3) Do soil communities differ within single-species mini-forests compared with the mixed-species mini-forests?

I am also interested in looking at these same questions in forests that have been developing for over 40 years in single-species and mixed-species forest stands. I have selected four tree species for the Rhizotron experiment, and these mixtures replicate real-life forests that I will be researching as well during my PhD. I have planted Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) and red alder (Alnus rubra) in single- and mixed-species soil bays. I have also planted common oak (Quercus robur) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in single- and mixed-species soil bays.

Over the course of the next few years, I will be monitoring the trees and their growth. I will also be periodically sampling the soils developing below the mini- forests, to see if and how soil physical and chemical properties differ among soil bays. I will also be sampling soil microbial communities (fungi and bacteria), to see if different communities develop under the different tree species. Stop by and say hello, next time you see me at the Rhizotron!

Relena Ribbons

. [p. . 12]

forming tussock species on Macquarie Island [p.12].

Tasmanian Botanic Royal garden, Hobart

[p.12]

growing growing on in wet January,heath near Queenstown, Tasmania [p. 12]

in flower in

Antarctic Antarctic House

arex trifida: one a of group ump of

Diplarrena morea

Inside the Sub Inside the

Stilbocarpa polaris

. .

Fig 2. Fig

Figs 1. 1. C Figs

Fig. 4. Fig. Figs 3 Figs

Fig. 5. Relena Ribbons working at the Fig 6. Dorothy Lloyd Lewis [p. 17] Rhizotron [p. 14]

Figs 7. Mattie Davies [p. 17]

Mattie Davies and Dorothy Lloyd Lewis

There are two new wooden benches at Treborth that remind us of two special women who have supported the Garden over many years.

Along the woodland path is one bench that was donated by Margaret (Mattie) Davies, in memory of her brothers Ian and Louis. Ian was a prisoner of war in Japan in the Second World War and survived to become a professor of English in America. Louis was a biologist and headmaster of a large school in London. Mattie’s mother was French and she spent a lot of her early life in France. Mattie trained as an infant teacher but married Haydn Davies just before WW2. They spent the war years in Swansea, then moved to north Wales where Mattie began a lifetime commitment to the Red Cross. She and her husband were also keen naturalists and founder members of the North Wales Naturalists Trust (as it was called then). The first meeting of the Trust was held in 1963 in Mattie and Haydn’s house in Old Colwyn. Haydn died soon afterwards, but Mattie continued her involvement and was asked to cut the celebration cake at Cors Goch last year to mark the 50th anniversary of the Trust. As a keen gardener, she also became a regular visitor to Treborth and still, at the age of 99, enjoys walking the woodland path and admiring the gardens.

The other bench was donated by the North Wales MS Society in recognition of the work done for the Society by Dorothy Lloyd Lewis. As Nigel reported in the January newsletter, Dorothy has been an active volunteer at Treborth for many years - since the time that Len Beer was Curator - and we were sad to say goodbye to her last year when she moved to the south to be near her family. She grew up in Glan Conwy, in a farming family, went to Howell’s School, Denbigh, and moved to Bangor when she married a local GP. A founder member of the Friends, for many years she was one of the “Tea Team” stalwarts, brewing up and serving out cakes and biscuits at plants sales, AGMs and open days. She performed a similar role for the MS Society where for over 30 years she provided home-made teas for social events and did the washing up. We are very grateful to the MS Society for the bench, which took pride of place in the Conservatory at the Two Dragons launch event on the 8th May this year.

Sarah Edgar

Just Another Day at Treborth

"May 8th will be one of the most important days of the year", said Nigel at the Committee meeting in April, as he circulated a list of jobs to be done. Treborth was to be hosting a prestigious event – the launch of the Chinese Garden and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Bangor University and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden in China. VIPs included Prof John Hughes, Bangor University's VC, Prof Chen Jin, Director of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, and Prof Stephen Blackmore, recently retired as Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and now Director of BGCI. So no pressure there then. Friends and students rallied round Nigel and Rosie, to tidy, clean, weed and generally smarten up the Garden, greenhouses and Lab. My job the day before was to tidy the Conservatory; I was on my hands and knees at one point picking up leaves that had fallen on to the gravel.

All looked spick and span on the morning of the 8th. Sophie brought Profs Jin and Blackmore down to see the Garden and then we gave them lunch in the Lab. Prof Jin was to give a lecture in the University at 1pm, so once they finished lunch Sophie and Nigel took the Profs away, leaving a handful of us to clear up the lunch, organise tables and chairs, do the final tidying up, get ourselves cleaned up and changed by 3.30, so we were already for the return of the VIPs and other guests for the formal signing event. However, as Nigel dashed through the Lab on his way to the car, he said to me, “The ducklings near the oil tank have hatched – could you sort them out please before everyone comes back this afternoon – the mother is very distressed”. What ducklings?? Where?? Luckily Rosie knew all about them. The newly-hatched ducklings were inside the 5ft wall that surrounds the oil tank, were unable to fly out and the mother mallard was desperate to get them down to the pond. Rosie and I got a cardboard box and went round to the oil tank and climbed over the wall. About ten ducklings were scurrying around while Mrs Mallard quacked pathetically from the roof of the Lab. We chased the ducklings into corners so that we could catch them and put them in the box. Then we brought the box up over the wall and set it down on the grass. At this point Rhys, the animal technician, arrived and advised us to gently tip the box on its side so the ducklings could get out, while we stood well back so as not to deter the mother from coming down to collect up her ducklings. Out came the little ones – but Mum decided to start flying around and at one point flew off towards the Strait. We thought she might have abandoned them, but then she flew back and landed, much to our (and their) relief. All that we had to do now was to make sure she safely crossed the driveway with her brood, and then Rhys said she would eventually find her way down to the pond.

We continued watching from a distance, and she started to waddle down the side of the Lab building, keeping close in to the protection of the shrubs growing along the wall. Surely she would turn left to cross the road once she reached the end of the building? No - she turned right! Suddenly I had a vision of the family going into the Conservatory - what would they do on my beautiful clean floor, just before the place was filled with guests? By now there was only an hour or so before they were all due to arrive. We followed the ducks and crept round the end of the building. They weren’t in the Conservatory, nor had gone up to the compost bins; we realised they had gone into the Lab! Following the cheeping, we tracked them down to the Friends’ office. Now the office is not the tidiest of places at the best of times, but on this occasion we had dumped everything in there that we didn’t want anywhere else, as it was the only room that the guests would not be going into. The floor was covered with boxes, furniture, bits of equipment and books. Piteous cheeping could be heard from underneath all of this. Pat and I stationed ourselves at the entrance to the main Lab room to stop them going in there, while Rosie and Rhys went into the office. Mother Mallard came out fairly quickly and waddled outside – phew. We waited for the ducklings to follow. But they didn’t. So Rosie and Rhys had to search around in all the chaos of the office to pick up handfuls of ducklings and then bring them outside. Mum was sheltering under the cotoneaster and the ducklings were brought outside and put down near her. Luckily all this human handling didn’t seem to affect her maternal instinct, and in a few minutes we had the whole family gathered together. We weren’t quite sure how many ducklings there should be, but Mum seemed to be happy that the family was complete.

Now we had to get them over the road. It wouldn’t be long before cars would start coming down for the great event, and the last thing we wanted was for the VC’s car to squash them all – not good PR. So we didn’t take any chances this time, and were more assertive with our shepherding, and at last the mother duck started in the right direction, heading over the road. At which point a car came down the drive from the sports field… “Stop!”, cried Pat, casting personal safety to the winds as she put out her hand in front of the car. Luckily the driver wasn’t going fast, and she stopped to let the ducks cross over, and they all scattered into the safety of the rock garden. Do ducks find rock garden plants tasty, we wondered? Would Berta and Derek’s precious alpines be nibbled away? We decided that there wasn’t time to worry about that, and left the ducks to their own devices, while we went off to finish the tidying up that we should have done two hours ago, change into our party clothes, and get ready for the VIPs. However, when Rosie went back into the office she heard a little cheeping - somewhere there was another duckling! More searching around on hands and knees, and she found what she hoped was the last one, picked it up and took it outside to find its mother. She was nowhere to be seen, so Rosie put the duckling inside her jacket to keep it warm and started

wandering around the Garden, cheeping in a duckling kind of voice. This was obviously good enough to fool Mum, because eventually there was a quacking from the woodland area, and she waddled out to be reunited with her long-lost baby.

The actual event was a great success – speeches were made, documents signed, presents given, wine drunk and even the sun shone. What about the real VIPs of the day though? I slipped off to the new pond later in the day to see if Mrs Mallard and her brood had taken up residence. Yes – there they all were, swimming around and apparently unaffected by the dramatic adventures in their first few hours of life.

Sarah Edgar

Organic Farming boosts Biodiversity

Analysis of 94 earlier existing studies by a team at the University of Oxford concluded that organic farming methods increased the number of species on average by 34% - an effect that’s been stable over three decades and shows no sign of diminishing. But this is only true of farms in temperate climates – there’s not yet enough research to show if the effect is the same in warmer climates.

“Our study shows that organic farming can yield significant long-term benefits for biodiversity”, says PhD student Sean Tuck, lead author of the paper which appeared in Journal of Applied Ecology. “Organic methods could go some way towards halting the continued loss of biodiversity in industrialised nations.”

Plants saw the greatest increase, with the number of species present increasing by around 70%. Pollinators came second, with half as many species again on organic farms, while birds, arthropods and microbes also did well.

The benefit to biodiversity seems to be greater in intensively farmed regions, particularly on organic farms surrounded by arable land. So it could be that having a few organic farms scattered around the landscape could benefit the intensively-cultivated farms in between by providing islands of biodiversity to nurture valuable organisms like pollinators and predators that keep pest numbers down. But, says Tuck, it’s also true that intensive farming methods may damage the biodiversity nurtured on the organic farms. For instance, large doses of pesticides

can affect bees and other pollinators on nearby organic farms as well. “The effect goes both ways”, he says. “It depends on the scale you are looking at – a single isolated organic farm is less likely to see more species, but at the landscape level the overall impact is much less clear”.

(This article originally appeared in Planet Earth, which is a free magazine about science published by the Natural Environment Research Council, and is reproduced with permission. Readers are welcome to subscribe via the website www.planetearth.nerc.ac.uk.)

Visit to Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia Between August and October last autumn (7 weeks) I was visiting Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia to evaluate a three-year project that had been implemented between 2010 to 2013 by Concern Worldwide (based in Dublin) and funded by the European Union. The project had worked in about 106 villages in some of the poorest and neediest parts of those countries. There were three main objectives:

(i) To improve rural livelihoods - through improved crop production, crop storage, crop processing and marketing and through small savings and credit groups (similar to our credit unions);

(ii) To strengthen village and district governments;

(iii) To encourage greater community participation in government planning.

The increased crop production was achieved mainly by distributing improved planting material (seed, cuttings, rhizomes) and in the case of Tanzania by training groups of farmers to grow Quality Declared Seed (QDS). QDS is seed of improved varieties grown by the farmers and tested by the government and then sold with guaranteed purity and germination rates. Farmers were also trained in improved agricultural methods including planting in rows (to facilitate weeding), use of manure or compost, correct plant spacing and soil conservation. In Burundi, the project successfully used in vitro propagation of bananas to increase the adoption of more productive landraces. Unfortunately, an attempt to expand the production of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in Ethiopia failed in the final year of the project after an

unknown virus attacked the crop and the government demanded that all the ginger in the area was burned. However, multiplication and distribution of better performing landraces of yams (Dioscorea spp) and ensete (Ensete ventricosum) - otherwise known as false banana - helped farmers to increase their production considerably. Crop production was also increased through small scale irrigation, water harvesting and soil and water conservation. Poorer farmers were provided with goats and poultry in Tanzania on the understanding that the first offspring were given to other poor people in the community. In Burundi, the agriculturalist decided to import Jersey cows and semen from Rwanda for subsequent artificial insemination. The cows were given to farmers who were able look after them. Though this seemed successful by the end of the project, there were a lot of mortalities due to poor nutrition in the first two years. A better approach may have been to just bring in the semen and gradually upgrade the local animals over several generations. Project staff helped farmers to increase crop processing usually through small groups of 30 to 40 farmers. The groups often formed themselves into registered cooperatives. Crops processed included sunflower (for oil and the remaining “cake” that is fed to livestock), rice and cassava (into flour). In Burundi, a group was making a special nutritious food mix based on soya for invalids (especially AIDS sufferers) and children. Small savings and credit groups were also created and these enabled poor people (usually women) to start or expand small businesses. One enterprising woman I met in Tanzania had started a small business using solar panels to charge mobile phones (often villages are without electricity but mobile phones are ubiquitous). This was an unusual project for me because of the considerable “political content”. Until the 1990s, in Tanzania, people who have acquired land through local custom did not have any proof of ownership. In the 1990s, Tanzania passed a law to deal with this by issuing certificates to say that the farmer had customary use of his land. These certificates can, in theory, be used as collateral to obtain bank loans or can even be sold. Progress with issuing these certificates has been rather slow so Concern decided to help accelerate the process by training district land officers in the correct procedures and providing simple surveying equipment. Land used by the poorest farmers was given priority. Land tribunals were set up to help resolve (the very few) conflicts over land boundaries. In some villages, land committees were established to help plan future land use such as where new buildings could go, which land should be reserved as forest and which land could be used for communal grazing. Another key component of the project was to establish disaster risk reduction committees which monitor natural events such as droughts and severe storms. These committees are now trained to respond to such calamities in

collaboration with the national government and if necessary, the international community. The effectiveness of the committees was seen in 2011 when, after two years of drought, there was a severe shortage of food in central Tanzania and the committees played a key part in the relief programme. In all three countries, there is an increasing trend towards decentralised decision making and giving village communities a greater say in development planning for their districts. This is most advanced in Tanzania and least established in Ethiopia. Each village in Tanzania is required to develop a village development plan with input from the whole community. Tanzanian villages are required by law to hold public meetings every three months where community members hold their councillors to account and suggest projects that the council should consider. The village development plans are then considered by the ward development committees who consider the plans from the five or six villages in the ward, combine them and forward the composite plans to the district planning committees. The system does not work perfectly but Concern has been training village councils and village communities themselves in how to develop village plans. Greater transparency of district spending is being brought about by greater attention from civil society organisations. One organisation in Tanzania holds district governments to account by comparing the annual plans and budgets with what they actually achieved and spent. Maybe one day we will catch up with Tanzania.

Paul Smith

ABERCONWY NURSERY The Welsh Alpine Plant Specialists

Interesting home grown alpine plants, including dionysia, androsace, saxifrage, gentians and dwarf ericaceous subjects as well as other choice plants all grown on our attractive hillside nursery in the Conwy Valley, overlooking the Carneddau

On a minor road just off the A470, about 2 miles north of Bodnant Gardens we’re open in the Spring, Summer and early Autumn but never on a Monday.

Graig, Glan Conwy, LL28 5TL. Tel. (01492) 580875

Adventures in Lichenology Treborth’s Scottish correspondent, Badger Taylor, spent spring this year learning about lichens. Lichens are amazing things: symbiotic organisms made up of a fungus which provides the shape of the lichen (called a mycobiont), and a photosynthetic part, usually algae, but sometimes cyanobacteria, and even occasionally both (called the photobiont). They are useful ecological indicators, and Britain and Ireland have some of the best lichen communities in Europe. The Friends of Treborth Botanic Garden will be familiar with the lush diversity of lichens that grow in north Wales, but I’d like to share a couple of my experiences of recent lichenological travels to your Celtic partners in Scotland and Ireland. Early this year, before the buds had burst on the oaks and hazels, I travelled to Grudie Oakwood in Ross-shire, far up in the north of Scotland, to help expert lichenologists Brian Coppins and Andy Acton with a survey of lichen diversity. The woodland was dominated by old oaks, well-spaced and on a south-facing slope overlooking mirror-calm lochs and snow-peaked mountains beyond. Hazels filled gullies and hollows with drifts of primroses in bloom below them, and dark, brooding hollies hunched at the bases of some of the aged oaks, browsed into perpetual shrubby youth by the deer. Clothing all, in sheets of green, grey and white were the lichens, which on closer inspection revealed hidden colours; fruits of purple, felts of cobalt blue, and shocking dashes of red. Lichen communities differ on the mild, humid west coast of Scotland, and on the colder, drier east coast, but Grudie Oakwood appeared to straddle these areas, with lichens from both areas present. The air had that slight boreal bite to it to remind fieldworkers of their higher latitude. This mixture of climatic zones made for an extremely diverse site. Initially we found lots of Bunodophoron melanocarpum growing on the acidic bark of ancient birch trees. This lichen is called “Black-eyed Susan” and has downward-facing fruits that produce sooty black spores. We also found a beautiful patch of the plum-fruited felt lichen (Degelia plumbea) growing at the base of another old birch where the humidity was very high, and the bark more alkaline due to an old wound. An exciting find was the Caledonian pannaria (Fuscopannaria ignobilis), a dark grey crust-forming lichen that usually starts life deep in the crevices of mature ash bark, where the high pH and humidity are just right. It’s a nationally scarce species, and may become even rarer if mature ash trees start succumbing to Ash Dieback Disease. Happily, the one we found was growing in a crevice on a very old oak tree rather than an ash, as oaks develop higher pH bark as

they age. So there is an alternative, if uncommon habitat for this rarity at least should we lose our ash in the future. Later in the day, we came across an incredible ancient oak, resembling an Ent (from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings), with a huge diversity of lichens and mosses growing on its mammoth trunk. One of these lichens was a tiny, jet-black pinhead lichen, with a glittering yellow-green dust on its fruits. This was Calicium adspersum, known from only two sites in the rest of Britain, one in Wales and one in England on old parkland trees. So this was the first record for Scotland! It’s always great to finish field work on a high like that. Moving to Wales’ other Celtic neighbour, I participated in an excursion to the south-west of Ireland a few weeks after my trip to the north of Scotland. Whilst the lichens there were just as lush as anything I had seen in Wales or Scotland, the weather was positively Mediterranean by comparison. The flora agreed and I was pleased to come across stands of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), an Irish native with Iberian roots. I had gone primarily for the lichens, but the wildlife in this corner of Ireland was stunning as well and I had a few things on my list to see, including the almost-endemic Kerry slug (Geomalacus maculosus). My base was the picturesque village of Glengarriff in West Cork. The woods nearby harboured beautiful lichens such as Leptogium brittanicum, a type of “jelly lichen”; these lichens are thin and papery when dry, but expand and become gelatinous when wet. Lichenology has the distinct advantage over botany that lichens can be studied all year round, but my visit at the beginning of May was made better by the fabulous show of spring flowers. The best for me was the Irish spurge (Euphorbia hyberna), the heady, honey scent of which was so thick at times it could almost be swum through. Back to lichens, and a visit to Killarney National Park revealed all four of the famous Lobaria lichens. Lobaria pulmonaria, or tree lungwort, will be familiar to anyone living in the humid west of Wales, and it is famously an indicator of clean air which has suffered a huge decline in recent years. But it has three other cousins - the satin green L. virens with its brick red fruits, the pale grey lobes of L. scrobiculata (shortened to Lobscrob by lichenologists), and the rarest and most clean-air demanding of them all, the blue-white L. amplissima, which also has a scurfy brown- black form when it uses cyanobacteria rather than algae as its photobiont. My visit to Ireland included a trip to a copper mine to see metal-loving lichens and choughs, and a journey to the wild and beautiful Dereen Gardens, where a rich lichen flora was found despite widespread damage to the woodlands from the ferocious winter storms (I’m sure the Friends will be able to empathise given the thrashing Treborth received from the same storms). But the best lichen of the week was fittingly found on the last day, just as in Scotland, and only a stone’s

throw from our base in Glengariff. Whilst searching the grounds of an abandoned hotel on the coast, we came across a smallish ash growing next to a boggy area. I happened to be focussing on one group of lichens that week, the previously mentioned jelly lichens. I saw one on the tree that looked a bit odd so I took a small sample for later identification, and showed it to one of the experts on hand, John Douglass. He confirmed it as the extremely rare Leptogium juressianum. I think that was the perfect way in which to end my spring lichenological adventures. For anyone interested in learning more about the lovely world of lichens, I can thoroughly recommend the Field Studies Council’s residential courses. I was privileged to be able to attend one this year with financial help from Edinburgh Natural History Society. Learning about lichens adds an extra layer of understanding to the ecological processes we see all around us, and an extra appreciation of the beauty of smaller things in nature. I would just like to thank the British Lichen Society for kindly granting me financial aid to travel to Ireland, and to the various lichen experts I’ve bothered this year on my quest for more knowledge of lichen-lore. Anthony “Badger” Taylor

Evaluating the Role of Rhizotrons in Research and Education

Soil, a highly complex and dynamic material, is essential for effective plant growth, ‘physically support[ing] plants and supplying them with water, air and mineral nutrients’ (Brickell, 2007, p.616), and thus a key component of their ecology. It is not just soil as a material that is important, however, but also the complex interactions between soil and the root system of plants, the ‘”hidden half”’ (Wiemken & Ineichen, 1996, p.417) of plant function that is responsible for ‘between 40-85% of net primary production in a wide range of ecosystems from grassland to forest’ (Fitter, 1987, p.61). The study of root systems can provide invaluable insights into not only the relationships between plants and soil, soil microorganisms and the ‘fluxes of energy and matter in the biosphere’ (Fahey & Hughes, 1994, p.533), but also into the relationship between this underground world and other ecosystem processes. An understanding of carbon cycles, soil respiration and environmental conditions can all be informed by the study of root systems and their interaction with the soil. The effective study of working root

systems has, however, been described as ‘one of the most intractable problems in all terrestrial ecosystems’ (Cheng et al., 1990, p.592). The difficulty lies in both the location of the rhizosphere – underground – and the methods which have until relatively recently been available to study it.

There are a range of methods available for the study of root systems, including excavation and trenching, taking core samples with augers, periodic harvesting of roots for measurement and using ingrowth core samples, which measure the ingress of root growth into free soil contained in mesh bags in situ. The difficulty with these methods is that they are destructive, leading either to the destruction of the root systems themselves or to the continual and substantial disturbance of the soil around them (Metcalfe, 2006). They do allow for observations such as mass and growth measurements, but cannot provide for the examination of dynamic processes in real time. Root behaviour is affected by disturbance and studies using these methods are therefore less productive in terms of assessing longer term development. Less destructive methods of study include the use of imaging equipment to measure electrical capacitance and resistivity, the introduction of tracers to measure uptake, and soil moisture measurements (Maeght et al., 2013). These techniques, while allowing the continuation of undisturbed root growth, are sometimes only appropriate for small samples such as those provided by pot studies (Eberbach et al., 2013) and are often specifically targeted toward output, without necessarily indicating the complex factors that may be behind it. The most effective way to do this is to be able to observe roots in situ, using a variety of rhizotron techniques.

Figure 12. Tubes extending outside the windows of a rhizotron at Treborth Botanic Garden

Rhizotrons are chambers inserted into the soil (Metcalfe, 2006) and were traditionally large underground spaces (Bouma et al., 2003) with transparent wall materials installed to permit the observation of root activity. Additional tubing can be directed out of these ‘windows’ to enable soil sampling and observations to a wider dimension (see Figure 12). There are a number of these subterranean laboratories still active, including those at Treborth Botanic Gardens (see Figure 13), East Malling Research centre, the USDA Northern Research Station and Charles Sturt University, Western Australia. Rhizotrons can be designed in a range of sizes, and modern optical technology has begun to favour the mini-rhizotron, where tubes of transparent material are inserted at an angle into the soil near the plant that is being observed. Equipment such as fibre-optic cameras can then be deployed within these tubes to record growth and other activity without disturbance. Other rhizotron-based techniques include the use of transparent pot materials (Wiemken & Ineichen, 1996, Wade, 2010) or the use of hydroponic growing media to aid visibility.

Rhizotron techniques have a range of applicability across disciplines. They enable dynamic observations of phenomena such as root biomass production and development (Karl & Doescher, 1991, Cheng et al., 1990 Metcalfe, 2006), root ‘architecture’ (Fitter, 1987), the effect of fertilisers, herbicides, weed root interaction, compaction and other environmental factors such as herbivory on plant growth (Gallandt, 1990, Fahey & Hughes, 1994) and processes involving soil microorganisms such as mycorrhizal fungi (Wiemken & Ineichen, 1996). These studies can inform studies in areas such as botany, ecology, arboriculture, environmental sciences and geology as well as providing valuable commercial insights for the timber industry and agriculture.

There are some disadvantages to relying on rhizotrons or rhizotron-based techniques. While significantly less destructive than some other methods there is still an introduction of material such as glass, acrylic or butyrate into the rhizosphere, and some studies have noted the impact of this on root behaviour and survivorship (Bouma et al., 2003). Container growing, or growing in hydroponic media for observation (see Figure 14), does not necessarily simulate natural growing conditions. Mini-rhizotrons, even if deployed on a large scale, cannot necessarily offer the scope or longevity required for large scale studies, and large installations can be very costly, although one was constructed at Montana State University in 1988 for US$4000 (Gallandt, 1990). There is also still a ‘two-dimensional’ aspect to rhizotron observations – root production, development and interactions need to be taking place in very close proximity to the transparent sections in order to be observed. Given the lack of disturbance compared to other methods, however, and thus the potential to observe processes in real time, rhizotron-based techniques offer a significant set of methods for the study of key underground developments.

Fig. 9. Solar Panels in Tanzania [p. 21]

Fig. 10. Yams etc. in Tanzania [p. 21]

Fig. 11. Prof. Chen and Vice Chancellor Prof. John Hughes sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the Two Dragons project in the Cool House [p. 5]

Fig. 12. A busy day in the Cool House—Chinese Kite Festival [p. 5]

Figure 13: Bangor University's Rhizotron at Treborth Botanic Garden

Figure 14: Observations of root development through water Large rhizotrons, despite their cost, allow for a long-term and wide ranging collection of data, as well as being flexible in their functionality, unlike minirhizotrons deployed for specific studies. Conceptually, they have also opened up thinking about ways to access this important environment. Access shafts, home- made rhizotrons such as that at Montana State, and the use of caves and mines (Maeght, 2013) are avenues being pursued, as well as innovative in situ uses of new imaging technologies.

Figure 15: Root periscope

Rhizotron-based techniques also have a great deal to offer in the field of education. The possibility of being able to view, film or experience the rhizosphere can reveal previously unconsidered aspects of plant ecology to students and the public. From simple root periscopes with tilted mirrors, suitable for use by young people (see Figure 15), to the information gathered by larger underground laboratories, demonstrating the scope and impact of the underground part of plant functions will raise an awareness of the complexity of the processes taking place and of the potential impact of previously unseen factors, allowing for an ecological approach. Knowledge gathered through studies using rhizotron-based techniques allows the installation of exhibits like the Rhizotron at RBG Kew (see Figure 16) and the East Malling exhibition at the Chelsea Flower Show 2013 (see Figure 17). While not offering a real time experience in itself, exhibitions like these are a way of demonstrating the information that is gathered through rhizotron techniques, and alerts a wider audience to the significance of what is happening out of sight. Being able to see and experience this world has a potentially much greater impact that the mere provision of data, and can be presented in a way that is appropriate for a range of ages and interests.

Figure 16: RBG Kew Rhizotron Exhibition

Rhizotrons and rhizotron-based techniques, then, are an important tool for both research and education. Their potential usefulness in the collection of reliable data and the variety of possible observation methods offers a way to study a previously poorly understood aspect of plant ecology. The appeal that this can hold not just for the scientific community but also the general public is enormous, and despite the costs of large scale installations these belowground laboratories can lead the way to a greater understanding of the vital interactions between plants and a key part of their environment.

Suzanne Patman, Kew Horticulture Diploma student, member of recent field course at Treborth

Figure 17: East Malling exhibit at Chelsea Flower Show 2013 References

Bangor University (2011). Carbon Scientists Go Underground to Look for Answers [online] Bangor University, UK. Available from http://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/full.php.en?nid=3487&tnid=3487 [Accessed 23/12/13].

Bouma, T. et al. (2003). The Impact of Material Used for Minirhizotron Tubes for Root Research. New Phytologist, 160(3), 533-44.

Brickell, C (Ed.) (2007). RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening. London, Dorling Kindersley.

Cheng, W. et al. (1990). Root Dynamics, Production and Distribution on the Georgia Piedmont Using Minirhizotrons. Journal of Applied Ecology, 27(2), 592-604.

East Malling Research Centre (2013), About Us [online]. EMRC. UK. Available from http:// www.emr.ac.uk/ [Accessed 23/12/13].

Eberbach, P (2013). Rhizo-lysimetry: facilities for the simultaneous study of root behaviour and resource use by agricultural crop and pasture systems [online]. Available from http://www.plantmethods.com/content/9/1/3 [Accessed 23/12/13].

Fahey, T. & Hughes, J. (1994). Fine Root Dynamics in a Northern Hardwood Forest Ecosystem, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH. Journal of Ecology, 82(3), 533-48.

Fitter, A. (1987). An Architectural Approach to the Comparative Ecology of Plant Root Systems. New Phytologist, 106(1), 61-77.

Gallandt, E. et al (1990). An Inexpensive Rhizotron for Teaching Weed Biology. Weed Technology, 4(3), 663- 665.

Karl, M. & Doescher, P. (1991) Monitoring Roots of Grazed Rangeland Vegetation with the Root Periscope/ Mini-Rhizotron Technique. Journal of Range Management, 44(3), 296-298.

Maeght, J. et al (2013). How to study deep roots – and why it matters [online].Frontiers Media SA. US. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3741475/pdf/fpls-04-00299.pdf [Accessed 23/12/13].

Metcalfe, P. (2006). Measuring Root Dynamics in Tropical Ecosystems: A Field Manual [online]. The University of Edinburgh. UK. Available from http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/ecodynamics/panamazonia/ root_manual_english.pdf [Accessed 23/12/13].

RBG Kew (2013). Rhizotron and the Xstrata Treetop Walkway [online] RBG Kew. UK. Available from http:// www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Xstrata-Treetop-Walkway.htm [Accessed 23/12/13].

Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. (2010). ‘Topic 5.2 Observing Roots Below Ground’, Plant Physiology, Fifth Edition [online]. Available from [Accessed 23/12/13].

USDA (2011). Rhizotron [online]. USDA. US. Available from http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/research/facilities/ rhizotron [Accessed 23/12/13].

Wade, R (2010). Curse of the Witch Weed [online] The University of Sheffield. UK. Available from http:// aps.group.shef.ac.uk/level-4-web-sites/l4-websites-10/wade-ruth/methods.html [Accessed 23/12/13].

Wiemken, V. & Ineichen, K. (1996) A Method to Access the Below-Ground Part of a Model Spruce Ecosystem. Functional Ecology, 10(3), 417-20.

If you go down to the Woods today…

Not many visitors to Treborth are aware that hidden within thick damp woodland less than two hundred metres north of the rhizotron lies an incipient ‘bog garden’. It occupies an area some 20 metres by 30 metres on spring-soaked ground which slopes gently north. Many years ago, possibly during Joseph Paxton’s ground breaking efforts to create Britannia Park in 1850, metre-deep drainage ditches were dug which now surround the site in a thoroughly choked state permitting a year- round swampiness.

My predecessor, Len Beer, commenced planting this area as a Bog Garden in the 1960s, cultivating plants such as Petasites japonicus and Primula species. More recently, we have populated the ground with bamboo (finest of which is the Japanese Walking Stick Bamboo Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda) and ferns as well as marginal plantings of Rhododendrom macabeeanum. This summer, with extra help to hand, a big effort has been made to introduce a few more species of interest concentrating on ferns. This emphasis has been prompted by the passing of Dr Tony Smith, senior lecturer in Botany at Bangor University for many years and a great supporter of Treborth. Tony became a world authority on bryophytes and an acknowledged expert on all spore-bearing plants including ferns. Last year we planted a specimen from Tony’s former garden, a tree fern Dicksonia antarctica in the Bog Garden and it has taken to its new home happily. The eventual aim is to establish a collection of spore-bearing plants including ferns and bryophytes which reflect Tony’s contribution to botany and his horticultural interests.

The largest addition to the fern collection in the Bog Garden has come in the 4 m high form of another tree fern, Cyathea medullaris, the Silver Sword Fern, New Zealand’s proud emblem. A team of 4-6 students excavated this specimen from the Temperate House and relocated it in the north-western corner of the Bog Garden. Nearby they have planted a specimen of Todea barbara, a fine clump- fronded member of the Royal Fern family, Osmundaceae, 10 years old, one of the oldest unchanged plant families left alive with an ancestry that goes back to the Permian, 275 million years ago. The various ditch banks provide slightly drier anchorage points for several species of Pteris, Asplenium, Cyrtomium and Woodwardia ferns.

Over the winter the canopy of birch and elm above the Bog Garden will be thinned carefully and invasive Rhododendron ponticum checked. Further excavation of ditches should reveal the true extent of the original earth works hereabouts with the prospect of revealing an attractive and historically quite interesting feature. The path will be upgraded and a little signage added discreetly.

Nigel Brown

The Ecological Role of Grassland Fungi

The term ‘waxcap’ grassland is used to describe grasslands supporting rich fungal assemblages comprising genera that are characteristic of undisturbed and nutrient poor habitats in the UK and across northern Europe, often referred to as ‘unimproved’ (non-fertilised) grassland.

The colourful waxcap fungi or Hygrocybe spp. themselves are well represented (> 80 species found in the UK) and are probably the most distinctive and visible components present. Another 300 or so species are indicative of this habitat. From a conservation perspective, these are grouped by either ecological function or taxonomic affiliation according to ease of definition (Griffith et al., 2002). The four broad ecological function categories are dung fungi Coprinus, litter decomposers Mycena, terricolous species Agaricus and mycorrhizal species Cortinarius.

The categories in the taxonomic grouping are the fairy clubs Clavariaceae, the waxcaps Hygrocybe spp. including Dermoloma spp. and Porpoloma spp., the Entolomataceae with pink gills, and the earth tongues Geoglossaceae. The diversity and abundance of members of these categories in a habitat can collectively be given a profile score known as the ‘CHEG’ score (from the initials of the categories) as devised by Rotheroe (2001). Several authors have also advocated the ranking of sites based on the number of Hygrocybe species present (Griffith et al., 2002).

To develop the CHEG system further, one path of investigation would be to examine whether these fungi, adapted for growth in very low nutrient soils, are able to access locked-up nitrogen in soil organic matter. Thus the addition of nitrogen would allow other microbes, adapted to uptake of more accessible nutrients, to outcompete and exclude the waxcaps. Other avenues of research to seek evidence of mycorrhizal associations are ongoing (Project Waxtongue RBG Kew).

To date, information about CHEG species has been limited, largely due to a reliance on field-based observation and challenges in the laboratory (Griffith et al., 2004). Germination of spores has been mostly unsuccessful and maintenance in culture is difficult.

The diversity of grassland fungi

The richest assemblages of grassland fungi are found where there is a long history of grazing, and low disturbance. In some circumstances, mowing can be a viable alternative except for those fungi associated with herbivore dung. The underground mycelia are thought to be slow growing and species-rich sites must

therefore have developed over long timescales uninterrupted by harmful actions such as ploughing or fertilisation. As a result, waxcap grasslands are often associated with ancient grassland sites.

Species-rich sites are commonly found in churchyards, garden lawns, parklands and on golf courses. Some of the top UK sites are found on old lawns associated with large country houses, for example Roecliffe Manor in Leicestershire, where the presence of 27 waxcap species resulted in its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the first such site to be notified in the UK. The Llanishen and Lisvane Reservoir embankments in Cardiff (constructed circa 1880) were notified as an SSSI in 2006 based on the presence of 28 waxcap species.

A wide variety of grassland communities, too, support waxcap species, ranging from calcicolous (National Vegetation Classification CG1, CG2) through mesotrophic (MG5, MG6) to closely-grazed acidic grasslands (U4, U5) as well as heaths, mires, sand dunes and maritime cliffs (Griffith et al., 2002). Unlike plant community composition, soil pH has generally a lesser effect on the diversity of waxcap species. Exceptions are Hygrocybe calciphila and H. laeta. Distinct correlations between the presence of certain fungi and plant communities or species are typically rare. High fungal diversity notably occurs on botanically mundane grasslands. Hence the nature conservation value of such sites is likely to have been overlooked or considered low.

Fungi monitoring

The effective management of waxcap grasslands requires a reliable taxonomy, and an understanding of distribution and the ecological role of these fungi. Species identification and population site count aim to characterise abundance, levels of diversity and distribution patterns.

In addition to the CHEG score, an added weighting is given to the presence of certain ‘indicator’ species. The ‘Top Twenty Four’ system is based on two sets of twelve species. Category A includes 6 Hygrocybe spp. and 6 other taxa. Category B includes an additional 11 Hygrocybe spp and earth tongues, except for Geoglossum fallax.

A severe problem of under-recording exists however, largely associated with a lack of trained and experienced field mycologists. The dearth of knowledge is further compounded by the limitations of field observation whereby the abundance of a particular species can only be inferred from the occurrence of fruit bodies. Distinctiveness, longevity and visibility can all affect how frequently species are recorded. The correlation between the above- and below-ground presence is

considered very poor Griffith et al., 2002). Some rare species, on the limits of their ecological range, may only fruit very occasionally. Fluctuations in soil moisture levels and changes in site management have also been recorded to inhibit fruiting and impede visibility of fruit bodies (Griffith et al., 2004). The ephemeral nature of most fruiting structures and the distinct seasonality of fruiting of most species demand an intensity of surveying with an associated increase in time and cost. A single foray seldom encounters more than 25% of a total species, providing less than a comprehensive picture of the mycota at a given site (Griffith et al., 2002).

Until recently the use of molecular methods as a diagnostic tool to assist species definition has not been studied. In November 2011, ‘Project Waxtongue’, a Defra-funded collaborative work, launched a DNA sequence (phylogenetic) and morphology-based study into the genus Hygrocybe and the Geoglossaceae, involving RBG Kew and the University of Aberystwyth, with support from a large number of local fungal recording groups and expert individuals in the UK. The objective is to make definition and identification of the species more robust, and to discover cryptic species (those that cannot be differentiated visually) that may have different conservation needs. This ‘next-generation’ sequencing approach permits analysis of fungal populations extracted directly from soil cores, making it possible not only to identify species present but also to study their relative abundance. Detection of irregular and non-fruiting populations can potentially reduce the substantial need for multiple field surveys to reveal all the species that may be present. The project will also address the biological status of Hygrocybe. Currently it is not clear whether waxcaps form mycorrhizal associations with plants.

Once it is known how many British species there are and how to tell them apart, work can start to discover where each species is found. This will clarify the distribution of each species, its habitat requirements and highlight those that are in most need of conservation management. This work will also provide a reference library of ‘barcode’ sequences that could be used to check the identification of critical specimens, for example those that represent waxcap diversity in sites under consideration for possible SSSI designation. To date, Project Waxtongue has raised waxcap identification numbers in Britain from 50 to almost one hundred.

Mycological diversity: management and conservation

Waxcap grasslands are of considerable conservation concern across Britain due to the loss of their habitat (almost 95%) of unimproved or semi-improved grassland (poor grassland with short turf and receiving little or no fertiliser). Such sites require regular grazing or mowing (with the removal of clippings) but are vulnerable to intensive farming methods. If subjected to loss, the waxcap

communities are slow to re-establish and it may be decades before they return to their former diversity.

Low nutrient status is the essential requirement for grassland fungi, which are highly sensitive to soil enrichment particularly from nitrate-based fertilisers. The practice of grass-cycling on amenity grasslands such as parkland, churchyards and golf courses, whereby clippings are left to rot in situ, can lead to an untenable build-up of soil nutrient level. Ploughing causes detrimental disturbance to fungi mycelia and destroys the long-establishing subterranean networks. Spray drift from adjacent land is also a potential problem.

The cessation or reduction of livestock grazing poses a threat to many sites particularly in lowland areas where species-rich sites are often small, isolated and no longer commercially viable as grazing units. The nitrogen budget needs to be kept in balance. If none is being removed by grazing or mowing, deposition (via fixation of atmospheric nitrogen or as ammonia or nitrous oxide) will cause levels in the soil to increase. Excessive grazing during the fruiting season can result in trampling of fruit bodies. Similarly, high levels of public access, the use of motorbikes, off-road vehicles or heavy machinery can also lead to physical damage. Inappropriate tree planting schemes on old or semi-natural grasslands are not recommended.

Although fungal conservation is still a relatively recent concept, work is taking place to ensure that fungi and their habitats receive a greater degree of recognition and protection. Conservation strategies are an important way to achieve consensus between stakeholders (conservationists and agricultural scientists) and to communicate priorities for conservation action. The key strategy document, from Plantlife International entitled Saving the Forgotten Kingdom: A Strategy for the Conservation of the UK's Fungi 2008 - 2015, outlines priorities for the conservation of fungi in Britain. The objectives include:

1. Understanding and documenting fungal diversity 2. Conserving fungal diversity 3. Using fungal diversity sustainably 4. Promoting education and awareness about fungal diversity 5. Building capacity for the conservation of fungal diversity

A very active network of local recording groups gather data on the distribution and associations of a range of fungal species countrywide. This has led to establishment of a revised list of UK priority Biodiversity Action Plan species and the first set of fungal guidelines to assist in UK Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) selection involving the “waxcap grassland” ecosystems. For example, if there are 18 waxcap species identified at a location, it qualifies for consideration as a designated

SSSI. This underlines the need for a robust and reliable method for defining waxcap species and verifying their identification when necessary. Project Waxtongue is designed to provide the means to do just that.

Susan O’Brien, Kew Horticulture Diploma student, member of recent field course at Treborth

References

Ainsworth, M. (2013) Jubilee Waxcap. Kew Scientist44: 2.

Bratton, J, H. (2003) Habitat management to conserve fungi: a literature review CCW Natural Science Report No. 03/10/1 Natural Science Group, Countryside Council for Wales / Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru

British Mycological Society (2014) Field Mycology and Conservation [on-line] Available from: http://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/mycology/. [Accessed 20th January 2014]

Cannon, P. (2012) Waxtongue – UK Fungi of Conservation Concern [on-line] Available from: http://www.kew.org/science-research-data/directory/projects/Waxtongue.htm. [Accessed 20th January 2014]

Cannon, P. (2012) Waxcap Conservation [on-line] Available from: http://www.kew.org/news/waxcap-conservation.htm. [Accessed 20th January 2014]

Genney, D. R., Hale, A.D., Woods, R.G., Wright, M. (2009) Guidelines for selection of biological SSSIs Rationale Operational approach and criteria. Detailed guidelines for habitats and species groups. Chapter 20 Grassland fungi. [on-line] Available from: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2303. [Accessed 20th January 2014]

Griffith, G. W., Bratton, J. H., Easton, G. (2004) Charismatic megafungi: the conservation ofwaxcap grasslands British Wildlife31 -43.

Griffith, G. W., Easton, G., L., Jones, A. W. (2002) Ecology and Diversity of Waxcap (Hygrocybe spp.) Fungi. Biological Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth. International Society for Fungal conservation(2014) ] on-line] Available from: http://www.fungal-conservation.org/. [Accessed 12th January 2014]

Oster, M. (2006) Biological diversity values in semi-natural grasslands. Dept. of Botany, Stockholm University.

Plantlife International (2008) Saving the Forgotten Kingdom - Strategy for the Conservation of the UK’s Fungi 2008 -2015 [on-line] Available from: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/publications/ saving_the_forgotten_kingdom_a_strategy_for_the_conservation_of_the_uk [Accessed 10th January 2014]

Scottish Fungi, Grassland fungi project, (2012) Systematics, barcoding and ecology of fungi from waxcap grasslands [on-line] Available from: https://sites.google.com/site/scottishfungi/conservation/grassland-fungi. [Accessed 10th January 2014]

Webb, R. (2013) Magic Mushrooms. New Scientist 39-41

Marianne North, 1830 - 1890

Historically, there were few women plant hunters. Marianne North was one although she was mainly an exotic plant painter, born in Sussex in 1830 to a wealthy family with good connections, and an MP father, to whom she was very close. Of her mother we know little. She lived between Sussex and Norfolk, with the social season (from Easter to mid-August) in London, occasionally travelling on the very modern railway.

For three years in her late teens, after a very rudimentary formal education, the family had an extended tour around Europe, with many adventurous trips for Marianne with her father into valleys and mountains, over hills and through woods and forests which she loved. In Munich, she caught typhoid fever and recovered, but Europe was on the brink of revolution, about which she has written little, except to comment on the fact they saw enough to not want to ever see the effect of war again.

Despite lacking formal education, she was accomplished in music and art, and on their return home her pleasant life continued, although she always hated any kind of formality and regarded all Balls as a 'penance'. Following the death of her mother in 1855, who had made her promise to care for her father for the rest of his life, they lived more simply, mainly in London. In her 20s, by visiting Kew and Chiswick Gardens she improved her painting skills and met Joseph Hooker. Seeing all the exotic plants and flowers collected in exotic places and then grown on in the UK, she longed to see them in their native lands and, after her father's death, she took lessons in oil painting. Her long-held dream of painting flowers in the tropics came to fruition when a lady she had met in Egypt invited her to spend a summer with her in the United States. She travelled around North America and then sailed to Jamaica where she found the exotic flowers she craved: she visited sugar plantations and slowly became interested in conservation.

Returning to England the following year she was soon travelling again, this time to Brazil, where she started painting in the Botanical Gardens, then staying with friends on the High Plains, where the garden had magnolias, heliotropes, bougainvillea, poinsettia & gardenias plus the wild flowers she had come to paint. She stayed 8 months, returning to Rio where she was fortunate to meet the Emperor of Brazil, who was able to identify and name the plants in her paintings. During these travels she developed the practice of completing a picture in a day, starting with a rapid sketch and then squeezing oil paint directly onto her canvas. Her plant portraits were bold, vibrant, accurate and painted in their natural surroundings (see back cover).

Although suffering badly from rheumatism in her 40s in 1874, she continued to travel and went to Japan, where, by special permission, she spent three months in the temple area of Kyoto (then closed to westerners). Then on to Hong Kong, Saigon and thence to Singapore in January 1876. From there, once she had painted all available plants, she went to Borneo, where she found so many that she had trouble deciding where to start. She painted the largest pitcher plant seen – later Veitch sent a collector to get seed and these were germinated and named, in her honour, by Joseph Hooker. From Borneo she went to Java via Singapore, and then to Ceylon, painting all the time and then back to the UK, having circumvented the world. In September 1877, she was back on the move again to Ceylon then India, where she painted all the plants of sacred importance to the different religions – these paintings are now at Kew. Darwin, hearing of her paintings, persuaded her to undertake a trip to Australia so she could complete the flora of the world. This, her second trip around the world, aged 50, included Singapore again, then Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, and she returned to complete and open her gallery at Kew (see back cover).

She still had one unvisited continent, however, and went to Africa shortly after opening her gallery (Fig. 18). She also visited the Seychelles, returned to England, then went back to South America, to paint the monkey puzzle tree. By now her travels were no longer a pleasure as her health deteriorated and she returned to the UK, too ill to make her planned trip to Mexico. Although not a professional botanical artist, her paintings were accurate which is perhaps of more importance. Since many of her paintings were of plants then barely known in Europe or completely unknown they were of great value to botanical science. She returned to Kew and her gallery and then lived quietly in Gloucestershire, entertaining various botanists, and died just before her 60th birthday, leaving the gallery as her memorial. Her travels were not as gruelling as those of the other hunters but they ruined her health leading to an early death. She was involved in the building of the gallery from the beginning, when she offered Hooker (then curator at Kew) her paintings and a gallery to house them at Kew, which he accepted. It has recently been re-opened after refurbishment and still contains her wonderful, flamboyant paintings. She set herself a target of painting all the tropical flowers she could find and any other plants along the route, travelling twice round the globe, once in each direction. A remarkable lady

Ann Illsley

Bibliography:

Gribbin, Mary and Gribbin, John. Flower Hunters. 2008; Oxford University Press Payne, Michelle. Marianne North: a Very Intrepid Painter. 2011; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Quiz Answers (no prizes, just the satisfaction of a brain put to good use…)

Aquilegia Basil Currant Dibber Egg plant Foxglove Gooseberry Hedge(s) Iris Kohl rabi Linnaeus Mulberry Nymphaea Onion Passion Flower Quince Rhubarb Sage Taxus Umbrella Veronica Watercress Xylem Yucca Zucchini

Fig. 20. Painting by Marianne North. Not One Flower But Many. Protea cynuroides. Van Staaden’sd Kloof. © Kew Publications