Habitats.

Part five life in a birch woodland.

Birch, together with willow,hazel and rowan, are (pioneer) species that quickly colonise bare ground. Birch takes root readily in poor soils, and its almost weightless seeds are blown far. Its thin leaves soon rot, this then add nutrients to the soil for the trees roots to eventually re-absorb. The broken down leaves will also enrich the soil for more demanding trees like oak and beech. These two trees will grow into tall trees and eventually deprive the silver birch of light. Birch provides food and shelter for a variety of animals, birds and insects. Redpolls, blue and great tits and a host of other birds feed on birch seeds. The caterpillar of the mottled umber moth will eat the leaves of the birch. The patchwork leaf cutting bee will also use birch leaves, as she lays her eggs individually she will leave some pollen for the eggs for when they hatch. She will then seel the chamber with the leaf, she will continue this process until the chamber is full. Heather and bilberry are among the plants that thrive on the acid soils colonised by birch. The light shade that birch cast encourages the growth of many other plants, too. Young birch trees and the grass beneath them provide food for hares and roe deer. Razor strop and bracket fungus live on dead birch stems, and fly agaric will some times live on the living roots. Birch bark has been used for centuries to start fires, this is because of the natural oils it possesses, i will talking about this more on one of my bushcraft pages. The silver birch is a tree of life giving properties, vitality and nourishment. It signifies new opportunities, new beginnings,birth, re-birth and inception.