Fascinating study that backs up the idea that woods need grazing* and management (*carefully and with thought, to create habitats) Also interesting to see how similar my (grazed and coppiced) woods and wood edges look to the photos in the study.

Before human-driven degradation, European wildwoods were rich in hazel, oak, and yew—species thriving on disturbances likely caused by large herbivores. 🫎 🐘 🦬 In particular, we found way more hazel and yew before the late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Examples of open and semi-open #vegetation in Europe with regenerating (left) and established (right) #hazel #Corylus avellana (top), #oak #Quercus robur (middle) and #yew #Taxus baccata (bottom) - from the paper 🍃 #woodland #trees

📢 Our paper in @jappliedecology.bsky.social on the scale of plant invasions and restoration priorities in India.‼️Around 66% natural areas in India are invaded, but restoration is possible‼️ #India #Bigdata #ecology #restoration besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Europe's ancient landscapes were open #woodlands w/ abundant #oak, #hazel & #yew phys.org/news/2024-11... - @aarhusuni.bsky.social comm on our new study on these #plants in the Last #Interglacial & the #Mesolithic🍃🌳🔆#palynology #forest #restoration #paleoecology #reforestation