Watch these spaces inside beech trees on Hampstead Heath

摘要

Dr Terry Mabbett ventures into the woodlands of Hampstead Heath to observe the inoculation of beech trees with fungi as part of a scientific research project.CONSERVATION is a key watchword in UK forestry. High-profile mammalian species like polecat,pine martin, European beaver and red squirrel may get the publicity, but endangerment affects living things across the animal, plant and microbial kingdoms. The latter includes so-called dead-wood fungi, a huge range of basidiomycete saprotrophs inside dead and declining trees, digesting and decomposing wood and recycling the nutrients. And they are essentially unseen until fruit bodies as mushrooms, toadstools or brackets burst forth around or on the trees.