Forest Gardens: evidence of increased biodiversity?

It could be interesting to compare some of our forest gardens with the emerging Miyawaki miniature forests. The UK has at least one, in Witney, Oxfordshire, the Netherlands, Belgium and France have more. They mimic natural woodland, tackle urban wildlife loss, reduce noise pollution, improve air quality and alleviate pressures from extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves. Earthwatch charity, the Town Council and others planted 600 native trees (including blackthorn, birches, crab apple, dogwood, elder and oaks) in a 200m2 plot, about the size of a tennis court. Another is planned for the city of Oxford. Based on forest management methods developed in the 1970s by Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki boosted by Indian engineer-entrepreneur Shubhendu Sharma in the 2010s, they’re another innovative, nature-based solution linking to businesses’ climate and biodiversity strategies.

See https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/13/fast-growing-mini-forests-spring-up-in-europe-to-aid-climate

https://earthwatch.org.uk/component/k2/tiny-forest and

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire

Some good records of fungi, birds and invertebrates on Graham Bell's website. https://grahambell.org.uk/the-red-shed-nursery/garden-cottage-research

💚 Mycorrhiza! 🙂

This is a good point. It seems plausible that less disturbance might
favour the establishment of mycorrhizas and the 'wood-wide web'. The
fruiting bodies might be a useful extra yield. You almost never get
them in allotments.

Has any research been done into fungi biodiversity in forest gardens? I think it's likely forest gardens have more fungi biodiversity that cultivated allotments/gardens. We certainly have plenty of volunteer mushrooms popping up in our community food forest at the moment. 🙂

Good idea. We should not assume this means displacing hard
infrastructure, which is only 6% of UK land. It's pastureland we
should go for (29%). Already happening in places.

Paul Jepson presentation of his new book Rewilding suggested 'Wild Back Better' as a focus for a green recovery rather than the Government slogan of 'build back better' (ie roads, railway and runways). The Guardian seems to agree and published (21 September) the letter making that proposal.

I share Tapir’s view that it is not just that forest gardeners introduce more species, we interact and create more dynamic systems and 'edges' and over-lapping interfaces where diversity is especially great, partly due to resources from multiple sources; and partly due to our appreciation of plants with varied functions, our aims and objectives, ecological perspectives and permaculture purposes. We do create a “huge number of habitat types” and “biodiversity hotspots” in our typical Forest Gardens - GM Ecology Unit found Birchfields Park Forest Garden to be such a hotspot just five years after first planting (in their Biodiversity Assessment completed in 2013). This is due to varied layers, patterns of windbreak, light and shade, dry, wet, acidic, alkaline, fertile and infertile ground, all kinds of shelter, various micro-habitats and micro-climates.

I wonder at how we seem to forget the meanings of our combinatory portmanteau words, especially biodiversity and permaculture! So, more explicitly forest gardening (like woodland/forest management) creates new niches and habitats. Our actions (like digging/tilling) prevent natural succession to stable semi-natural woodland dominated by native and long naturalised species with relatively low biodiversity. Forest Gardens, Food Forests and varied polycultures of different scales, complexity and naturalisation are managed and evolve to have greater plant species diversity and this boosts the abundance of many life forms, from oribatid mites and springtails down in the earth where soil life is enriched to amphibians and flying creatures. They build resilience of the groundcover layer to disease, pests, grazing and trampling, and its and our resilience to extreme weather events and future scenarios. The plant species diversity affects herbivores, predators, parasites and other plants in related ecosystems. Even the effects on important groups, such as pollinators and priority species threatened with extinction, are not much measured or assessed - nor synthesized globally, see https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/64951-make-plant-species-diversity-beneficial-for-wildlife-and-human-beings

As research progresses around the interfaces between biodiversity, food security, health and well-being in the face of climate change there’s increasing recognition that trees combined with crops in landscapes have great potential for integrating objectives of nature conservation into agricultural systems. Similarly trees in residential areas, public service and workplace grounds with better-managed ‘green corridors’ and miscellaneous plots of land including forest gardens and other collectively managed urban gardens can create habitats that benefit wildlife and human populations through ecosystem services. The ‘green corridors’ link habitats for migration and thus help sustain wildlife species as well as improve our active travel routes and air quality.

Hi Paul,

I've just heard that a local lepidopterist who recently surveyed our community forest garden counted 20 different varieties of butterfly/moth.

Best wishes

Nigel

Local bee keeper found 8 different varieties of native bee even tho we have very few native plants on the RISC roof garden - guess they don't have objections to immigrant nectar!