with the effect of the gamebirds themselves, could explain the differences in the vegetation communities we observed between rides in game and non-game woods. The high light levels in wide rides, the soil disturbance caused by vehicles, and the physical disturbance and increased soil fertility caused by the pheasants themselves may have created conditions for particular ground flora species to flourish. There were more species that prefer these high-light and high-nutrient conditions including grasses, and ruderals like hempnettle and hogweed, in game woods. These species tend to be fast-growing and competitive, and increased numbers of these species may explain why there was also less bare ground in rides in game woods. What does it mean for our woodland open areas? In recent years, species found in ancient woodlands have declined, and it has been suggested that this decline is partly because open areas within these woodlands have been lost. Our work suggests that rides in woods managed for gamebirds can provide these open areas.
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Registered charity number 1112023 (England and Wales) Tel: 01425 652381 Email: info@gwct.org.uk Web: www.gwct.org.uk
Christmases to come Christmas 2020 will have memories - not all good but we can’t change the past. New routines, new challenges hit us every day, so many things we can’t do anything about, but there are many things we can do something about. We just need to hold on to the good memories. Based on our present experiences, as we discovered for Christmas last year, COVID was the Grinch that stole not just Christmas but stole so much more in 2020. We can wish ourselves, our family and our friends, the best for the future but never forget tradition. Not all traditions are good, but in them there are many positives and changes, still very much alive today that will survive just like Christmas. Some old traditions die and new traditions are created. We are a year on from probably one of the biggest challenges we have experienced in our lives. Day by day we have to accept there are so many things we can waste time on, however, one of the most important things we have is time, and time doesn’t stop for anybody, so we should make the most of it. I am so looking forward to Christmas 2021, it’s not here yet but I’m already sharing with you…
THE PRESENCE OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME Fast forward to the year Infinity Where there is no sense of nostalgia In the likeness of man Divinity No blood, no tissue, no neuralgia Post a millennial sabbatical Humanity absconded from the Earth Succeeded by hologramatical Units with ev’ry one a virgin birth The activists have turned androgynous No shapely calves in the Christmas stocking Energy has become hydrogenous The free range turkeys robots a-mocking Christmas lunches were never this pleasant Silicone chips with virtual pheasant Rex di Noci November 16th 2021 27
