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Woodland Flowers

Colourful past, uncertain future

Dr Keith Kirby

$69.99

Hardback

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English
Bloomsbury Wildlife
15 September 2020
‘A meticulously researched, important and beautiful volume that goes well beyond the scope of its title to describe the hitherto neglected subject of woodland flora and place it in a broad ecological and historical context.’ - Stehan Buczacki

Observing the plants of the forest floor – the flowers, ferns, sedges and grasses – can be a vital way of understanding our relationship with British woodland. They tell us stories about its history and past management, and can be a visible sign of progress when we get conservation right. For centuries, woodland plants have also been part of our lives in practical ways as food and medicines, and they have influenced our culture through poetry, perfume and pub signs.

In this insightful and original account, Keith Kirby explores how woodland plants in Great Britain have come to be where they are, coped with living in the shade of their bigger relatives, and responded to threats in the form of storms, fires, floods, the attentions of grazing herbivores and the effects of the changing seasons. Along the way, the reader is introduced to the work of important botanists who have walked the woods in the past, collecting information on where plants occur and why. In-depth profiles of some of our most important and popular ground flora species provide extra detail and insight.

Beautifully illustrated, Woodland Flowers is a must for anyone who appreciates and wants to learn more about British woodland and its plants.

By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Wildlife
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 242mm,  Width: 166mm, 
Weight:   1.266kg
ISBN:   9781472949073
ISBN 10:   1472949072
Series:   British Wildlife Collection
Pages:   400
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Preface Map 1 Into the woods 2 The wandering botanist 3 Historical influences and woodland plant distributions 4 Commonness and rarity 5 The wood below the ground 6 Types of British woodland: the north and west 7 Types of British woodland: the south and east 8 For everything there is a season 9 Mind the gap: the woodcutter’s legacy 10 Unplanned forest disturbances 11 The effects of grazing animals 12 The nature of the wildwood 13 Woodland plants across the channels 14 Lines and links in the landscape 15 New woods and their flora 16 A changing atmosphere 17 Fun and games in the woods 18 Seven ages of conservation 19 Future-natural woodland: holding the line/going with the flow Appendices References Illustration credits Index

Keith Kirby is currently a visiting researcher at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, where his main areas of work include analysis of long-term woodland changes and rewilding. Before that, he worked as a woodland ecologist with the government conservation agencies for many years, first with the Nature Conservancy Council and then its successor bodies, English Nature and Natural England. Keith was awarded the Royal Forestry Society Gold Medal for Distinguished Services to Forestry in 2011, and the CIEEM Medal for his outstanding, lifelong contribution to the advancement of ecology, forestry and woodland management in 2014. He has written widely for both refereed and more popular journals and the press, as well as co-editing the book Europe’s Changing Woods and Forests and co-authoring the Woodland Survey Handbook.

Reviews for Woodland Flowers: Colourful past, uncertain future

An informative and enlightening book for those who love woodlands but seek a deeper understanding of the myriad plants that clothe the forest floor * Gardens Illustrated * Woodland Flowers offers wonderful insight into these other-worldly habitats * English Garden * Kirby's extensive knowledge is presented in a volume that is both accessible and detailed, in a format that will appeal to both the ecologist and anyone who simply appreciates and wants to learn more about woodlands and its flora * BBC Wildlife *


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