Good things come to those who wait…

Friday 23rd April 2010

Delayed bluebell displays will be glory of the spring

The icy grip of winter may have delayed this year’s bluebell displays but it means more time to plan a visit to a woodland reserve!

Each year at many of The Wildlife Trusts’ nature reserves, these jewels of our woodlands come alive, in April and May, and turn forest floors into an ocean of sapphire. According to Brian Eversham, chief executive of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough (BCNP) Wildlife Trust, although these native flowers have a sound strategy for reproducing en masse, this annual spectacle may be under threat from climate change:

“Beautiful as bluebells might be, there is more to them than meets the eye. They can reproduce asexually, meaning they produce new plants without fertilisation through pollination. Bulbs can split off from each other and grow independently as clones. Potentially, many of the plants within a clustered population on the forest floor may be genetically identical, allowing one plant to multiply seemingly without limit, although genetically identical populations may be more prone to extinction, not having made the adaptations to survive a sudden change in conditions.

“When bluebells do produce seeds, these are large and glossy black but quite heavy, so most will fall within a few centimetres of the parent plant. This is a good strategy when living within stable habitats like woodlands - but makes it difficult for bluebells to colonise new woods, or to respond to threats like climate change.

“And as you may guess from seeing their profusion when strolling through a bluebell woodland, there may be millions of individual bluebell bulbs resting beneath the earth. If bluebells are present in these numbers in a woodland, it is a good sign that it is an ancient woodland, more than 400 years old.”

Bluebells aren’t the only wildflower to look out for on a woodland walk this spring, adds Brian: “The aromatic, golden-yellow colt’s foot, exotic-looking ‘cuckoo pint’, and the parasitic toothwort, all these are flowers you may spot on a spring walk, and which enrich the overall experience by adding variety. If you join a bluebell walk with The Wildlife Trusts, your guide should be able to tell you about the other wildflowers on show too.”

You can find out about bluebell events happening across the UK on The Wildlife Trusts’ website www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=events.

The day the first bluebell bulbs will burst forth will vary from region to region, but you can keep watch on how they are coming along in the east of the UK by checking Beds, Cambs, Northants and Peterborough (BCNP) Wildlife Trust’s ‘Bluebell Watch’ pages on its website: www.wildlifebcnp.org/bluebellwatch.htm. BCNP Wildlife Trust will update these pages throughout April and May to show how bluebells on its reserves are progressing, and you can also find details of the best nature reserves in the area to see bluebells.

Here are some of The Wildlife Trusts’ top nature reserves for seeing bluebells this spring:
• Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) – Moor Copse www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=23532

• BCNP Wildlife Trust – Waresley and Grandon Woods www.wildlifebcnp.org/reserves/reserve.php?reserveid=73

• Derbyshire Wildlife Trust – Mapperley Wood www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/reserves.php

• Lancashire Wildlife Trust - Aughton Woods www.lancswt.org.uk/index.php/places-to-see/aughton-woods.php

• Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust – Hambleton Wood at Rutland Water www.lrwt.org.uk/pp/Silver/viewSilver.asp%3FID=322.html

• Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust – Dole Wood http://lincstrust.org.uk/reserves/nr/reserve.php?mapref=14

• London Wildlife Trust - Sydenham Hill Wood www.wildlondon.org.uk/Naturereserves/tabid/91/language/en-B/Naturereserves/SydenhamHillWoodCoxsWalk/tabid/139/Default.aspx

• Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Goose’s Nest Bluebell Bank – the best bluebell views are from the road (there is no access to the reserve) www.nwt.org.uk/index.php?section=places:reserves&reserveid=343

• Surrey Wildlife Trust – Cucknells Wood www.surreywildlifetrust.co.uk/Default.asp?mainmenu=ourplaces&EntityID={C3CC1DB6-F707-49BC-9AAF-9B593D6250D0}

• Ulster Wildlife Trust – Glenarm Nature Reserve www.ulsterwildlifetrust.org/nature+reserves/Glenarm

• Worcestershire Wildlife Trust - The Knapp and Papermill www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/index.php?section=places%3Areserves&reserveid=84.


Story by RSWT