Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society

Botanical Report 2001 by M.A.R. & C. Kitchen

So much has already been written about the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic that little now remains to be added at this late stage. There was a singular absence of thought given to biodiversity during the tragic country-wide slaughter of animals which must have left the genetic base of our domestic rare breeds irreversibly depleted. It is not known how the county's plantlife will be affected in either the short or long term. The lack of sheep in the Forest of Dean is already becoming visible in the domination of the ground flora by brambles and bracken, leading to the need for management changes with mowing of footpaths and road verges. The ancient Holly wood near to the Speech House is now showing signs of regeneration where in the past the young tender seedlings would have been quickly eaten by the sheep. Many of the Cotswold grasslands on the east side of the Severn have suffered from undergrazing for a number of years, a situation which can now only have been made more problematic.

The effect of the outbreak has become clearly evident in the structure of the records submitted during the year. Very few records were received for the first eight months of the year and those few which did arrive related to the urban environment. These included two county records, Bulbous Comfrey and Cut-leaved Teasel, curiously both from the Cirencester area. Once the restrictions on the access to the countryside had been relaxed there was an explosion of late summer recording, often confirming the continued existence of old “friends” including the rich assemblage of nationally scarce species at Upper Lode. It was as if people were returning to tried and trusted localities rather than exploring new grounds in the wake of the year's troubles. Having been denied the freedom to roam the countryside during the greater part of the botanical season it seems that many field-walkers were determined to carry on botanising well into autumn and beyond the first frosts. This late burst of activity has meant that overall recording activity was not greatly reduced on previous years.

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