We are excited to announce the next talk in the Conservation and Restoration of Resilient Ecosystems Seminar Series.
Roy Brown, Honorary Professor at Bangor University School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, will present:
55 Years of Bracken Research
The Bracken Fern Pteridium spp. is one of the most widely distributed terrestrial plants in the world, being present in many habitats and land uses and definitely the most abundant 'weed species' on Earth. It was recorded as thriving in every continent except Antarctica, until June 2025 that is. It has been around in its current form for 55million years and has developed chemical and physical survival strategies which see off all animal and plant competitors but the environment it creates favours certain hematophagous parasites (ticks), their hosts and the pathogens they carry. Ticks are now running Mosquitos a very close second on the transmission of Zoonotic Diseases on the world scale and number one in Europe, North America and many other temperate areas.
It has a love/hate relationship with human activity, ranging from almost sacred in South Korea to currently, public enemy number 1 in the British Isles where its interaction with humanity since Neolithic times have been particularly intense. The ecology and management of bracken has been my driving force for the last 55 years plus and now that climate change, world and national political and environmental priorities and changing so quickly a real understanding of the role of the genus is close and the full extent of the potential value and threats of this major 'Environmental Engineering' species needs to be aired.
All welcome!