Trivia
Why do we leave fallen logs in the park?
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Fallen trees are left in certain areas to provide a rich habitat for insects, plants and animals.
Some people see deadwood as an eyesore and want to remove it but they provide a fantastic habitat (place to live) for plants and animals.
By leaving the deadwood to decompose and decay over time with the help of fungi, micro-organisms and various detritivores.
The nutrients can be returned to the soil and go back into the nutrient cycle.
Detritivore means literally ‘feeders on dead or decaying organic matter’. The detritivore community includes insects such as beetles and their larvae as well as flies and maggots (fly larvae) woodlice, fungi, slime moulds, bacteria, slugs and snails, millipedes, springtails, earthworms and many more.
Deadwood provide shelter and basking sites for slow worms, grass snake, common lizards, frogs, newts, and common toads.
