Bumper Fruit Crop Expected In The Countryside

The recent combination of a late spring and a warm summer is laying the foundations for a better than expected crop of fruits and berries for wildlife in the UK countryside, experts say. It is expected that fruiting will be delayed after a late spring but the recent warm weather should see flourishing berry crops, according to the Woodland Trust. Trust volunteers are running a Nature’s Calendar Project,  and it is the raw data that they have gathered that is laying the foundations for this forecast.

Bumper blackberry crop this year?

All in all, wildlife took a bit of a battering  last year after a wet summer resulted in exceptionally poor crops of fruit from trees and shrubs.  The trust underlined this by saying that last year 14 out of the 16 species of trees and shrubs collected since 2001 saw their worst season for fruiting since the turn of the century.

Top of  the “suffering” list were beech, holly and brambles. Birds and mammals were also hit by a cold snap this spring. Adding insult to injury, after the summer of 2012, which had been the second-wettest on record, the spring of this year was the coldest since 1962.

Dr Kate Lewthwaite, the Nature's Calendar project manager, said: "Although our records suggest that autumn fruiting will be late this year due to the delayed onset of spring flowering, if the warm weather interspersed with occasional wet spells continues, this should mean the fruiting of shrubs like bramble, rowan and blackthorn is abundant.

"Wildlife species will no doubt benefit from a bumper crop, and finally fruit-eating birds and mammals will be able to enjoy an autumn feast."

The Nature's Calendar project has possession of records going back to the 17th Century. Volunteers record the signs of the seasons in their areas, helping scientists understand how wildlife is adapting to the changing environment. But the numbers of volunteers taking part has been falling and the Woodland Trust is appealing for more contributors.

                     http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx#.Ugind20odwE

                                                   http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/