Climate change is playing games with our conkers
It would seem conkers are playing games of their own. According to statistics collected by the Woodland Trust, conkers are ripening earlier than they did 60 years ago.
The UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, in conjunction with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the BBC, asks people to record the timing of seasonal events to help them assess the impact of climate change on species. Thousands of recorders throughout the UK are mapping a picture of the changing seasons and over the last five years the peak harvest time for conkers, traditionally October, has come forward from September 27th in 2000 to September 19.
While five years can be considered a blip by many, historic records back up this snapshot. The time of horse chestnuts flowering in spring and fruiting in autumn is directly linked, and between 1898 and 1957 the Royal Meteorological Society recorded the dates of flowering. Only nine times during this 60 year period did flowering occur in April rather than May. However, more recent records compiled by the Trust over the last eight years show flowering has occurred in April six times and only twice in May.
Jill Attenborough of the Woodland Trust said: “By looking at both sets of records we can see that conkers appear to be ripening steadily earlier. Flowering is happening in April rather than May, and conkers are ready in September rather than October.”
The horse chestnut’s response to climate change is not unique. Brambles are flowering earlier in the spring which means that blackberries, the fruits, are also ripening earlier. This is something that could illustrate a wider problem for animals that rely on stored energy from autumn fruits to help them hibernate later on.
Autumnwatch is the biggest survey ever of the first signs of autumn run by the BBC, the Woodland Trust and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. As well as recording the ripening of conkers, volunteers are urged to note the timing of ripe blackberries, migrating swifts, ripe hawthorn berries, oak leaf tint and flowering ivy by going online at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch or by calling 0800 083 7497.
Autumnwatch results will be revealed in a one-off programme on BBC TWO on October 30th called Wild Autumn with Bill Oddie, which follows this year’s hugely successful Springwatch with Bill Oddie.
Notes to editors:
For media enquiries contact:
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121,
email: media@woodland-trust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free. Further news can be found via this website.
BBC: For further information on Autumnwatch contact Debbie Chapman BBC Publicity on 0117 974 7731 or ,
email: debbie.chapman@bbc.co.uk
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH): The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is the UK's leading research organisation for land and freshwater science. Its 500 scientists carry out research to improve our understanding of both the environment and the processes that underlie the Earth's support systems. It is one of the Natural Environment Research Council's research centres. CEH has 8 research sites within England, Scotland and Wales and an administrative headquarters based at Swindon.
Phenology: It is the study of the timing of natural seasonal events, especially in relation to climate. The timing of natural events is sometimes known as ‘Nature’s calendar’.
