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Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction
Bracken is part of the fern family, but have have an upright stem with branches coming from this stem.
Habitat
Habitat
Grassland, Woodland, and Woodland Edge.
Benefits of Bracken
Benefits of Bracken
Indicator Species
Indicator Species
Re-Foresting
Re-Foresting
As shown in the maps and tools section, you can use bracken maps to identify Britain's lost rainforests which can be used when planning to rewild or reforest an area.
"The ecologist Ian Rotherham has pioneered the study of what he calls ‘ghost woods’ or ‘shadow woods’. These are areas of land where woodland once existed, but where deforestation or overgrazing has led to its disappearance. Old woods, however, don’t entirely vanish even with the passing of trees – they often leave a signature in the soil. Seedbanks of woodland plants can still persist long after the woods have gone. That’s why it’s sometimes possible to restore ancient woodlands cleared for conifer plantations – once the conifers are removed, the ancient seedbanks lying in wait spring back into life. There are various plants that Rotherham and other ecologists consider to be indicators of lost woods – such as wood sorrel, bluebells, and bracken." - Using Bracken Maps as a Guide for Regenerating Rainforest
"Some farming unions oppose large-scale reforestation in Britain on the grounds that it might dent food production. But the truth is, the vast areas of land covered by bracken – 50,000 acres in total across the Lakes and Dartmoor, far more across Britain as a whole – are not productive farmland. Some conservationists are also wary of woodland creation, lest it leads to ‘the wrong tree in the wrong place’ – such as trees planted on peat (a climate disaster) or on species-rich grassland (a biodiversity calamity). But encouraging trees to grow on bracken monoculture carries far lower risks.
What’s more, many of these vast bracken stands are sitting right next to our best remnants of old-growth temperate rainforest. ..." - Using Bracken Maps as a Guide for Regenerating Rainforest
Soil Quality
Soil Quality
Others are less sure that the presence of bracken denotes a former woodland, but still think that they indicate deeper, richer soils which are more suitable for trees in future. As an old hill farm saying goes, ‘Where there’s bracken there’s gold; where there’s gorse there’s silver; where there’s heather there’s poverty’." - Using Bracken Maps as a Guide for Regenerating Rainforest
Peat Alternative
Peat Alternative
According to recent research, "the rich leaf-litter compost generated by bracken when it dies back in winter has been touted as a climate-friendly alternative to peat. In other words, bracken offers a potential guide for where to put ‘the right tree in the right place’." - Using Bracken Maps as a Guide for Regenerating Rainforest
Composting Bracken for Safety
Composting Bracken for Safety
Bracken contains carcinogenic properties and must be properly composted to help remove these chemicals.
Historic Food
Historic Food
"Bracken ferns had been harvested for food and other uses for centuries. It has been reported to be grown commercially in Japan, Canada, Siberia, USA and China for consumption. The bracken fern rhizomes had been used to make bread by Maori natives in New Zealand and in Europe during food shortage. In Japan, young bracken fern leaves (fiddleheads) are reported to be prepared by boiling or by pickling before further preparation. Bracken ferns are known to be a hazard to grazing farm animals as they can cause a number of diseases after ingestion. Chemicals from bracken ferns can also be found in the dairy products the affected animals produced. The Canadian Government had advised people who collected fiddleheads of another species of fern (ostrich fern) for food to clean, cook in generous amount of boiling water or steam till tender before further preparations in order to prevent food poisoning due to improper preparation." - Center for Food Services: Risk in Brief: Bracken Ferns and Carcinogen
Problems with Bracken
Problems with Bracken
Biodiversity Loss
Biodiversity Loss
"Hill-farmers hate it when bracken invades an upland pasture, it quickly overwhelms it, replacing grazing fodder with a plant that’s unpalatable (and indeed poisonous) to most livestock. Conservationists are wary of it: bracken invasion can quickly transform biodiverse heath, moor or grassland into a monoculture.
The most recent analysis estimates bracken now covers some 1.6% of Britain – which may not sound like much, but we should remember that buildings in the UK only cover around 1.4% of the total land surface. There are fears that a combination of reduced livestock grazing and climate change may mean bracken ‘invades’ still more of our upland areas in future." - Using Bracken Maps as a Guide for Regenerating Rainforest
Backen as an Invasive Species
Backen as an Invasive Species
"Bracken is one of the most successful invasive plant species in the world – indeed it has the widest distribution of any plant taxa and occurs in woodlands and grasslands in subtropical and temperate regions the world over. Once established, it is difficult to eradicate because of its persistent underground rhizomes and large reserves of carbohydrates which favour vegetative spread, a tolerance of (indeed the species reportedly benefits from) physical disturbance, including fire, and toxicity to herbivores which means the species is little affected by animals.
Studies from around the world have linked the establishment of bracken across various habitats with the concurrent decrease in local species richness due to competitive exclusion by P. aquilinum. The high density of the bracken frond canopy, accumulation of sub-canopy litter and allelopathic exudates from the plant tissues combine to create a shaded, resource-limited and toxic environment that suppresses the germination, growth and survival of indigenous flora (Figure 4). In short, establishment of bracken in dense stands is an ecological disaster, diminishing local biodiversity and ceasing the provision of associated ecosystem services.
The grasslands of Limpopo – being hyperdiverse, highly fragmented and under threat, are a microcosm for the status of grasslands globally. Now, a tiny grassland fragment – just over three hectares in size, has come into the spotlight in the global fight against bracken..." - https://enews.saeon.ac.za/issue-04-2020/tackling-a-big-problem-in-a-small-grassland-beating-bracken-for-biodiversitys-sake/
Carcinogenic & Toxic
Carcinogenic & Toxic
Bracken contains the carcinogen, ptaquiloside . "Main routes that can lead to human exposure to the toxic effects of bracken fern include ingestion of the plant (particularly the croziers and young fronds), inhalation of the airborne spores, consumption of the milk and meat of affected animals, and drinking ptaquiloside contaminated water.[13]" - Wikipedia: Ptaquiloside
Cattle
Cattle
In addition to poisoning humans directly, "in 1996, researchers reported that ptaquiloside can be passed into milk from cows fed on bracken. Chemist Miguel Alonso-Amelot of the University of the Andes in Venezuela found that almost 9% of the ptaquiloside consumed by the cows emerged in the cows' milk." - https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/ptq/ptq.htm
Goats
Goats
"Goats are the only livestock that normally eat western brackenfern..." - USDA Forest Service: Species: Pteridium aquilinum
Sheep
Sheep
"In the Pacific Northwest sheep avoid mature fronds of western brackenfern so it increases in cutover areas grazed by sheep [128]. The fronds may release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) when they are damaged (cyanogenesis), particularly the younger fronds [42,96]. Herbivores, including sheep, selectively graze young fronds that are acyanogenic (without HCN) [43,96]." - USDA Forest Service: Species: Pteridium aquilinum
Resources
Resources
Bracken as a Peat Alternative (PDF) "Trials using bracken harvested mainly in the autumn from the New Forest have shown that this material can be successfully composted and used as a potting medium for hardy ornamental nursery stock. The high temperatures that are attained during composting break down ptaquiloside, the carcinogen that bracken contains, and the end result is a material with a high content of fine fibres. On its own bracken compost can be used for mulching, or in combination with peat it can provide a low pH mulch or potting medium, suitable for growing calcifuge plants."
Maps & Tools
Maps & Tools
International
International
Africa
Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Europe
Europe
UK
UK
North America
North America
USA
USA
Organizations
Organizations
Africa
Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Friends of the Haenertsburg Grasslands "Starting in 2020, a collaborative effort between the SAEON Ndlovu Node, the national Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and the non-profit organisation Friends of the Haenertsburg Grasslands, embarked on documenting the diversity of the grassland flora in bracken-encroached and adjacent bracken-free areas (Figure 7). The baseline data collected now (Figure 8) is invaluable for several reasons: 1) to generate a list of species which persist despite the presence of the bracken; 2) to identify traits associated with the persistence of indigenous flora; 3) to pinpoint the percentage cover value for bracken beyond which local species richness declines; and 4) to act as the benchmark against which to measure the efficacy of control measures."
SAEON Ndlovu Node "is the node of SAEON located in north-eastern South Africa. Our focus is long-term research on the causes and consequences of the major environmental changes occurring to ecosystems in the savannas, grasslands and rivers of this region." the national Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries
Europe
Europe
UK
UK
Lost Rainforests of Britain This group focuses on protecting and restoring Britain's mostly-lost rainforests, and have found that bracken is a useful indicator species for identifying spaces that one held these rare ecosystems, still containing seeds that could help grow new temporate rain forests.
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