Jake Dalzell’s Blog
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In Defence of Disease
Disease is something few people love. There are exceptions though, particularly among those who appreciate the diversity and ecological role of plant disease. The early conservationist, Aldo Leopold, described the role of tree diseases in creating food and shelter for the animals on his farm in Wisconsin: Soon after I bought the woods a decade…
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Strangford Lough flora: an update
Since 2022 I have been recording the flora of some islands in Strangford Lough. I received a Plant Study Grant from the BSBI to work on this in the Summer of 2022 but as it turned out I had committed to a much bigger project than I first thought! I recently submitted my records and…
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Yellow Rattle
This is an adapted version of my poster, which is also available as a pdf or png. As with all my work on this site it is CC BY 4.0 (free for use/adaptation as long as I am credited).
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Plasmopara euphrasiae: a downy mildew species new to Ireland
Slievenacloy Nature Reserve is an Ulster Wildlife reserve in Antrim. It is very well managed for upland grassland, with a wealth of Devil’s-Bit dominated grassland. I was there for the first time ever on the eleventh of August, and was very impressed by how rich and large the reserve is. In one of the fields…
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Autumn Lady’s Tresses: an orchid species new to Ulster
On the thirteenth of August, I was at Killard National Nature Reserve, Co. Down, with my mum. We were looking for Frog Orchids and other species rare in the county like Quaking Grass and Field Scabious. She found a plant she didn’t recognise and asked me what it was, and it was Autumn Lady’s Tresses.…
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Modelling Yellow Rattle in a simulated grassland
The model in this post is based on the one in Cameron et al. (2009), improving how seed dispersal is modelled and the dynamics are visualised.
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Total ecosystem evapotranspiration – an overlooked factor in grassland hemiparasite ecology?
A factor that I believe has been overlooked in the ecology of hemiparasites is that they could have a significant effect on water availability in grassland communities, by increasing the total evapotransiration in the ecosystem.
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Comparing parasite and host strategies in a Portuguese grassland
This was a small project we threw together over three days on our Plant Sciences fieldtrip to Portugal. Our project compared the strategies used by two parasitic plants in the Orobanchaceae and a shared host species in the Fabaceae.
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The Cryptic Wood White butterfly
My favourite butterfly, which I first saw during lockdown. They are the most delicate of the white species (Pieridae) found in Ireland and flutter through grasslands in May and June.
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Hemiparasitic plants in Irish grasslands
Hemiparasitic plants are those which steal water and nutrients from other plants, but still photosynthesise (so are green). They are an interesting part of the Irish flora, and some can play an important role in grasslands by weakening other plants – particularly Yellow Rattle. I want to run through some of the common hemiparasites found…
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Why care about grasslands?
As someone who has been deeply interested by plants as long as I can remember, I have grown to appreciate all the different habitats I come across in Ireland. Each has its own unique set of species, but one that has always particularly caught my attention is our grasslands. Part of this is probably because…
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Belfast’s urban flora
In the nineties, the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club extensively surveyed the urban flora of Belfast, resulting in a book, Urban Flora of Belfast. Many plants new to Down and Antrim were found, and most of these were new to Ireland as well. This was a three-year effort involving some thirty-one recorders. Since this survey, Belfast…
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