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Factual: Science & Nature

Programme answering listeners' questions about planet Earth and our impact upon it

Home Planet: 09/11/2010

09/11/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Home Planet, 09/11/2010

Travelling Scots pine trees and Northern biased maps.

Welsh drovers used to plant trees as route markers, including Scots pine. But did they have access to an ancient hidden forest of these magnificent trees?

We all know that wind in the trees can produce a distinctive gentle rustle, but one Home Planet listener was startled to hear loud creaks and chirrups coming from French woodland on a hot sunny day. It wasn't insects, they could see no animals so what was producing this mysterious tree borne noise? 

We have the tricky question of how many people can planet Earth naturally sustain, is it a scientific or a political question? Did Welsh drovers know of an otherwise hidden forest of Scot's pine, a species thought to be extinct in the UK, why do maps and atlases always have North at the top and how do trees growing on inclines keep their foliage the same height above the ground despite the slope.

Answering these questions in this week's Home Planet are are Human Geographer Professor Sue Buckingham of Brunel University, Dr Nick Brown, a forest ecologist from Oxford University and Professor Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London. 

Contact: 

Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL

Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk

Or telephone: 08700 100 400

Presenter: Richard Daniel
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.

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