Tree-mendous effort by our Nature Network team

Last week, our students gained valuable experience of their tree identification skills and experience using the Citizen Science app Treezilla. This involved mapping local trees in Donard wood. The group was introduced to the concept of allometry, the study of how different tree parts (branches, stem, roots) grow and scale relative to each other and overall growth of the tree. Students were shown how to measure a key variable, circumference at breast height (CBH), and to input this data into the Treezilla app. This provides an estimated monetary output for the various ecosystem services provided by the tree.

Our students are now planning to identify and map all the tree species in our new school grounds, and record the data in excel. In the environmental sciences, a particular motto is: "if its not measured, then it won’t be protected."

As part of the landscaping of our newly landscaped grounds, native species have been planted which will play a key part in preserving and enhancing local biodiversity, providing a range of ecosystem services to our College and our community neighbours now and in the future.

Well done to our prospective urban foresters Lily-Mae Truesdale, Paul and Callum Casement, Max Delaney, and Daniel Walsh. They did tree-mendously well!