WHO RILLED THE LADY? Ecological disciplines are combined to solve a puzzle

摘要

When I visited the gorge of Allt a Ghiubhais (Mountain stream with Scots pine) in north-west Scotland in the company of a zoologist friend we, as it were, went our separate ways together, one searching for interesting plants, the other for mammal tracks and signs. High above our heads the native pines after which the gorge is named clung to the cliff sides and the trees dominating the steep, mossy slopes were mostly birch with a few pines, some achieving magnificent stature where they rooted here inricher soil. The rocks of the gorge are base poor and free draining, and do not support a particularly rich flora. Even in late March it is relatively easy to identify most ferns from their dead fronds and the expected abounded: Athyrium filix-femina, Dryopteris filix-mas, D. affinis subsp. borreri, D. dilatata, D. aemula, Oreopteris limbosperma, Blechnum spicant and Hymenophyllum wilsonii. Oak and beech fern were almost certainly there too, but not detectable unless you knew exactly where to look for withered frond remains.