The estate uses a “dynamic conservation” technique to protect the trees’ genetic diversity. The land is encouraged to regenerate naturally within its specific environment and weather conditions.<\/p>\n
Tom Sim, a Forest Research scientist, said: “The juniper and silver birch at Dundreggan are naturally occurring without historic planting.<\/p>\n
“They’ve likely adapted to local conditions over many generations.”<\/p>\n
Juniper is a slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree, with small blue-green needles and berries that ripen to a dark, blue-purple colour.<\/p>\n
The species support biodiversity by providing shelter and food for wildlife. Juniper berries are also used to produce gin.<\/p>\n
Silver birch is a fast-growing species which spreads over open ground. The tree’s roots draw up nutrients, and its leaves add richness to soil.<\/p>\n
Steve Micklewright, CEO of the charity Trees For Life, said: “We often think all trees are the same, but they are as diverse as people.<\/p>\n
“The more genetic diversity there is, the more chance they have of long-term survival.”<\/p>\n
The Gene Conservation Unit status means Dundreggan’s juniper and silver birch will be monitored to ensure their survival and natural regeneration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The estate uses a “dynamic conservation” technique to protect the trees’ genetic diversity. The land is encouraged to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[200,79],"class_list":["post-52151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}