{"id":26445,"date":"2017-12-01T16:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=26445"},"modified":"2017-12-01T16:00:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T16:00:06","slug":"scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees","title":{"rendered":"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Cardiff University researchers are speeding up the ageing process of trees to create a much needed habitat for wildlife.<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26466\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26466\" style=\"width: 625px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-26466 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard-625x351.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"351\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26466\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26466 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard-625x351.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"351\" \/><\/noscript> Fungus works to breakdown the dead wood at the heart of a tree, creating food and shelter for all kinds of wildlife.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/soapbeard\/4710253396\/\">Tree Fungus &#8211; Soapbeared<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/2.0\/\">CC<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Researchers from Cardiff University are working to speed the ageing of trees in order to generate the much needed habitat provided by hollow trunks.<\/p>\n<p>Old and hollow trees are an essential part of our environment providing habitat for all kinds of wildlife from bugs to small mammals.<\/p>\n<p>Over 2000 different species rely on hollowed out trees in the UK, something which can take hundreds of years to occur naturally.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27277\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27277\" style=\"width: 625px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-27277 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Ancient-Trees-Infographic-625x432.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"432\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27277 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Ancient-Trees-Infographic-625x432.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"432\" \/><\/noscript> Ancient trees are a vibrant habitat for many species of animal, including thousands of varieties of invertebrate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Professor Lynne Boddy, from Cardiff University\u2019s School of Biosciences, has pioneered a method of infecting 50-80 year old trees with fungus to increase the speed at which they become hollow.<\/p>\n<p>Prof. Boddy spoke to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cardiff.ac.uk\/news\/view\/1020310-accelerating-tree-ageing-to-save-endangered-species\">Cardiff University News<\/a>, \u201cBy infecting some of our younger trees with fungi, we can accelerate the ageing process and increase the numbers of hollowed trees in Britain\u2019s forests, and help to save Britain\u2019s most endangered species.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26587\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26587\" style=\"width: 625px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-26587 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Hoof-Fungus-Derek-Parker-625x352.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26587\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26587 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Hoof-Fungus-Derek-Parker-625x352.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" \/><\/noscript> The Hoof Fungus is one that can typically be found on beech trees in England <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/derek_p\/15194901463\/\">Hoof Fungus &#8211; Derek Parker<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/2.0\/\">CC<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The work being done in Cardiff is part of the nationwide <a href=\"https:\/\/naturebftb.co.uk\/\">Back From The Brink<\/a> campaign, made up of more than 19 different projects aimed at saving 20 species from extinction and benefiting hundreds more.<\/p>\n<p>According to the campaign, the key issue facing the wildlife that call these ancient trees home is the age gap between current ancients and young trees. Making the work being done to accelerate ageing essential to bridge the gap and provide a continuity of habitat.<\/p>\n<p>Hollow trees can be more likely to fall in bad weather and are also often felled with safety concerns in mind. These and other reasons, such as disease, have contributed to the shortage that is now faced.<\/p>\n<p>Bug expert <a href=\"https:\/\/bugmanjones.com\/\">Richard Jones<\/a> recognised the split in views between land owners, concerned with the aesthetic and safety of hollow trees, and those seeking to preserve them as a habitat.<\/p>\n<p>However, he said, &#8220;A large dead hollow tree is not just a tree at the end of its life, it is an intricate ecological web, and one that needs to be understood and protected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Changing public perception is an important part of the projects being done, \u201cPeople think trees with rotten hearts is a bad thing, but it\u2019s not. It\u2019s a really good thing,&#8221; said Prof. Boddy,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe middle of a tree is like the outside of our skin. The cells are already dead&#8230;Once a tree\u2019s heart starts rotting, it sprouts roots inside its trunk to tap into the nutrients that the fungi release.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cardiff University researchers are speeding up the ageing process of trees to create a much needed habitat for wildlife. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":354,"featured_media":26466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-26445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-environment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cardiff University researchers are speeding up the ageing process of trees to create a much needed habitat for wildlife.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"InterCardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-01T16:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Hawkes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Hawkes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees\",\"name\":\"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-01T16:00:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/6b32b6272e73bfc92604a16873ea4a27\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg\",\"width\":950,\"height\":534},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/\",\"name\":\"InterCardiff\",\"description\":\"A global city for internationalists\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/6b32b6272e73bfc92604a16873ea4a27\",\"name\":\"Andy Hawkes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/82252e4e1937e7f3e1d520849f42deb5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7de3de10bf42cbe8d6dad3f609ec200f8e3efb532b85ee095d5fe450bb2e3f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7de3de10bf42cbe8d6dad3f609ec200f8e3efb532b85ee095d5fe450bb2e3f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Hawkes\"},\"description\":\"MSc Science, Media and Communication\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/andyrwhawkes.wordpress.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/author\/andyh\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff","og_description":"Cardiff University researchers are speeding up the ageing process of trees to create a much needed habitat for wildlife.","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees","og_site_name":"InterCardiff","article_published_time":"2017-12-01T16:00:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":950,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Hawkes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Hawkes","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees","name":"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees - InterCardiff","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-01T16:00:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/6b32b6272e73bfc92604a16873ea4a27"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/12\/Tree-Fungus-Soapbeard.jpg","width":950,"height":534},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/science-environment\/scientists-work-to-save-species-by-aging-trees#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Scientists work to save species by ageing trees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/","name":"InterCardiff","description":"A global city for internationalists","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/6b32b6272e73bfc92604a16873ea4a27","name":"Andy Hawkes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/82252e4e1937e7f3e1d520849f42deb5","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7de3de10bf42cbe8d6dad3f609ec200f8e3efb532b85ee095d5fe450bb2e3f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7de3de10bf42cbe8d6dad3f609ec200f8e3efb532b85ee095d5fe450bb2e3f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andy Hawkes"},"description":"MSc Science, Media and Communication","sameAs":["https:\/\/andyrwhawkes.wordpress.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/author\/andyh"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26445"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}