Key findings * Not everything in the record was definitely there. For example, pine trees have highly mobile pollen and can sometimes be overrepresented in the pollen record. * Not everything absent from the pollen record was absent on the ground. For example, insect-pollinated plants are often absent, or under-represented in the
None of what I've studied looks at the links of the trees that colonised Dartmoor after glaciation compared to the trees that are here today. Genetics are not referenced -- simply the familial relationship of a species within a genus. A continuous lineage of native trees is a
Compared to cities and countryside hedgerows, it's actually quite difficult to forage for colour on the high moor of Dartmoor. The earliest tree colonisers of Dartmoor after the glaciers were dwarf willow and birch. Dartmoor has seen the comings and goings of trees for thousands of years. Most
If you've been to Princetown, you no doubt will have travelled through many habitats to arrive in the village: lowland farms, valley forests, and the bleak high moor. If we were to take a sample from each of these places, they would have slightly different contemporary pollen assemblages.
The pollen record is retrieved from land. Dirt is collected from "today" back 10,000 years, just after the glaciers retreated. It isn't worth collecting samples below glacial till because it's likely that soil has been churned, and no longer sits in the correct,
The history of plants on Dartmoor is known from only a handful of studies which have been conducted on Dartmoor. Each of the studies has taken a sliver of dirt, and then examined it under a microscope to find the pollen from the plants that have grown here over time.
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Identification Alternating leaves, which are usually long and slender. Buds are often fuzzy. Catkins look like enlarged buds, standing upright, and away from the tree. Seeds are light and float like dandelion heads. Botany Enjoys wet soil and river banks. It is common for willow trees to hybridise, so identification
Identification A small tree with thorns, white flowers, and pink anthers. Annual fruit, haws, are red berries. Flowers share a smelly chemical, trimethylamine, with that of decaying flesh. Botany Hawthorns will grow hundreds of years but, seeds take two winters to germinate. Leaves are edible. Lore Seen as both a
Identification Large tree with distinctive lobed leaves. Also, commonly appears in hedgerows. Acorns caps may have long (Q. robur) or short stem (Q. petraea). Botany The fruit, acorns, appear in mast years, occurring every 3-10 years. Oaks will grow for more than a thousand years, and support hundreds of other
Identification Based entirely on appearance, stinging nettles should be part of the mint family. Square stem, leaves in opposite pairs, sometimes-purple tinged. If you look closely at stinging nettles, you’ll also see they look a bit hairy. These hairs are tiny hypodermic needles filled with histamine, and formic acid.
Caution: berries are toxic! Identification Short tree with waxy, irregularly shaped leaves. Leaves often have thorns. In winter, some trees have red or white berries. Garden cultivars may have yellow stripes on the leaves. Botany Spikes on the leaves are a response to predation. Leaves higher on the tree often