Beech - Fagus Sylvatica

Derelict beech pollard, Black Mountains

On a recent trip to the Black Mountains I passed by a number of impressively large derelict beech pollards that reminded me to look up the latest research into unravelling the history of beech in the British Isles. There was once a time when beech was believed to be native only to southern England. This paradigm has had to be revised in light of beech charcoal excavated by archaeologists in secure contexts and beech pollen found in waterlogged sediments viz drowned forest beds in the Severn estuary radiocarbon dated to around 6,000 years ago. The late Oliver Rackham produced a distribution map for beech in the New Naturalist Woodlands  and it has been reproduced in a comprehensive monograph on beech Packham, John R., et al. "Biological flora of the British Isles: Fagus sylvatica." Journal of Ecology 100.6 (2012): 1557-1608 

Presumed distribution of beech (fagus sylvatica) from Packham, John R., et al. "Biological flora of the British Isles: Fagus sylvatica." Journal of Ecology 100.6 (2012): 1557-1608.

A google search threw up the news that research had established that beech in Scotland was native in origin.



Moving onto Google scholar and finding anything related to recent research publications - with open access - on beech colonisation in Britain has proved challenging, vague generalisations seem to apply. All the current research seems to be centered on mainland Europe. Beech is apparently a thermophile and is used to reconstruct and model quaternary environments and with a widespread European distribution underpins some avenues of research. There are a plethora of papers attempting to model the distribution and colonisation rates of beech across Europe during the pleistocene/holocene and seems to entail postulating numerous glacial refugia. The glacial refugia influence the rate of colonisation, with increased rates to account for the bypass routes around significant mountain ranges, where colonisation rates are improbably high then alternative hypotheses need to proposed such as: beech mast transported by northward flowing rivers, animal dispersal, anthropogenic assisted distribution etc. One notable paper provides compelling evidence from radiocarbon dated pine, oak and beech charcoal, possibly indicating a glacial refugia in the Harz mountains and poses some interesting questions of colonisation and climate models Robin, Vincent, et al. "Too early and too northerly: evidence of temperate trees in northern Central Europe during the Younger Dryas." New Phytologist 212.1 (2016): 259-268. The paper provoked a comment and a reply. An interesting exercise and an insight into an ongoing area of much debate.

Upland Peatlands - Photography challenges of moorland

Black Mount hills from Rannoch moor

Rannoch Moor is probably the most photographed upland peatland in the UK, its photographic appeal lies with the changeable weather and hill ranges that form a photogenic backdrop to an extensive tract of blanket bog broken up by bodies of water. Extensive suites of glacial landforms are mantled by blanket bog and the depth of underlying peat and degree of water logging has created a mosaic of vegetation, which has earmarked Rannoch moor for designation as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Conveniently it has a major A road that cuts across it for ease of access, it's a great pity that it's an 8 hour drive for me to get there. Nonetheless there are other moorlands and upland peatlands.

Typical moorland scenery of a featureless upland plateau 

Most of the factors that make Rannoch Moor so photogenic are sadly absent from many moorland plateaus. On plateaus the 'high' ground takes the form of long whale backs or shallow domes that provide negligible backdrop. Substantial water bodies are usually man made and glacial erratics are usually absent, leaving vegetation dominating the foreground, middle distance and beyond. The exposed nature makes any wind problematic with subject motion blur. The plateau 'flatness' requires low angled light to provide emphasis and definition to a landscape photograph and preferably some weather too. Taking into account the quality of lighting required to enliven rectangles of moorland and sky, I came to the conclusion some while ago that it's more rewarding to concentrate my photographic endeavours away from the flat moorland plateaus to moorlands that provide more topographic relief.

Rolling moorland

Rolling moorland has some welcome topographic relief to provide depth and a backdrop helps eliminate the land/sky rectangle.

Where foreground interest is confined to vegetation then the vegetation ideally needs to be in bloom or in autumnal colour.  Grasslands hugely benefit from snowfall.

It shouldn't come as a great surprise that panoramic moorlands lend themselves to a panoramic aspect ratios.

Water courses provide an alternative narrative and a welcome addition to moorland scenery.

In a future post I'll cover the challenges of photographing upland peatlands that fall outside the moorland category.

Upland peatlands

The first in a series of posts covering the 'peatlands' in the uplands of the UK.

Peatland in the Brecon Beacons National Park

A generally accepted definition of what constitutes an upland in the UK is the uncultivated land above 250m - 400m in England and Wales, whilst in Northern Ireland and Scotland upland environments can occur at lower elevations. A relief map of the UK is one way of visually representing the distribution of uplands.

Relief map of the UK
By Captain Blood - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=930331

A case could also be made for visually representing uplands by climatic criteria.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

Wind

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

Rainfall

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

Days of rain

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

Mean Maximum Temperature

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

Mean Minimum Temperatures

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

So on average the UK upland climate is cool, windy and often wet. The rain falls onto ground underlain by predominantly impermeable bedrock lithologies and that causes at least seasonal waterlogging of the overlying soil layer. Water saturated soils create anaerobic conditions and low temperatures reduce biological activity slowing down the rate of organic material decomposition. Once a threshold is passed for low temperature/months of soil waterlogging, organic material starts to accumulate in soil.

View uphill of an exposure of blanket peat and minerogenic surface from fluvial erosion on a moderate hill slope ~ Mynydd Du, Brecon beacons National Park.

Unsurprisingly the uplands also reveal their presence on a soil carbon map.

Ostle, Nicholas & Levy, Peter & D. Evans, C & Smith, P. (2009). UK land use and soil carbon sequestration. Land Use Policy 26:S274-S283. Land Use Policy. 26. . 10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.08.006.

Comparing the organic carbon content of the UK upland soils to European soils highlights their significance and explains why so many walkers in southern Europe wear fabric walking boots.

There are numerous descriptions of what constitutes a peatland in press - varying minimum depths of peat, satisfying a varying minimum criteria of % carbon content covering a minimum area of land. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, UK Committee have taken a pragmatic approach and define it simply as:

Peatlands are areas of land with a naturally accumulated layer of peat. These are formed under waterlogged conditions from carbon rich, dead and decaying plant material. 

The next post will concentrate on the vegetation and habitats that cover upland peatlands.

Rannoch Moor

Isle of Skye - round up

The best weather day of the holiday was set aside for a trip down Glen Sligachan, Nic didn't fancy a hillwalk and the low elevation of Glen Sligachan enhances the prominence of the surrounding hills. Besides there was an opportunity for an image with early sunlight on the floor of the glen as the sun cleared the tops of the Red Hills to the south east.

It was an enjoyable walk, a stretch of the River Sligachan was explored, but the best of the early light had passed and with the Black Cuillin in close proximity, a wide angle, tilt shift lens would have been useful to preserve the true perspective.

The excursion turned into a something of a social, as a local professional landscape photographer, was met on the way and we chatted amongst other things about the current situation on Skye, which has grown to be a prime bucket list destination for landscape photographers and the photography workshop industry. Shortly after we stopped and chatted to two contractors heading down to carry out path maintenance on the slopes of Druim Hain, for the John Muir Trust. One was carrying a Hasselblad film camera and documenting the work and landscapes, with 'quality lighting' as part of a long term project, I'll look forward to viewing that body of work one day. Given the forecast of heavy showers for the afternoon, a decision was made to take advantage of the weather and change the plan, to view the Cuillins from further away.  We retraced our steps back up Glen Sligachan, as the showers started to roll in.  We then travelled to Strathaird, for southerly views of the Cuillin and Nic, could spot for marine wildlife in Loch Scavaig from elevated position.

The Camasunary track was taken, prolonged showers meant it was heads down walking and the opportunity to appreciate the geology exposures - sedimentary rocks, dykes and basalt. Nic, didn't fancy the walk to Beinn Leacach, she could scan the sea and coast for marine life adequately from Am Mam. A break in the cloud to the SW let some light through for a double rainbow. That brief window of light was the only one of the trip.

With dusk approaching and the hill fog lifting from the Cuillin, the opportunity was taken to make an image of the juxtaposition between glacially scoured rock and the periglacial landform of the Cuillin ridge.

There's something compelling about about the Black Cuillin in some weather, wreathed in hill fog and rain. I have yet to make the photograph that captures that brooding atmosphere, but the climate of Skye at least gives plenty of opportunities for practice.

The trip to Skye was an enjoyable one, a mix of weather, geology, landscapes, scenery and wildlife and a few areas/locations identified to explore in the future.

Isle of Skye - Geology

The Isle of Skye has a long geological history, illustrated by a Geology Excursion Guide that has 21 detailed itineraries, the majority are of 8 - 10 hours in duration. Located on the Atlantic coast of Scotland there is the prospect of some changeable weather, which means there is the opportunity for making a landscape photograph with a narrative of the geology and/or geomorphology.

View from the western slopes of Marsco  ~ 2013

One particular geological feature has played on my mind, since my last visit to Skye, in late November 2013.  I had followed an excursion in a geology guide book, down Glen Sligachan and ended up in Harker's Gully on Marsco, that has exposures of intrusive rocks in a composite ring dyke. In lieu of typing verbatim the geology guide description, there is a description of the ring dyke and its context within the western Red Hills (volcanic) centre on the BGS Earthwise blog or Geological Conservation Review. The ring fracture was differentially weathered into a gully and a distinctly verdant flora compared to that growing over the thinner soils on the adjacent granite bedrock. That geology excursion was compromised by the distraction of the views over Glen Sligachan to the Black Cuillins, glacial geomorphology and the course of the River Sligachan, that in places delineates the boundary of the gabbro and granite intrusions.

Screen shot taken from http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html to illustrate Marsco hybrids of the western Red Hills Centre

For those curious about Britain's bedrock, the British Geological Survey has an excellent Geology viewer application to investigate the landscape. Below is a satellite image taken in late winter of Marsco, judging by the snow lying on the Black Cuillin, shadows and the drab brown foliage. Clearly visible are stripes and patches of green foliage.

Screen shot taken from http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html to illustrate Marsco hybrids of the western Red Hills Centre

 Clicking on a green strip reveals the underlying geology as mapped by field geologists, which is the Marsco Hybrids.

Changing the geology transparency layer reveals the underlying geology and the green foliage correlates with the outcrop of the Marsco Hybrids.

On the visit to Skye in late October 2016 and in the itinerary under 'iffy weather' there were a list of geology excursions and two in particular explored the nature of the ring dyke further. First up was an impromptu geology excursion to the John Muir Trusts, Sconser estate, that proved interesting, but probably best visited after some drier weather, with lower water flows to make crossings easier and when the Sligachan 'peatlands' are less saturated. The plateau basalts, Glaimaig granite and the composite ring dyke of Marsco Hybrids are revealed in the stream exposures of bedrock and also on the north spur of Druim na Ruiage the Marsco Hybrids are revealed by verdant green flora against the autumnal russet flora of the sedges and grasses. Sadly by the time I had got to grips with the geology exposures, the weather had really deteriorated and dusk arrived. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the potential of the area and the backdrop of the Red Cuillins.

After arriving on Skye, Nic booked a kayaking trip on the day before we departed Skye and at the time the plan was to drop me off somewhere and then pick me up somewhere else at at dusk. The weather forecast deteriorated, with a weather front spreading in from the north around midday and so the plan changed, to me dropping off Nic and picking her up from the kayaking offices, giving me a window between 09.00 - 16.00 hrs. The leading edge of a weather front can deliver some atmospheric weather, so I decided on a walk up into Coire nam Bruardaran,  which was also covered by a geology excursion I could cherry pick from and if the opportunity arose, wander up a hill summit if the weather held. After dropping Nic off in Lower Breaknish, I parked up at Loch Ainort and the weather was pretty good, a few wisps of hill fog over Glaimaig, but the higher summit of Gharb-bheinn clear. A beeline was made for Gharbh-bheinn, the geology could wait until the descent. An hour later and the summit of Gharb-bheinn was 'clagging' up, sigh. I was passed by two local hillwalkers, who in view of the dire weather forecast, were heading up Gharbh-bheinn for a shorter hill day in preference to the Black Cuillin. In view of the hill fog I decided to concentrate on the geology and views from Druin Eadar Da Choire and Point 489.

Topographic expressions of weathering and erosion.

Where the ring dyke crosses the ridge of Druin Eadar Da Choire, its presence is revealed by a gully, the ground vegetation is less convincing, although the signature of the verdant flora corresponding with the Marsco Hybrids is readily apparent on the eastern flank. The view across Coire na Seilg, juxtaposes the weathering and erosion profiles of differing lithologies : granite of Glas-Bheinn Mhor and assorted intrusive/extrusive basic rocks of Belig.

Onwards to point 489, which for a modest elevation has extensive views. Any lingering hopes I had of taking in more elevated views were dispelled by incoming cloud and orographic fog. I should add that the western summits of the Black Cuillin appeared to be largely free of cloud/fog, whilst the lower tops of the Red Hills were afflicted by cloud/fog. A 'wee blether' with the two hillwalkers on their return journey, revealed that they did get a brief view from Gharb-bheinn's summit.

I did chance upon a Hard fern nestled in an outcrop of granite accompanied by some Fir clubmoss.

The western slopes of point 489 had extensive granite block fields against a backdrop of Marsco and the Black Cuillin. I did keep an eye out for any glacial erratics, but didn't notice anything, which suggests the block fields are autochthonous and generated under periglacial conditions, some areas of the slopes had distinct banded pattern of vegetation and block stripes, landforms indicative of periglacial mass movement.


The dark basic rocks of Garbh-bheinn, provided a contrasting backdrop to the granite block slope. The name given to this area is the Red Hills, I somehow arrived in an area where the geology comprised either dark basic rock or granites that were blue/green/gray when fresh and gray/brown when weathered. The weather as forecast deteriorated and I made my way back to the car, not a bad excursion and an area to return to again one day. I'll cover other excursions on the Isle of Skye in the next post.

Isle of Skye - Woodland and Wildlife

After the week in Kinloch Rannoch, the following week was destined for the Isle of Skye. Nic, had a holiday bucket list of tour operators and guides, for kayaking, boat trips and wildlife watching ... Which was fine with me, as she could drop me off somewhere, whilst she went kayaking/boat tripping/wildlife watching. As always the plans were weather dependent.

After arriving at the holiday cottage, unloading and unpacking, there was enough time for an excursion. The weather was negligible wind, very low cloud, rain and a calm sea, that pointed to a wildlife excursion, which in turn threw up a candidate location in the Kyleakin Hills, that held the promise of otter spotting and coincidentally with nearby oak woodland designated as a Special Area of Conservation.

After parking up, there then followed some less than optimal map reading on my part, eventually Nic located a suitable vantage point for a wildlife watching vigil and was immediately rewarded, with an otter feeding on the shore. One pair of binoculars and two people, is never a satisfactory combination, so I went for a recce of the woods and on my return, was informed in hushed tones, that there were now two otters and clearly visible with the naked eye. A good start to the holiday, a few days of cloud and rain meant  this area was visited on further occasions and we were rewarded with more extended viewings of the two otters and also a large pod of dolphins.

 

The woodland contained older krummholz oak trees shaped by the wind and also a few wind thrown, uprooted oaks, still alive and adapting their canopy growth from their trunks horizontal orientation. It was also apparent that the woodland was regenerating, with seedlings and saplings of all the indigenous tree species present. The small downside was that the woodland grew over Torridonian sandstone, I have longed formed an opinion that Torridonian landscapes are some of more arduous to traverse and the woodland was no exception to that rule.



With the sea in close proximity, a high annual rainfall, the climate is decidedly Oceanic and the woodland appears an optimal habitat for communities of mosses, liverworts and lichens. The woodland certainly possessed an atmosphere, enhanced by autumnal colour in the canopy and field layer, rain wetted surfaces added vibrancy to the colours.



Heavy rainfall also posed problems with one excursion and streams in full spate, on a trip out to the Rubha an Dunain peninsula. The excursion was abandoned, when a safe fording point of an otherwise innocuous stream could not be found, without a tedious detour upstream and a look at the OS map indicated there was the prospect of fording a number of larger streams draining greater catchment areas. Every cloud has a silver lining though, on the return journey back to the car park, we watched a pair of white tailed eagles quartering the peninsula, before disappearing from view up into Cuillin Corries in Glen Brittle.

Heavy rainfall did ensure that waterfalls were impressive and the Black Cuillin had a certain atmospheric feel to them.

I'll cover some landscape photography and geology excursions, made in more clement weather, in the next post.

Upland birchwoods

A recent trip to the Scottish Highlands, staying at Kinloch Rannoch and upon arrival it was apparent the autumnal colour palette of deciduous trees, meant plans needed to be revised, to take advantage of the photographic opportunity presented. The appeal of photographing upland birchwoods, increased after a frustrating trip up Ben Lawers, that achieved nothing more than the following a 'munro baggers trench' and some very infrequent breaks in a persistent band of cloud that blanketed the summits and obscured the views. Disappointing, as I venture into the hills for the views, not to tick off a hill list. The small consolation of the Ben Lawers ascent, was a brief, but impressive Brocken spectre.

I decided that my photographic ambitions be revised from summit views, to finding an autumnal upland birchwood, with hills in the background under an atmospheric sky and given the iffy Mountain Weather Forecasts, of high winds and low percentages of clear summits, it seemed a wiser choice.

Ordnance Survey maps were appraised for deciduous woodland, then cross referenced with online historic 1:10,560 OS maps and then satellite imagery, to eliminate newly planted or regenrated woodland. A comparison of modern OS maps and the 19thC OS maps, also lends credence to woodland historians assertions that some upland birchwoods are mobile in the Highland landscape. It soon became apparent that there were a number of locations to choose from and in absence of a strict definition, I decided that anything above the 300m contour line would be a reasonable basis to define an upland birchwood, ecologists would rightly beg to differ, but it seemed a reasonable cut off point for my needs. Locations were then assessed for : geology interest, interference of views from municipal infrastructure, expansive views etc and a list of potential sites arrived at to visit, weather permitting.

The weather duly obliged with sunshine and showers.

Of the upland birchwoods visited, some had been enclosed with deer fences to allow natural regeneration to take place, whilst others were left open and I can only assume that deer were being controlled, as there were signs of woodland regeneration with saplings growing. Where there were no deer fences or apparent controls on grazing pressure, the woodland showed no signs of regeneration. In all the upland birchwoods visited, Bracken was conspicuous by its presence in the field layer and adjacent landscape, prompting some ecologists to speculate that these were formerly Oak woods.

A ravine chanced upon, revealed the potential for the wider Highlands landscape, if the grazing regime changed. The mixed woodland consisted of: Aspen, Rowan, Hazel, Willow and Birch, that contributed to an excellent autumnal colour palette

The decision to lower ambitions from summits to lower elevations proved a good decision and some less visited parts of Perthshire were explored.