With recording for ‘Plants of Newcastle’ progressing well and new local botanists joining in, for the last few weeks, I’ve been able to catch up on some of the more mundane parts of the project. Top of that list was a need to ‘reaquaint’ myself with some sort of GIS programme, hopefully to save a few pounds when it comes to the final write-up.
Now, I am happy to admit I am rather rubbish at anything techy like this. I loathed GIS modules at university and haven’t touched any sort of mapping software in almost a decade. Still, downloading QGIS (supposedly one of the easiest to use platforms) I thought I’d give it a go. While they may be rough around the edges, I am pretty pleased with the result!
Below, I have included a few example maps created for some interesting urban plants, but what exactly do they tell us?
Oxford Ragwort (Senecio squalidus)
Oxford Ragwort is perhaps the most consicous example of an established neophyte (human introduction) in Newcastle. The story of this tenacious little plant is well-known and according to records held by the BSBI, it arrived in the city sometime around 1960 where it was first recorded by George Swan from the Town Moor. Known to favour dry, rocky subsrtates (especially pavements and railway clincker) it is perhaps unsurprising that most of the records so far come from heavily urbanised areas. Indeed, it is exceptionally abundant in the city centre and suburbs but altogether scarce in more natural areas to the North and West. A trend to be expected, perhaps.
Guernsey Fleabane (Erigeron sumatrensis)
Guernsey Fleabane is a relatively new arrival in Newcastle, first recorded in 2009 by Mick Crawley. Across the UK, it is ungoing a dramatic expansion as it follows in the footsteps of Canadian Fleabane (Erigeron canadensis) to become a familiar weed of urban habitats. Since it was first noted on Dean Street, it appears to have expanded outward to colonise much of the city centre and neighboring districts, with the greatest concentrations on wasteground plots in Heaton, Walker and Jesmond. It will be interesting to see if these initial maps hold true, or whether it is already far more widespread.
Italian Alder (Alnus cordata)
Italian Alder is an incredibly popular amenity tree in Newcastle, frequently planted along streets, in muncipal landscaping schemes and seemingly, on restored industrial land. It is also a prolific seeder capable of colonising a whole host of disturbed and wasteground habitats. The records shown below represent seemingly self-sown specimens of Italian Alder and it is interesting to note a strong southerly bias. I suspect this corresponders to the high level of industry along the Tyne and our tendency to cover-up defunct sites with all manner of interesting trees?
Welsh Poppy (Papaver cambricum)
Welsh Poppy, native elsewhere in the UK but certainly not in Newcastle, is an interesting example of a plant that thrives in gardens. Indeed, most of the time, this attractive plant is observed as a colonist of flowerbeds, driveways and patios where I suspect is left by usually diligent weeders on account of its pretty flowers. It is interest to note that the distribtion of Welsh Poppy appears linked to the presence of larger gardens, with suburban areas holding large populations and relatively few records from the city centre. While not always the case, it also appears reluctant to colonise more natural areas.
Lords-and-Ladies (Arum maculatum)
In contrast to Welsh Poppy which seems to favour artifical environments, I thought it would also be interesting to explore the distribution of a species associated with more natural ones – cue Lords-and-Ladies. Unspurisingly, almost all records of this popular woodland plant come from relic semi-natural woodland, namely in Newcastles denes at Walbottle, Throckley and Jesmond. I wouldn’t be suprised if this one crops up elsewhere, likely beneath a hedgerow, but it will be interesting to see if the same applies to other indcator species like Wood Anemone and English Bluebell.
