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Wareham Forest
Wareham Forest is an area of countryside in Dorset, England, consisting of open heathland, including Decoy Heath and Gore Heath, and plantations of conifers such as Morden Heath and Bloxworth Heath. The site is managed by Forestry England for conservation and recreation. Situated next to the A35 road between Dorchester and Poole; the forest provides a home for sika deer, the Dartford warbler and a population of sand lizards. History Wareham Forest featured in the American magazine ''Life'' on 20 October 1947. The article describes a fire that raged for four days across Wareham Heath in the summer of that year. The fire severed the road from Wareham to Bere Regis and exploded ammunition left behind from Second World War troop manoeuvres. The photograph accompanying the ''Life'' piece shows fire-fighters trying to counteract the blaze, which saw flames leap to over 150 feet in height. Thanks to these efforts, a majority of the forest was saved. A 55-acre tourist park and campsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2020 Wareham Forest Fire
The 2020 Wareham Forest fire was a forest fire in Wareham Forest, Dorset, in May 2020. It destroyed over 220 Hectares of the forest, and was described a "one of the most devastating fires in Dorset, in living memory" by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service. Fire The fire started as a result of a disposable barbecue or campfire before 12:20 on 18 May 2020. The site where it started, near Sugar Hill, contained both these items, as well as glass bottles, and the cause of the fire was ascribed to 'social activity'. The initial attendance was 14 fire engines, as well as police resource to close Sugar Hill/Bere Road, which runs between the A35 and Wareham, and had been made impassable due to smoke. By 15:40, the number of fire engines had increased to fourteen, with more than 100 firefighters in attendance, including some from Yeovil, part of the neighbouring Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. Smoke could be seen from as far away as Poole. At 16:40, more police ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dorset. Covering an area of , Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, in the south. After the Local Government Act 1972, reorganisation of local government in 1974, the county border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density. The county has a long history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Roman conquest of Britain, Romans conquered Dorset's indigenous Durotriges, Celtic tribe, and during the Ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Lizard
The sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis'') is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe from France and across the continent to Lake Baikal in Russia. It does not occur in European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy. In the sand lizard's northern populations, such as in Great Britain, it is only able to survive along coastal heathlands where the sand is hot enough to incubate their eggs. Males are known for their bright colorations and aggressive behaviors when competing for females. Their mating process is unique because of its relatively short time period and because males are generally more selective with who they mate with than females. Females typically only lay a single clutch in a year. Sand lizards spend most of their time basking, foraging, or under vegetation and prefer to live in diverse habitats. Males have their own home territories that are very wide and often overlap with other males. These males compete with each other while females have smaller home te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fly Agaric
''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscaria'' has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine and birch plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. Arguably the most iconic toadstool species, the fly agaric is a large white- gilled, white-spotted, usually red mushroom, and is one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture, including in video games—e.g., the extensive use of a recognizable ''Amanita muscaria'' in the Mario franchise and its Super Mushroom power-up—and television—e.g., the houses in The Smurfs franchise. Despite its easily distinguishable features, ''Amanita muscaria'' is a fungus with several known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Lizards
The sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis'') is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe from France and across the continent to Lake Baikal in Russia. It does not occur in European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy. In the sand lizard's northern populations, such as in Great Britain, it is only able to survive along coastal heathlands where the sand is hot enough to incubate their eggs. Males are known for their bright colorations and aggressive behaviors when competing for females. Their mating process is unique because of its relatively short time period and because males are generally more selective with who they mate with than females. Females typically only lay a single clutch in a year. Sand lizards spend most of their time basking, foraging, or under vegetation and prefer to live in diverse habitats. Males have their own home territories that are very wide and often overlap with other males. These males compete with each other while females have smaller home ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nightjar
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tale that they sucked the milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is ''caprimulgus''), or bugeaters, their primary source of food being insects. Some New World species are called nighthawks. The English word "nightjar" originally referred to the European nightjar. Nightjars are found all around the world, with the exception of Antarctica and certain island groups such as the Seychelles. They can be found in a variety of habitats, most commonly the open country with some vegetation. They usually nest on the ground, with a habit of resting and roosting on roads. The subfamilies of nightjars have similar characteristics, including small feet, of little use for walking, and long, pointed wings. Typical nightjars, though, have rictal bristles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other forages into meat, milk, wool and other animal products, often on land unsuitable for arable farming. Farmers may employ many different strategies of grazing for optimum production: grazing may be continuous, seasonal, or rotational within a grazing period. Longer rotations are found in ley farming, alternating arable and fodder crops; in rest rotation, deferred rotation, and mob grazing, giving grasses a longer time to recover or leaving land fallow. Patch-burn sets up a rotation of fresh grass after burning with two years of rest. Conservation grazing proposes to use grazing animals to improve the biodiversity of a site, but studies show that the greatest benefit to biodiversity comes from removing grazing animals from the landscape. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molinia Caerulea
''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid soils, ideally pH values of between 3.5 and 5, however, it can continue to live under more extreme conditions, sometimes to as low as 2. It is common on moist heathland, bogs and moorland throughout Britain and Ireland. Introduced populations exist in northeastern and northwestern North America. The specific epithet ''caerulea'' means "deep blue" and refers to the purple spikelets. Description ''Molinia caerulea'' is a herbaceous perennial bunchgrass (tussock-forming), growing up to tall (taller when sheltered by gorse and heather), with many closely packed stems. The leaves are coarse, green, taper to a point, long, flat and sometimes slightly hairy on top. Due to the dense tussock it is very resistant to heath fires. Its ligule is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calluna
''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade. It is the dominant plant in most heathland and moorland in Europe, and in some bog vegetation and acidic pine and oak woodland. It is tolerant of grazing and regenerates following occasional burning, and is often managed in nature reserves and grouse moors by sheep or cattle grazing, and also by light burning. ''Calluna'' was separated from the closely related genus ''Erica'' by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who devised the generic name ''Calluna'' probably from the Ancient Greek (), "beautify, sweep clean", in reference to its traditional use in besoms. The specific epithet ''vulgaris'' is Latin for 'common'. ''Calluna'' is differentiated from ''Er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sturminster Marshall
Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in east Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish had a population of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census and includes the village of Almer () west of Sturminster Marshall, near Winterborne Zelston and the hamlet of Henbury to the south-east of the village. The village is twinned with the French commune of Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy. The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Stour'. From ''Sturminster Marshall'' the ward goes east to Pamphill, with a total population of 2,582. King Alfred the Great, in his will of 899, a copy of which can be seen at the British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ..., left the village to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment. Swamps vary in size and are located all around the world. The water of a swamp may be fresh water, brackish water, or seawater. Freshwater swamps form along large rivers or lakes where they are critically dependent upon rainwater and seasonal flooding to maintain natural water level fluctuations.Hughes, F.M.R. (ed.). 2003. The Flooded Forest: Guidance for policy makers and river managers in Europe on the restoration of floodplain forests. FLOBAR2, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 96 p. Saltwater swamps are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines. Some swamps have hammock (ecology), hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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