Week 51
For many years I have found that the sounds of Nature relax me. I even have a recording of a bubbling mountain stream to play at night should I toss and turn. I frequently spend time on my land just listening, as the relaxing effect of outdoor sound is known to be beneficial[i]. I return indoors as a transformed individual.
Yet there is one sound that does the opposite and I do not believe I am alone. A chainsaw. The moment I hear one, I feel on edge, as to me the sound implies destruction. I see little creative about chainsaws. Certain noises are known to be irritants[ii], and a chainsaw is one. What is more, when I look into the eyes of someone holding a chainsaw, I can see them glancing this way and that, trying to justify how removing a tree limb, even complete tree felling, is a good thing to do. There is manifestly a psychological reaction when holding a chainsaw.
Not only is it psychological. A study from the Czech Republic even showed physiological changes created by listening to a chainsaw[iii]. The effects included an increased chance of death, a higher risk of heart attack, and even acquiring COVID-19. In the Czech Republic it was not good to hear a chainsaw.
Tools generally have long been known to influence mankind, an association noted by many. Charles Darwin, in his seminal work, proposed that tool use was a critical aspect of human evolution, influencing physical, cognitive, and social development[iv]. This foundational idea has been expanded in modern psychology, suggesting that tools not only influence how mankind interacts with the environment but thinking and feeling, too.
The introduction of powerful tools such as chainsaws has created a significant shift in how individuals interact with their environment. There is a concept known as flow that applies when the use of tools makes individuals feel empowered. This can overshadow other considerations such as safety or environmental impact[v]. It is a crucial concept in understanding the psychological shift that may occur in chainsaw users. There have certainly been studies in the field of environmental psychology that have shown a link between the use of powerful machinery and aggressive behaviour. One study[vi] indicated that the possession of powerful tools can create an emboldenment effect, where individuals feel more capable and are more likely to engage in risky or aggressive behaviour. Socioculturally, the role of tools in shaping attitudes is also significant. Research[vii]has shown such an effect, which may partly explain how chainsaws can influence individual behaviour.
The relationship between the use of tools and environmental attitudes is complex. One study[viii] has suggested that increased technological power can lead to a detachment from Nature, thereby reducing empathy towards the environment. This environmental disconnection is very significant as it goes against sustainable practice.
It thus appears that the environmental repercussions of chainsaw use are multifaceted and far-reaching. At a basic level, chainsaws have significantly expedited the deforestation processes. Never has the biosphere, the thin layer of life mankind calls home, been under such intensive and urgent threat. Deforestation rates have soared as land has been cleared to feed expanding populations, global emissions are disrupting the climate system, new pathogens threaten crops and health, illegal trade has eradicated entire plant populations, and non-native species are now outcompeting local flora. Biodiversity is being lost - locally, regionally, and globally[ix].
A substantial portion of this damage can be attributed to mechanised cutting methods, including chainsaws. Furthermore, vital ecological processes such as the water cycle[x], and soil retention are severely disrupted. Soil erosion caused by deforestation[xi] can lead to decreased agricultural productivity and increased sedimentation in nearby water bodies, thereby adversely affecting aquatic life.
Chainsaws, by facilitating large-scale tree felling, thus indirectly contribute to climate change. It is all I can think of these days when I hear the chainsaw sound. Forests are crucial carbon sinks and absorb significant volumes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When a tree is felled, even more so a forest, not only is carbon-absorbing capacity reduced, but stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere, thereby exacerbating the greenhouse effect. The loss of tree cover affects local climates and disrupts rainfall patterns, which can have a far-reaching effect on agricultural productivity and the availability of water[xii].
Although chainsaws undoubtedly boost economic efficiency, this short-term gain is offset by the long-term environmental and social costs. Global deforestation directly impacts indigenous communities that rely on forests for their livelihoods, cultural practices, and diet. In turn this can lead to social and economic displacement, often without adequate compensation, or alternative livelihoods. Additionally, the environmental degradation that can result from chainsaw use may lead to long-term economic costs, with damage to flood controls, water purification, and even pollination, all of which are essential for sustainable development[xiii].
The environmental challenges posed by unfettered chainsaw use clearly demand a shift towards more sustainable practices[xiv] and I have not even begun to describe the physical injuries associated with chainsaws, as they are frightening. In the USA alone, 36,000 people are injured by chainsaws each year, at a cost of US$350 million[xv]. Chainsaw operations remain inherently dangerous activities[xvi], a finding that has been supported by numerous studies. Portable chainsaws are commonly used by professionals in the forestry sector, ensuring that forestry remains one of the most hazardous professions globally[xvii],[xviii].
Research from Indonesia shows this well. A total of 191 frontline forestry workers participated in a research study, which found a fatality rate of 1.3 deaths/106m3 of log[xix]. For reference, a 20-metre tree with a trunk diameter of 40cms has a trunk volume of 2.51m3. On the basis I failed my Mathematics examinations multiple times at school and eventually had to give up, so anything numerical I write may be wrong, I calculate that is one death for every 32.5 felled trees.
No wonder I hate the sound of chainsaws.
The good news is that if folklore is to be believed, I am shortly to become very wealthy. This is because I have just seen six magpies[xx]. There are many collective nouns[xxi] for multiple magpies, such as a conventicle, gulp, mischief, tidings, tribe, and plenty more. Meanwhile, I
have long believed in the Magpie Rhyme[xxii], which first originated as a four-liner in 1777, but now runs[xxiii]:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware, it’s the devil himself.
Most versions throughout history suggest that six magpies mean gold is nearby. Now all I must do is wait.
At this time of year, I can expect to see multiple magpies. What worries me is the woodpecker[xxiv] I have just heard drumming nearby. Although woodpeckers can be heard at any time of year, on my land I normally encounter them in late winter or early spring. December is unusual. The drumming was from a great spotted woodpecker[xxv] and I am concerned that climate change has fooled it into thinking that spring is imminent, when clearly it is not. Climate change affects birdlife significantly[xxvi]. The best-known mechanism that birds use to adapt to climate change is habitat tracking. With this, the bird follows the thermal envelope to which it is adapted, by going up in latitude or altitude. Another adaptive solution is microevolution, where the genetic structure of a bird population is modified. This clearly takes time. When such adaptations are impossible, extinction is inevitable[xxvii]. I can only pray that the woodpecker remains extant, as climate change is now established thanks to mankind talking plenty but doing very little. Mind you, where would the modern-day politician be without an insoluble problem?
It is astonishing how long it is taking for my land to recover from the major snowfall barely a week ago. The event was over in 24 hours, but recovery is taking very much longer. I have it lucky when compared with many others, not only in my immediate area but certainly overseas. For example, the quickest recovery rate after selected US natural disasters - I am not calling my snowfall a disaster - was 3.5 years for the 2013 Colorado floods and Hurricane Sandy. The longest was 5.9 years for the 2008 Hurricanes Ike and Gustav[xxviii], so my paltry few days, maybe weeks, are nothing. Yet the grass still lies squashed. I am estimating this should do no harm to the grass itself, as grass health is more linked to roots than blades[xxix]. Whatever the chances of recovery, my land presently looks unhappy, and I need to offer it attention.
For several of my bent and half-broken branches, which are largely rhododendrons, I must now consider making supports. The snowfall has shown how some of the branches had little strength of their own and were being supported by other branches. The moment a supporting branch fell, so everything it supported also tumbled. I must clearly manufacture some branch supports, some call them branch crutches, before the next snowfall completes the damage.
One of the delights of coming towards the end of a renaturing year is that with the leaves now fallen from many deciduous trees and bushes, it is easier to see what is happening within the deeper recesses of woodland. Blow me, I have just seen an ash[xxx] sapling that is three metres tall, as it grows proudly in the heart of a mature rhododendron. I have no idea from where it obtains any light, as it is surrounded by dense foliage. Yet the sapling is there and doing well. The moment I saw it for the first time, I looked harder and soon identified three further ash saplings, each tall and growing, within the same ageing rhododendron.
It appears that seedlings, the stage before a sapling, must make an early decision about where they wish to grow. That is so often immediately beside a declining and elderly tree. In this case it is an ancient rhododendron, which clearly cannot last forever. The ash saplings are lying in wait, all the while gaining protection from the rhododendron. The youngsters will be cared for until the ancient rhododendron gives up the ghost and disappears. I have an ash plantation in the making.
The ash saplings are clearly reaching for the sky, and the light it can offer, as they have few side branches at all. Most likely, I should transplant at least one sapling to a location where it can gather light throughout its length, not just at its tip. Trees change shape depending on where they grow. For example, a dense woodland tree is frequently tall and thin as it reaches for the light. Meanwhile a tree in an open field will be bushier and have branches lower down. Trees that grow in open habitats tend to live longer than those grown under a high woodland canopy and are more likely to develop the thick trunks indicative of age. As a rule of thumb, only open grown trees can fulfil their natural lifespan and grow to become veteran trees. In the final stages of a tree’s existence, it goes through a process called retrenchment. This is when the tree no longer has the strength to maintain its full canopy and regrows a smaller, lower one and loses its high branches. It is why so many elderly trees appear short[xxxi]. They were not always that way.
I must also consider ash dieback (ADB), which has caused substantial mortality in ash tree populations in the last 20 years. Despite this, and the same can apply to almost all diseases, not just to those of trees, a proportion of most ash populations is less susceptible to ADB, a resistance that appears to have high heritability[xxxii]. ADB was first identified in the wilds of UK in 2012 and repeated studies have shown that up to 5% of the country’s 90 million ash trees have some resistance to the disease[xxxiii]. In certain UK locations, for example in parts of Norfolk, this 5% figure is seen as low. In these cases, only 10% of trees are diseased while 90% are uninfected. It could thus be that there is a genetic variant of ash that is trying to recover from ADB. Might my saplings be of this type? Sadly, I cannot say and there is only one way to discover. I must care for the saplings and see.
Although recent Lakeland weather has been both snowy and wet, there have been a few opportunities to see the night sky, with glimpses between scudding nocturnal clouds. One night it was clear, almost until dawn. This is just as well for the week has been about the Geminids[xxxiv], said to be the most spectacular display of comets during the year. Geminid comets are multicoloured, which makes them exceptional. Armed with a warm drink, in retrospect it should have been whisky, I sat on my land for two hours, gazing at the sky and awaiting multicoloured comets. The direction in which I was looking was slightly above Orion’s right shoulder[xxxv].
The result? Sadly, I was wasting my time. I never saw the multi-coloured display of 150 hourly meteors I was expecting. My total was one sad and lonely white comet high in the sky. For me, the Geminids are clearly for next year. I have failed on this occasion.
***
Acknowledgement
Take it from me - none of this would be possible without the help of RSG Horticulture. Rufus, who runs it, has far more energy than me and is full of ideas and skills. Do contact him through https://www.rsghorticulture.com.
Hashtags
#NatureAndNoise #WildlifeObservations #ChainsawImpact #MagpieFolklore #WoodpeckerClimateConcerns #AshSaplingGrowth #WinterRecovery #EnvironmentalReflections #BirdsAndClimateChange #ForestryChallenges #NatureRejuvenation #EcoConservation #SustainableForestryPractices #WildlifeAndWeather #EcosystemObservations #NatureAndMachinery #BiodiversityProtection #SeasonalChanges #ConservationEfforts #NatureHealing
References
[i] Song I, Baek K, Kim C, Song C. Effects of nature sounds on the attention and physiological and psychological relaxation. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 2023 Jun 7:127987.
[ii] Ho J. In Noise, Feeling. The Missouri Review 2020; 43(2), 58-73. https://doi.org/10.1353/mis.2020.0019.
[iii] Fiľo P, Janoušek O. Differences in the Course of Physiological Functions and in Subjective Evaluations in Connection With Listening to the Sound of a Chainsaw and to the Sounds of a Forest. Frontiers in Psychology. 2022 Feb 21;13:775173.
[iv] Darwin C. The descent of man: and selection in relation to sex. John Murray, Albemarle Street.; 1888.
[v] Csikszentmihalyi M. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. 1990:75-77.
[vi] Felson RB, Steadman HJ. Situational factors in disputes leading to criminal violence. Criminology. 1983 Feb;21(1):59-74.
[vii] Weber M. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904–5). London – Unwin Hyman 1930
[viii] Kahn PH. The human relationship with nature: Development and culture. MIT Press; 1999.
[ix] Antonelli A, Smith RJ, Fry C, Simmonds MS, Kersey PJ, Pritchard HW, Abbo MS, Acedo C, Adams J, Ainsworth AM, Allkin B. State of the World’s Plants and Fungi (Doctoral dissertation, Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew); Sfumato Foundation).
[x] The water cycle on Earth. See https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle#:~:text=The%20water%20cycle%20shows%20the,form%20of%20rain%20and%20snow. Accessed 16 December 2023.
[xi] Vogt P, Riitters KH, Caudullo G, Eckhardt B. FAO-State of the World’s forests: forest fragmentation. Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg. 2019.
[xii] Pan Y, Birdsey RA, Phillips OL, Jackson RB. The structure, distribution, and biomass of the world's forests. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 2013 Nov 23;44:593-622.
[xiii] Sunderlin WD, Angelsen A, Belcher B, Burgers P, Nasi R, Santoso L, Wunder S. Livelihoods, forests, and conservation in developing countries: an overview. World development. 2005 Sep 1;33(9):1383-402.
[xiv] Putz FE, Redford KH, Robinson JG, Fimbel R, Blate GM. Biodiversity conservation in the context of tropical forest management. The World Bank Environment Department Papers; 2000.
[xv] See https://cales.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/chainsawsafety2020.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Centers%20for,350%20million%20dollars%20per%20year. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xvi] Robb W, Cocking J. Review of European chainsaw fatalities, accidents and trends. Arboricultural Journal: The International Journal of Urban Forestry. 2014 Apr 3;36(2):103-26.
[xvii] ILO. Safety and health in forestry work: an ILO code of practice 1998.
[xviii] Garland J, Cedergren J, Eliasson L, Van Hensbergen H, McEwan A. Occupational safety and health in forest harvesting and silviculture. Forestry Working Paper (FAO) eng no. 14. 2020.
[xix] Yovi EY, Yamada Y. Addressing occupational ergonomics issues in Indonesian forestry: Laborers, operators, or equivalent workers. Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering: Journal for Theory and Application of Forestry Engineering. 2019 Aug 1;40(2):351-63.
[xx] See week 50 entry.
[xxi] Collective nouns for birds. 1 August 2022. See https://blog.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/collective-nouns-for-birds/#_edn1. Accessed 16 December 2023.
[xxii] The Magpie Nursery Rhyme: Unveiling 'One for Sorrow. 15 November 2023. See https://birdfact.com/articles/one-for-sorrow-magpie-nursery-rhyme. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxiii] Sharp G. Magpie Rhyme – One For Sorrow, Two For Joy. 1 July 2022. See https://blog.gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk/magpie-rhyme/#_edn2. Accessed 15 December 2022.
[xxiv] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, September 21). woodpecker. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/woodpecker
[xxv] RSPB. Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major). See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/great-spotted-woodpecker. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxvi] BirdLife International. Climate Change. See https://www.birdlife.org/climate-change/. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxvii] Blondel J. How do birds adapt to a changing climate? Encyclopedia of the Environment. 22 August 2019. See https://www.encyclopedie-environnement.org/en/life/how-birds-adapt-changing-climate/#:~:text=The%20best%2Dknown%20mechanism%20is,too%20fast%20nor%20too%20high. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxviii] Teles D, Martín C. Why does disaster recovery take so long? Five facts about federal housing aid after disasters. 25 January 2021. See https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/why-does-disaster-recovery-take-so-long-five-facts-about-federal-housing-aid-after-disasters. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxix] Will trampled grass grow back? See https://www.quora.com/Will-trampled-grass-grow-back#:~:text=Yes.,than%20the%20visible%20leaf%20growth. Accessed 15 December 2023.
[xxx] See weeks 23, 39, 41, and 48 entries.
[xxxi] Gimber M. Recognising...open grown trees. 15 August 2020. See https://www.ancienttreeforum.org.uk/recognising-open-grown-trees-megan-gimber/. Accessed 16 December 2023.
[xxxii] Evans MR. Will natural resistance result in populations of ash trees remaining in British woodlands after a century of ash dieback disease?. Royal Society Open Science. 2019 Aug 28;6(8):190908.
[xxxiii] Rising from the ashes. See https://www.jic.ac.uk/advances/rising-from-the-ashes/. Accessed 16 December 2023.
[xxxiv] Wikipedia. Geminids. The Geminids are a prolific meteor shower caused by the object 3200 Phaethon,[4] which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid with a "rock comet" orbit. This would make the Geminids, together with the Quadrantids, the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet. The meteors from this shower are slow moving, can be seen in December and usually peak around December 4–16, with the date of highest intensity being the morning of December 14. Recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, generally around 02:00 to 03:00 local time. Geminids were first observed in 1862. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids. Accessed 16 December 2023.
[xxxv] Dobrijevic D, Zimmermann KA. Orion Constellation: Facts, location and stars of the hunter. 4 November 2021. See https://www.space.com/16659-constellation-orion.html. Accessed 16 December 2023.
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