Dynamic duo return to save mountain plant habitats
Transcript
Two speakers: Jame Robinson (seasonal ranger) and Lewis Donaghy (ecologist)
James
I'm James Robinson. I'm a seasonal ranger here on Ben Lawers.
It's my second season working on the property, and I absolutely love it.
Mountain woodland, and montane willow scrub especially, is a very rare habitat in the UK.
On our site now on Ben Lawers, it's designated a Special Area of Conservation.
Essentially as a result of management practices on the Highlands over hundreds of years really, the area and the extent of mountain woodland has shrunk considerably.
Montane willow is also increasingly being impacted by climate change.
We're having much less snow cover over winter and this means that the montane willows are subject to grazing pressure over a much wider time frame in the year.
Mountain woodland is one of the priority habitats in the National Trust for Scotland's Plan for Nature, and so because we have the biggest, or most important, area of mountain woodland in the UK, it's vitally important that we conserve and restore this area.
The tree nursery here -- we go right the way through from seed collecting to planting back out onto the property.
In June each year we'll go out and collect seed from the montane willow, bring them down into the tree nursery and process the seeds.
Then we'll plant them out into seed trays and, depending on how they go, around this time of year, maybe into spring we'll prick the seed trays out into root trainers, grow the trees up into small trees.
Between about 18 months and 2 years from collecting the seed, we'll plant them back out on the hill, just bolstering the population.
Lewis
I'm Lewis Donaghy. I work as a seasonal ecologist at Ben Lawers.
What Ben Lawers is renowned for is its plants, and its Arctic-alpine plants, which are found high up in the mountains.
My main jobs are surveying the species and habitats on the reserve.
The survey work is important because it gives us an idea of how the species and habitats are currently doing.
At Ben Lawers, it's also important because we have several nationally rare and nationally scarce species, and some of the species are actually only found on the reserve and nowhere else in Britain.
So, it is an incredibly important site at a national level.
We're very fortunate to have been monitoring species on the reserve for quite a long period of time.
Most of our high quality data started in the 1980s, but some of it even earlier than that.
And what we can see from that is that some species have actually been declining significantly over that time.
The montane willow scrub is an incredibly rare habitat across the country and it is a priority habitat for the National Trust for Scotland.
One of our goals for that is to actually expand our montane woodland.
My work advises the management of the ground to promote these species.
James
Here we have an example of a downy willow that we've actually grown ourselves from seed from the nature reserve here.
It's an example of one that's been recently planted, and we've been planting them in clusters on this hillside to bolster the population and to introduce them to a new area.
So, what visitors can do to help us in this conservation work is when you're visiting the site, if there is a path, please stick to it.
They're there for a reason and it protects some of these quite fragile plants and species, especially when they're establishing themselves.
We run throughout the year volunteering events, so if you have time to give, you could come down and help us with all manner of jobs on the nature reserve, tree planting being one of them.
Also the National Trust for Scotland, it is a charity, so we do rely on donations and memberships.
If you're able to, please consider donating or becoming a member.
Our roles and nature conservation work are kindly supported by the players of the People's Postcode Lottery.
Ecologist Lewis Donaghy and ranger James Robinson, who both worked at Ben Lawers last year, returned to their roles again this summer to protect Scotland’s nature and heritage. Their work protects mountain willow scrub, one of the six priority habitats identified in the Trust’s recently published Plan for Nature, which provides a framework and focus for our nature conservation efforts. Restoration of this rare habitat is one of the main focuses of Lewis and James’s work at the National Nature Reserve.
Lewis, who spent his winter working in New Zealand and was eager to return to Scotland to continue his role at the Trust, said: ‘I was keen to return to my role and get back out in the mountains botanising and surveying mountain species, including rare willows. There are 15 nationally rare and 40 nationally scarce plant species at the reserve, so surveying them is important. It provides an indication of how well they are doing and contributes to the long-term data used to measure the health of these populations.
‘These plants thrive high up in the mountains where they have adapted to colder temperatures and strong winds. However, the habitats in which they do best are declining due to rising temperatures caused by climate change. Conditions for the plants have got worse due to warmer winters, with less snow cover and prolonged dry periods in summer causing them to retreat to higher altitudes in search of more suitable conditions. Long-term monitoring has highlighted that the reduction in suitable habitats is having a detrimental effect on some high-altitude, specialist species with snow pearlwort, mountain sandwort and drooping saxifrage particularly vulnerable. Despite these worrying trends, other species are doing well, with populations of alpine fleabane in a stable condition.’
The restoration of mountain willows, pioneered at Ben Lawers, began after monitoring data highlighted that they were declining. Highland saxifrage (Saxifraga rivularis) was also saved from local extinction by conservation action, after monitoring revealed that only a single plant remained.
Lewis continued: ‘It is thanks to the continued generosity of our supporters, alongside the funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery that have supported my role, enabling the Trust to protect and promote the wildlife, nature and landscapes in its care for the benefit of everyone, now and into the future.’
Lewis’s surveys are complemented by James’s work on the practical management of the reserve, as well as managing its tree nursery. Both roles are vital to achieving the ambitions for expanding mountain willow scrub set out in the Plan for Nature.
Ranger James Robinson, who previously managed libraries before studying environmental management and technology at the Open University, joined the Trust after volunteering with conservation projects in the UK and South America and training to become an arborist. James commented: ‘My skills as an arborist have been put to good use managing the tree nursery, where I grow saplings from seeds collected on the reserve. We focus on growing mountain willow species, although we also grow hazel, aspen, juniper, and some other species in smaller amounts. These trees are planted on the reserve to support the restoration of a continuous habitat gradient from woodland through mountain willow scrub to mountain plants.’
James continued: ‘Lewis’s role complements my work as the surveying provides evidence of the impact of habitat restoration and also informs priorities for practical action. By continuing our focus on mountain willow scrub at Ben Lawers, we’re reinforcing the site as a pioneer in the restoration of this priority habitat, helping to increase understanding as well as inspire and support other sites looking to undertake its reintroduction.’
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have supported our conservation charity’s Love Our Nature project since 2022, which benefited from £900k last year. Further funding awarded through Postcode Earth Trust this year will support conservation work at Ben Lawers and across a variety of different habitats, including coastal and marine areas, peatlands, wetlands, woodland and the eight National Nature Reserves cared for by the Trust. Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, Laura Chow, said: ‘It’s great that our players are supporting the Trust’s vital nature conservation work at Ben Lawers in this way. Lewis and James have such an important job to do, and we wish them the very best.’
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have now raised over £3.4m since 2014 to support the National Trust for Scotland.
The Love Our Nature project supports our vision to care for, protect and share Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage for everyone, as outlined in our 10-year strategy, launched in 2022.
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