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Art | Science | Forest Research & Development 2

juliafarrington

Updated: Jan 31



Example of airborne organism, collected in Crofthead Forest (where Andy works)  grown on settle plate.         Photo - Morag Paterson
Example of airborne organism, collected in Crofthead Forest (where Andy works) grown on settle plate. Photo - Morag Paterson

The plan was for the artist, Morag, the scientist, Petra and the forester, Andy, to come back in January for a second session in Kilsture. They were keen to dig deeper into all the good stuff they found in their first outing back in October.  Sadly,  Andy had a fever and couldn’t make it, but in spite of the cold and being one man down Morag and Petra went out into the forest and again had an inspiring time. 

 

At the end of the day, the two met with the KFCG trustees to warm up and share their experiences over a cup of tea.

 

There had been a big shift in their thinking. On day one, they suggested the diversity of the forest could be understood as a collection of interconnecting ‘rooms’ or zones, each with its own ecological personality.  They came up with a whole range of ways to explore and experience the different areas, with the idea that people could choose one kind of activity or another, following their interest.

 

On day two, they saw the forest very differently. Instead of mini-ecosystems plotted out across the forest, they described it as a series of layers or dimensions: below ground, above ground, airborne, aquatic, all connecting back to the soil.

 

Each layer could be explored simply by marking out a m2 of forest floor.  From there, you could look for and record micro-organisms living underground; larger plants growing in or by it; traces of animals that cross or inhabit it; organisms in the water flowing through it, and all the invisible spores, moulds, bacteria and birdsong in the air above it.


Exploring the wildlife around a single tree - Photo Morag Paterson

 

They also saw their relationship to the forest in a very different light. They realised that whatever knowledge they brought to the forest was tiny compared to the unexplored knowledge the forest itself holds.  The forest had become the teacher and the three researchers (Andy is on board with the new direction), and anyone who wanted to join in with their activities, its’ apprentices, or ‘students of the soil’.


Morag, Petra and Ecology Dog explore mycorrhizal fungi in some particularly rich, sweet smelling hummus

"There is so much we don't know" - Petra

They were excited by the idea of spending a lifetime trying to understand a spoonful of soil - a piece of bark or a single leaf - learning the bird song - the tracks and traces of habitat.  Anyone could join them or plot out their own square. Come back again and again to the same square.  Set up a square in different parts of the forest, and see how different soils support different living things.  They made short videos of what they were seeing and shared images from settle plates[1] from another forest that opened up the invisible world of organisms in the air.  They were keen to share the questions they were asking and what they were finding.

 


"You could spend a lifetime trying to understand a leaf or a spoonful of soil" Photo - Morag Paterson
"You could spend a lifetime trying to understand a leaf or a spoonful of soil" Photo - Morag Paterson


The two outings have begun to show us what working across disciplines can do.  Back in October the trio had imagined all sorts of different activities – ‘we could do this, or this or this!’ In January, Petra and Morag were gripped by an intense focus on the soil - looking, asking questions, looking again and sharing what they saw.  Both times it was about breaking out of silos. Spending time with others who share a passion but have different expertise seems to tap into a deep well-spring of fascination and motivation, fuelling a curiosity and appetite to understand what the other takes for granted.   New possibilities open up where everything looks different, fresh and exciting.


Taking a close look.

 

A | S | F is in very early stages and we appreciate the funders who have supported this open-ended project. But everything KFCG does has to fit in with our core purpose - to develop our role as co-custodians of the future of Kilsture, in partnership with FLS. We do this by deepening our understanding of what a healthy forest ecosystem looks like, and attracting more people from the local community to enjoy, learn from and contribute to the well-being of the forest.

 

So, does A | S | F help us meet these objectives? One thing we can be sure of, is these three people spark off each other in a super-positive and productive way and their enthusiasm to explore Kilsture’s ecosystem together is infectious.



Example of airborne organism, collected in Crofthead Forest (where Andy works) grown on settle plate.           Photo - MoragPaterson
Example of airborne organism, collected in Crofthead Forest (where Andy works) grown on settle plate. Photo - MoragPaterson



 

‘Forest as teacher’ feels both very ancient and forward-looking and suggests lots of fertile territory for future work with many points of entry for different interests and perspectives.  It is an idea that, if the community gets behind it, could definitely deliver on our objectives - we need to test it out with different groups and run it by our members at the next AGM, to see what comes back. As Morag pointed out, given that there is no biodiversity testing of soil in forestry in Scotland as standard, we could do some interesting work on seeing how forests are contributing positively to soil health.  However it develops, if supported to continue, A | S | F’s inter-disciplinary way of working brings energy, ideas and dynamism to our thinking about how we can come together in Kilsture to think about our shared, uncertain future .

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


[1] Settle plates are Petri dishes used to collect microorganisms in the air where they are left to grow.

 

 

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