Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere, & Forest (LEAF) centre

Want to follow the individual amazing researchers behind our tree science? We've made a starter pack to help you find them! go.bsky.app/7cwhin3

Gair Wood has its first writer in residence! Welcome and congratulations to Dr J.R. Carpenter!

A few pics from Friday's conference at @cumbriauni.bsky.social Ambleside campus. Pine martens are back in Cumbria thanks to the efforts of all these people. Great talks & good craic too. @vincentwt.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social

The Autumn newsletter is here. Latest news on montane woodland plans, site maintenance, new volunteer dates (including our first hedge laying days), update on the Nature Rich Miterdale project, heatwaves & trees cover research & more. Link below ⤵️ mailchi.mp/a50d8f16c746... @leedsleaf.bsky.social

🌿 An important finding from @leedsleaf.bsky.social tropical forests may recover carbon storage more slowly than expected after logging. 🔎 Follow @forestryjfr.bsky.social for forest ecology and restoration research. #JFR #ForestRestoration #CarbonCycle #TropicalForests #ForestEcology 🍁

Recovery in logged forests may be much slower than previously assumed! Despite common expectations that logged tropical forests absorb large amounts of carbon as trees regrow, new research led by @amybenno.bsky.social suggests this may not be the case for some. leaf.leeds.ac.uk/news/no-carb... 🌏🧪

Logged tropical forests are expected to recover carbon quickly once logging stops. But this is not what we find in central Vietnam: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

We'd like to shine a light on how @universityofleeds.bsky.social and Prof. Beatriz Marimon at #UNEMAT are helping communities to respond to climate crisis in Amazonia. Read more: www.leeds.ac.uk/global/dir-r... @envleeds.bsky.social @priestleycentre.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

It was interesting helping @universityofleeds.bsky.social researcher Ben collecting data last week. He's looking at the effect of tree canopy cover on temperature & soil moisture. More in our autumn newsletter. Sign up here: mailchi.mp/fab56d180ac7... @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

A lot of people are saying we don't have enough footage of helicopters on our socials. So here's a clip from our recent heli-lift of (local, larch) fence posts. These will keep Harter Fell sheep free & allow montane scrub and wildflowers to thrive. @forestryengland.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

A lot of people are saying we don't have enough short films about juniper on our socials. Here's one which features 1695 of them. All carefully nurtured by staff & volunteers & gradually getting ready to be released into the wild. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryjournal.bsky.social

Looking to get outside in Leeds and enjoy some nature? Check out the new Greenery Trail @treeswithhazel.bsky.social created for #CampusReimagined at University of Leeds! leaf.leeds.ac.uk/news/a-new-g...

Did you know we're the subject of a feature-length documentary which after two years work is nearly finished? Neil Emery, the filmmaker, tells us all about it in the video below. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social youtu.be/CgoDqF6t2Nw?...

Restoring nature at scale while supporting farming livelihoods is a critical challenge. Research led by Priestley member Dominick Spracklen sets out a twenty year plan to restore ecosystems in the Lake District, while securing a viable future for fell farming 👉 climate.leeds.ac.uk/news/twenty-...

Exciting news! We've opened a new path at the woodland we planted in 2023 🎉 As the trees grow, we're studying the way that woodland ecosystems, biochemisty, soils, acoustic environments etc. develop. Plus, more established trees means more resilience to disturbance, so more public access! 🌳💚

Our research woodland has just opened a new public pathway! We're excited to open this first new path along the edge of our growing woodland, as well as adding a new sign to help visitors understand some of the research we're doing at #GairWood 🧪🌍🌳

Joining up with the Meanwood Valley Trail and the Leeds Country Way, walkers on those routes can now pass through Gair Wood and enjoy the developing woodland. Read more about the project and community partnerships 👇 www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article...

A new public footpath has opened at Gair Wood in North Leeds, connecting with two popular routes, helping visitors avoid walking alongside busy roads 🌳👣 More than 60k trees were planted there three years ago to enhance the local environment and provide a valuable resource for research and teaching.

🌳Free Webinar Alert!🌳 We're excited to join the Improving Access To Trees webinar next week (April 22nd) from White Rose Forest x Green Streets, where @ellesmith.bsky.social, will present recent findings and upcoming research. 🧪🌍🌐 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/white-rose...

Cockley Beck farm in the Upper Duddon has one of the best planted areas of woodland we've seen. Really good survival rate. The trees are now ready to come out of their tubes & we're happy to help. @nfudc.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

Chopping down areas of tropical rainforest is causing rising temperatures linked to thousands of deaths. @domspracklen.bsky.social explains the science🌳🧪 theconversation.com/chopping-dow...

"There's five times as many butterflies on cattle grazing sites compared with sheep grazed sites," @bcyorkshire.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The University of Leeds and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) are currently hosting an international Workshop on forest fires, smoke and air quality in Brazil! More info here:

Another successful team up of Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery and @nationaltrust.org.uk staff. 1000 trees planted at Black Hall farm in the north of the valley. Aspen, oak, birch, hazel & willow were added to a couple of existing fenced areas. @lakedistrictnpa.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

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This week we're excitedly preparing for LEAF Day 2026 - our one day annual meeting for folks interested in trees and woodlands! If you're based at the Uni of Leeds, are free on Friday, and that sounds like you, then check out the programme and register at leaf.leeds.ac.uk/events/leaf-...

We're currently curating our winter newsletter, out soon. What to expect? A farmer pointing at a post, carcass ecology, new staff start, we're the topic of "Wildwood" a photographic talk. Plus volunteer dates & wildlife videos. Sign up▶️ mailchi.mp/1dd189bd3314...

This week we're excitedly preparing for LEAF Day 2026 - our one day annual meeting for folks interested in trees and woodlands! If you're based at the Uni of Leeds, are free on Friday, and that sounds like you, then check out the programme and register at leaf.leeds.ac.uk/events/leaf-...

Our research with the SECO project to understand the trajectory of the dry tropics depends on a team of wonderful people across the world, working in Peru, Brazil and beyond, in fieldwork, data management and lab analysis. Here are some of their stories: www.leeds.ac.uk/directory-re...

A new study from @ellesmith.bsky.social highlights consistently low levels of access to trees and greenspaces across English cities. Read more about it here: leaf.leeds.ac.uk/news/english... .🌐🌍🧪

"Trees: from seeds to saplings" was the theme of the last event of 2025 from the Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre. Really useful knowledge sharing. Next year's events are linked below. @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved...

- and finally, a lesson in tree translation from Dr Robin Hayward (@canopyrobin.com), of @leedsleaf.bsky.social! How do we best learn from tropical trees, to promote and manage woodland regeneration? Also featuring some scent-sational seasonal stocking fillers…! 🌲 🍊 🌴

University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...

Excited to see the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery project highlighted in this recent blog from @naturalengland.bsky.social. We're working together with partner organisations and local communities to bring landscape recovery benefits, plus new opportunities for nature-based learning and volunteering

One space left for our last volunteer day of 2025! Please share. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social www.trybooking.com/uk/FIGS

If you've been enjoying #NationalTreeWeek as much as we have and don't want the fun to be over, we have good news! For those local to Leeds, @canopyrobin.com will be representing the team with a talk on Christmas tree communication at Quantum Sauce next tuesday! 🎄

It's #NationalTreeWeek and yesterday we planted 800 trees along the edges of a newly rebuilt bridleway. It'll stablise the work and create a lovely mixed corridor of woodland in years to come. Oak, aspen, alder and grey willow pegs went in. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social

Looks like my scything efforts last week paid off to get a few hundred trees planted into our new hedgerow!

Protecting and restoring forests boosts farming and food security. New @fao.org report presented at COP30 brings together recent research including work from @drcarlyreddington.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

Decent views in the Duddon valley today. Not a bad day for our contractors felling larch for the project's timber needs. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social

At least Tombo and Hazbop have been busy peeling pointing and generally processing our larch into perfect posts. In contrast, local celebrity farmer Paddy seems to think he's done his bit. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social

🎄Is your #Christmas tree talking to you - and if it was, would you want to know?! Translating the bio-signs of your festive fir, ecologist @canopyrobin.com brings a Quantum Qristmas to #Farsley @oldwoollen.bsky.social! 2nd Dec, tickets at tinyurl.com/ye5dwtm5 🧠 Bring your brain & pull up a pint! 🍻

Voting for this funding closes on Friday. Please share this post and vote for the Alliance for Northern Nature in the WILD PLACES category. Thanks. @forestryengland.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk @earthandenvleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social

We're up for some funding! Please support our work by voting for us in the WILD PLACES category. Shares much appreciated, as the funding depends on a public vote. @earthandenvleeds.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social www.eocaconservation.org/vote/