George Peterken – författare

A definitive natural history of the Wye Valley covering the geology, geomorphology, conservation and ecological history of this diverse area of outstanding natural beauty.The spectacular landscape of the Wye Valley region has attracted visitors for over 250 years. Designated one of the few lowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1971, it is dominated by the river Wye, which has done much to form this varied ecological landscape.George Peterken (who has lived in the region for many years and helped to draft the AONB's Nature Conservation Strategy in 1999), skillfully examines the diverse ecology, natural history, landscape and history of this district defined mainly by the extraordinary evolution of the river Wye into a meandering mature river.With little previously published on the area, Peterken also explores the results of recent conservation efforts in the region, recognising that despite the protection afforded to the `outstanding natural beauty’ of natural habitats and wild species, these regions have continued to suffer substantial losses. Peterken goes on to chart the many initiatives that continue to promote effective conservation within the AONB and surrounding areas.Perfect for the enthusiastic naturalist, New Naturalist Wye Valley unlocks the secrets of this beautiful natural area.

Joining the authoritative New Naturalist library is this definitive natural history of a beloved quiet space: the churchyard.In this much-anticipated addition to the New Naturalist library, Stefan Buczacki and George Peterken delve into the natural haven provided by churchyards, their flora and faun and their importance in the natural history of urban and rural environments alike.

Joining the authoritative New Naturalist library is this definitive natural history of a beloved quiet space: the churchyard.In this much-anticipated addition to the New Naturalist library, Stefan Buczacki and George Peterken delve into the natural haven provided by churchyards, their flora and faun and their importance in the natural history of urban and rural environments alike.

The second volume of a major new series of books on British natural history.Meadows provide one of the most wide-ranging and eloquent treatments of this most quintessential British habitat. Yet the flower-rich hay meadows that have inspired writers and artists for hundreds of years have almost disappeared from our countryside. In this exceptional work, George Peterken, one of our most respected ecologists, brings together years of research and discovery from his travels across Britain and Europe, as well as an understanding borne out of caring for his own meadows, to produce a book that will put this often misunderstood habitat back in the public's eye. Filled with beautiful images of meadows and their denizens, this is a book everyone with an interest in this iconic habitat will want to own.

The second volume of a major new series of books on British natural history.Meadows provide one of the most wide-ranging and eloquent treatments of this most quintessential British habitat. Yet the flower-rich hay meadows that have inspired writers and artists for hundreds of years have almost disappeared from our countryside. In this exceptional work, George Peterken, one of our most respected ecologists, brings together years of research and discovery from his travels across Britain and Europe, as well as an understanding borne out of caring for his own meadows, to produce a book that will put this often misunderstood habitat back in the public's eye. Filled with beautiful images of meadows and their denizens, this is a book everyone with an interest in this iconic habitat will want to own.

Features almost 300 colour photographs and brings together more than 60 years of research by a leading voice in British woodland ecology. Trees define woodland. They provide a complex, multi-layered habitat for a great range of wildlife, yet they are wildlife themselves, reacting to their circumstances and each other. Woodlands are important to people, supplying timber, food and fuel, accumulating carbon, and offering places of refuge and refreshment. But they are also under threat: some stand in the way of ''progress'' and all are becoming increasingly vulnerable to neglect, disease and climate change.Trees and Woodlands brings together decades of research to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider cultural value of our native trees and shrubs, and the various ways they have combined as woodland. Incorporating personal experiences from 60 years as a forest ecologist, Peterken describes the long history of use and management; how this has influenced woodland wildlife and our art, beliefs and social attitudes. He concludes that most woods should be managed, their timber and small wood being put to good use, but recognises that this is all part of a larger question: the future of ourselves.Containing nearly 300 photographs, and interspersed with box texts describing the history and ecology of representative woods across Britain, this is a commentary on trees, woodlands and our relationship with them from one of our most highly regarded forest ecologists.

Features almost 300 colour photographs and brings together more than 60 years of research by a leading voice in British woodland ecology. Trees define woodland. They provide a complex, multi-layered habitat for a great range of wildlife, yet they are wildlife themselves, reacting to their circumstances and each other. Woodlands are important to people, supplying timber, food and fuel, accumulating carbon, and offering places of refuge and refreshment. But they are also under threat: some stand in the way of ''progress'' and all are becoming increasingly vulnerable to neglect, disease and climate change.Trees and Woodlands brings together decades of research to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider cultural value of our native trees and shrubs, and the various ways they have combined as woodland. Incorporating personal experiences from 60 years as a forest ecologist, Peterken describes the long history of use and management; how this has influenced woodland wildlife and our art, beliefs and social attitudes. He concludes that most woods should be managed, their timber and small wood being put to good use, but recognises that this is all part of a larger question: the future of ourselves.Containing nearly 300 photographs, and interspersed with box texts describing the history and ecology of representative woods across Britain, this is a commentary on trees, woodlands and our relationship with them from one of our most highly regarded forest ecologists.

Features almost 300 colour photographs and brings together more than 60 years of research by a leading voice in British woodland ecology.Trees define woodland. They provide a complex, multi-layered habitat for a great range of wildlife, yet they are wildlife themselves, reacting to their circumstances and each other. Woodlands are important to people, supplying timber, food and fuel, accumulating carbon, and offering places of refuge and refreshment. But they are also under threat: some stand in the way of ‘progress’ and all are becoming increasingly vulnerable to neglect, disease and climate change.Trees and Woodlands brings together decades of research to explore the ecology, nature conservation and wider cultural value of our native trees and shrubs, and the various ways they have combined as woodland. Incorporating personal experiences from 60 years as a forest ecologist, Peterken describes the long history of use and management; how this has influenced woodland wildlife and our art, beliefs and social attitudes. He concludes that most woods should be managed, their timber and small wood being put to good use, but recognises that this is all part of a larger question: the future of ourselves.Containing nearly 300 photographs, and interspersed with box texts describing the history and ecology of representative woods across Britain, this is a commentary on trees, woodlands and our relationship with them from one of our most highly regarded forest ecologists.

In 1944 Lady Park Wood (45 hectares of woodland in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, UK) was set aside indefinitely by the Forestry Commission so that ecologists could study how woodland develops naturally. Since then, in a unique long-term study, individual trees and shrubs have been recorded at intervals, accumulating a detailed record of more than 20,000 individual beech, sessile oak, ash, wych elm, small-leaved lime, large-leaved lime, birch, hazel, yew and other species. In the seven decades since the study started, the wood has changed; trees grew, died and regenerated, and drought, disease and other events shaped its destiny. Each tree and shrub species reacted in its own way to changes in the wood as a whole and to changes in the fortunes of its neighbours. Meanwhile, the wild fauna, flora and fungi also responded, leaving the wood richer in some groups but poorer in others. In this landmark book, beautifully illustrated throughout, George Peterken and Edward Mountford, summarise the ongoing results of the Lady Park Wood study, highlighting its unique place in nature conservation and its significance to ecology in general. It also builds on experience at Lady Park Wood and elsewhere to discuss in particular: the role and maintenance of long-term ecological studies; the concept and form of natural woodland; the role of minimum-intervention policies in woodland nature conservation; near-to-nature forestry; and the desirability and practicalities of re-wilding woodlands.

In 1944 Lady Park Wood (45 hectares of woodland in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, UK) was set aside indefinitely by the Forestry Commission so that ecologists could study how woodland develops naturally. Since then, in a unique long-term study, individual trees and shrubs have been recorded at intervals, accumulating a detailed record of more than 20,000 individual beech, sessile oak, ash, wych elm, small-leaved lime, large-leaved lime, birch, hazel, yew and other species. In the seven decades since the study started, the wood has changed; trees grew, died and regenerated, and drought, disease and other events shaped its destiny. Each tree and shrub species reacted in its own way to changes in the wood as a whole and to changes in the fortunes of its neighbours. Meanwhile, the wild fauna, flora and fungi also responded, leaving the wood richer in some groups but poorer in others. In this landmark book, beautifully illustrated throughout, George Peterken and Edward Mountford, summarise the ongoing results of the Lady Park Wood study, highlighting its unique place in nature conservation and its significance to ecology in general. It also builds on experience at Lady Park Wood and elsewhere to discuss in particular: the role and maintenance of long-term ecological studies; the concept and form of natural woodland; the role of minimum-intervention policies in woodland nature conservation; near-to-nature forestry; and the desirability and practicalities of re-wilding woodlands.

This book features the paintings and drawings created by The Arborealists – an informal group ofprofessional artists with an interest in painting trees and woodland – in Lady Park, an ancient, seminaturalwood on the slopes and cliffs of the Wye Gorge on the borders of England and Wales.Uniquely, the wood, which has been left to grow naturally for up to 150 years, has been studied indetail since 1944 and the fortunes of hundreds of individual trees have been tracked for three-quartersof a century. The artworks are matched with a commentary by George Peterken, who has led theresearch since the 1980s. Both artists and ecologists observe trees and woods closely, but express theirunderstanding of the wood in totally different forms. The two interests came together to deepen theirunderstanding of each other and their different perspectives in an interest they share and promote abroader interest and understanding of native woodlands generally. Elm disease, the great drought of1976, storms, snow and now ash disease have taken their toll on the ageing beech, oak, lime, ash, yew,hazel and many other species, many of which now lie prone in great heaps of dead wood and regrowth.

Professor John Harper, in his recent Population Biology of Plants (1977), made a comment and asked a question which effectively states the theme of this book. Noting that ''one of the consequences of the development of the theory of vegetational climax has been to guide the observer''s mind forwards'', i. e. that ''vegetation is interpreted as a stage on the way to something'' , he commented that ''it might be more healthy and scientifically more sound to look more often backwards and search for the explanation of the present in the past, to explain systems in relation to their history rather than their goal''. He went on to contrast the ''disaster theory'' of plant succession, which holds that communities are a response to the effects of past disasters, with the ''climax theory'', that they are stages in the approach to a climax state, and then asked ''do we account most completely for the characteristics of a population by a knowledge of its history or of its destiny?'' Had this question been put to R. S. Adamson, E. J. Salisbury, A. G. Tansley or A. S. Watt, who are amongst the giants of the first forty years of woodland ecology in Britain, their answer would surely have been that understanding lies in a knowledge of destiny. Whilst not unaware of the historical facts of British woodlands, they were preoccupied with ideas of natural succession and climax, and tended to interpret their observations in these terms.