Project Report The Importance of Trees in Biodiversity

Transcription

1 O Fiaich College 2012 Project Report The Importance of Trees in Biodiversity Introduction Waste Watchers is the environmental group for O Fiaich College. Our school is located on the outskirts of Dundalk, not far from countryside but close to the DKIT, commercial and retail premises, residential areas and a large park. Each year we undertake a major project to learn more about some aspect of the environment and to inform our school community regarding this issue. This year we decided to undertake a project on The Importance of Trees in Biodiversity. Trees are all around us and often times we take them for granted. However the world would be seriously affected if there were no trees. We decided to carry out some research on native trees, to make an attractive poster to inform people in a graphic way the benefits of trees and we invited a skilled wood worker to school to do some workshops with our fellow students.

2 Waste Watchers 2012, Karina, Ashley, Tania, Lorna, Dean, Dylan and David The aims of the project To present information about native trees. To highlight the importance of biodiversity in simple and attractive ways To raise awareness of the problems of deforestation. To raise awareness around issues regarding biodiversity. To identify some of the specific benefits of trees. The objectives of the project To research native trees and be more inclined to preserve native trees. To graphically display the benefits of trees. To understand the term biodiversity. To communicate our findings to the wider school community. Silver Birch at entrance Ash trees along the avenue Ash saplings at boundary

3 What we did Deciding on the project to undertake was difficult. There were many different suggestions, eventually we decided on trees and biodiversity as this is the theme this year for some green schools. We had a brainstorming session where everyone gave their ideas and they were written down on a sheet of paper making a word spider. The many ideas had to narrow down to a few manageable tasks. The following were the things we decided to do: Research the subject To make the information accessible to younger students we decided that a large attractive visual display on the importance of trees was needed Survey the school grounds to identify the varieties and quantities of trees List important native species Explain some of the terms which we came across in our research Explain some of the causes of deforestation across the globe Identify areas on our grounds where more trees could be planted Research We used the internet to gather general information on trees. Our school books, especially woodwork, were a primary source on native broadleaf trees. A visit to the library of the DKIT was useful as well as contact with their Green Campus Committee. We carried out a survey on the trees in the school grounds. Display We set about trying to condense all the information we gathered on the importance of trees into picture form. This was achieved using a large sheet of paper onto which paper cut outs of the tree and the various identified benefits were stuck. The parts were then labelled.

4 The large visual display Survey of our school grounds The majority of these trees have been planted by previous Waste Watcher groups over the last fifteen years as part of national tree week. There are also some mature trees which are there from the time the school was built in the early 1970 s. We drew a map of the school to illustrate which areas have been planted. We walked the grounds noting where the trees were and recording the variety. We also took photographs of the grounds. The results were entered into a spreadsheet from which we made the bar chart below. The results of this survey are arranged by list, diagram and bar chart.

5 Doing the survey

6 Quantities of trees in O Fiaich College oak 7 beech 16 silver beech 30 ash 38 cherry blossom 2 maple 5 sycamore 6 alder 1 copper beech 1 hawthorn 2 Results of the Survey Tree Survey O'Fiaich College From the survey we can see that the predominant species of tree in O Fiaich College is Ash. These are also the most mature trees on the site. Silver Beech is the next most popular, followed by Beech. Thre are smaller numbers of other species. Surprisingly there is one area close to the boundry where there is little traffice where Ash has seeded itself. There are about fifty seedlings here. We may be able to transplant these to other areas. Identify areas to be planted There is quite a large area of the grounds which are not planted with trees but for various reasons they are not suitable. There is quite a lot of hard surface for car parking etc. Some is used for sports, power cables run over some of it. The map below identifies areas which are suitable.

7 Definitions Doing this project we found that many people were not familiar with many of the words used in association with biodiversity so we set about providing a short glossary of definitions which would help people get a grasp of the issues. Tree: A tree is a plant with a single wooded stem. The three main groups of trees are the broadleaves, the conifers and the palms. Biodiversity: The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable for life to exist. Benefits of trees: Something good to gain from trees. Oxygen: A gas with no taste, colour or smell forming part of air and water. Deforestation: To clear an area of forest or trees. Arachnid: An arthropod of the class Arachnida, such as a spider or scorpion. Insect: A small arthropod animal that has six legs and generally one or two pairs of wings: e.g. ladybird, housefly Sustainability: Doing things which will allow all life forms to survive into the future

8 Causes of deforestation The destruction of the forests throughout the world is occurring due to various reasons. One of the main reasons is for short-term economic benefits. Corruption at the government institutions, wealth and power due to harvesting of the riches of the forest, population growth and urbanization are some of the common causes of deforestation. Given below are some more common causes of deforestation: Urban Construction The cutting down of trees for lumber that is used for building materials, furniture, and paper products have a major impact on forest life. Agriculture Forests are also cut down to clear land for growing crops and to build farms. Grazing Land Forests are cut down in order create land for grazing cattle. Huge herds of animals require food and forests are cleared out to make way for grazing lands for these cattle. Used for Fuel Trees are cut down in developing countries to be used as firewood or turned into charcoal, which are used for cooking and heating purposes. Commercial Purposes Some of the other causes of deforestation are: clearing forests for oil and mining exploitation, to make highways and roads, slash and burn farming techniques, wildfires, and acid rain. Forest fires can occur naturally or in most cases are deliberate attempts by man to clear huge forests. This leads to loss of forests and loss of habitat for the local wildlife. What are the Effects of Deforestation? Erosion of Soil When forest areas are cleared, it exposes the soil to the sun, making it very dry and eventually, infertile, due to nutrients such as nitrogen being lost. In addition, when there is rainfall, it washes away the rest of the nutrients, which flow with the rainwater into waterways. Disruption of the Water Cycle Trees contribute in a large way in maintaining the water cycle. They draw up water via their roots, which is then released into the atmosphere. A large part of the water that circulates in the ecosystem of rainforests, for instance, remains inside the plants. When these trees are cut down it results in the climate getting drier in that area. The trees help in prevention of flood water and help the soil absorb the flowing water. Loss of Biodiversity The biodiversity of some areas is being severely damaged because of deforestation. Even though the rainforests make up just 6 percent of the surface area of the Earth, about percent of the entire species of the world exist here. Due to massive deforestation, about 50

9 to 100 species of animals are being lost each day. The outcome of which is the extinction of animals and plants on a massive scale. The deforestation effects on animals are very heartbreaking. They not only lose their habitat and protective cover, they are pushed to extinction. Many beautiful creatures, both plants and animals have vanished from the face of the earth. Trees in Ireland In Ireland only 10.5% ( acres) of the area of the country is covered, this is one of the lowest in the EU. The government has set a target of 17% coverage by the year This is because the Government, and through them the EU, recognise the benefits of trees as a resource for industry, but also as important for the protection of biodiversity. Grants are offered to private land owners to encourage them to plant trees. At one time trees covered most of the Island of Ireland years ago Oak trees were most common, which was slowly replaced by Ash. The advent of farming and the spread of blanket bogs reduced the area of trees, but it wasn t until the middle of the sixteenth century that large scale deforestation occurred. This was as a result of industrial development and the plantations of that time. Most of the forests in Ireland are owned by the state. This was started in 1903 when the area under trees was as low as 1.5%. The 1946 forestry act set a target if increasing the coverage by acres per year. Efforts were concentrated in upland areas and marginal land, land which would not be very productive for normal farming. Forestry is now controlled by Coillte Teoranta, the Irish forestry board. Varieties of Trees in Ireland Commercially planted trees are generally imported conifer varieties such as Sitka Spruce and Lodgepole Pine. These lead to forests which do not support wildlife in the way that traditional forests did in Ireland. Forests like this can be seen in many of the mountainous areas of the country such as in the Cooley Mountains, not far from O Fiaich College. In more recent years varieties are mixed and often include traditional Irish native trees and may include broadleaved trees which support greater biodiversity. Forest Service Approved Species Conifers: Sitka spruce Lodgepole pine Norway spruce Douglas fir Lawson cypress Leyland cypress

10 Monterey cypress European larch Hybrid larch Japanese larch Austrian pine Corsican pine Monterey pine Scots pine Coast redwoods Serbian spruce Western hemlock Western red cedar Broadleaves: Ash Sycamore Pendunculate oak Sessile oak Beech Alder Cherry Lime Southern beech Spanish chestnut Difficulties we encountered Our biggest problem completing the project was finding time to get everything done. Waste Watchers normally meets at lunch time on Mondays. Since last November we have met nearly every day in order to make progress. Our lunch time is only forty minutes long. We have also had to work on the project in the evening and during free classes. Another difficulty was identifying some of the trees in winter. It is much easier to identify species when they are in leaf, not so easy from bare branches.

11 The Project on display at reception Conclusion This was a very interesting project, we learned a lot in doing it. Many of our fellow students were curious about what we were doing and asked questions about it. We believe that many more people are now aware of the benefits of trees and the need to preserve what we have and to plant more. It is our intention to get this project out into the wider community, and we are looking at ways to do this. One thing we plan to do in the coming weeks is to present the project on line and will have it available on the school website. We have also invited a skilled willow worker to come and do 4 workshops with various classes. She will present information on the benefits of willow and then each student will be given the opportunity to make their own willow sculpture. In the future we will carry on this project. We intend to plant more trees although identifying areas to plant more trees is difficult. Some areas have been identified for development, some are used for games, but we are confident that we will be able to plant trees this year as part of National Tree Week in March. All in all we are very happy with this project that we The Waste Watchers of O Fiaich College have completed.

12 References Gilligan, G.2001, Construction Technology Wood, EEC Publishing Hickey, T Construction Studies Today, Gill and Macmillan Hannon, M. 2003, Core Architectural Technology, EEC Publishing Gaughran, B. Wood. 1992, Technology for Junior Certificate, Gill and Macmillan Forestry Services Limited, accessed Jan 2012 Coillte, accessed Jan 2012 Oak tree near the front of the grounds The entrance showing the stand of Ash Doing the survey A section of the boundary east side