Celtic rain forest facts for kids

The Celtic Rainforest is a special kind of temperate rainforest found in the British Isles, which includes Ireland and Great Britain. People also call these woodlands by other names like Atlantic rainforest or Western Oakwoods.

Long ago, this type of forest covered a lot more land in Ireland and along the west coast of Great Britain. Today, only small pieces of it are left. You can often find these remaining parts on steep hillsides above rivers and lakes. These places were lucky because they weren't cleared for farming or heavily grazed by animals.

Some great examples of Celtic Rainforest can be found in Scotland. Look for them around the islands and shores of Loch Maree, Loch Sunart, and Loch Lomond. One of the best-preserved spots is on the remote Taynish Peninsula in Argyll. In Wales, these forests grow in steep river valleys in Snowdonia and Mid Wales. In England, you can find them in the Lake District (like Borrowdale Woods) and in river valleys in South West England, such as the Fowey valley in Cornwall and the valley of the river Dart near Dartmoor. This area gets more than 2 metres of rain every year!

What Makes the Celtic Rainforest Special?

The Celtic Rainforest has a unique climate that makes it a perfect home for many plants. The temperature doesn't change much throughout the year, and it's very humid with lots of rain.

These conditions are ideal for many types of mosses, liverworts, and lichens, including some rare ones. Experts say the Scottish parts of these forests are a "lichenologists' Mecca," meaning they are a dream place for people who study lichens!

You'll find many epiphytic plants here. These are plants that grow on other plants, like trees, but they don't harm them. They just use the trees for support. The ground is often covered with a thick blanket of mosses and liverworts. These green carpets even climb up the tree trunks, along the branches, and into the very top of the forest, called the canopy.

Who Lives in the Celtic Rainforest?

This amazing habitat is home to a wide variety of plants and animals.

Trees of the Rainforest

The main trees you'll see in the Celtic Rainforest are the sessile oak (Quercus petraea), downy birch (Betula pubescens), and European ash (Fraxinus excelsior).

Other trees that grow here include:

• Pedunculate oaks
• Common hazel
• Elm
• Cherry
• Various types of willows

Amazing Lichens

The Celtic Rainforest is famous for its rare lichen communities. Lichens are like a mix of fungus and algae living together. They often grow on the mosses and add incredible colours to the forest floor and tree trunks.

You can spot lichens that are:

• Lead-grey (from types like Pannaria, Parmeliella, and Degelia)
• Very dark (from the genus Sticta)
• Pink (like the fruit of jelly lichens, Biatora sphaeroides)
• Bright yellow (from Dimerella lutea)
• Chestnut-coloured and shield-shaped (from dog lichens in the genus Peltigera)

Sometimes, the weight of all these lichens growing on the mosses can cause the moss carpet to peel off the trees. When this happens, you can find piles of rare lichens on the ground!

One special group of lichens are called lungworts, from the genus Lobaria. Four different kinds of lungworts can grow very large, sometimes more than 30 centimetres across!

On trees like ash and hazel, whose bark is a bit more alkaline, you might find specklebelly lichens (Pseudocyphellaria spp.). In higher areas where birch trees grow and there's a lot of rain, the bark can become quite acidic. Here, you'll mostly see silvery-grey, leafy lichens that grow directly on the tree bark, not on mosses.

Protecting the Celtic Rainforest

For a long time, people used these woodlands for things like making charcoal, tanning leather, and creating bobbins for weaving. These practices mostly stopped in the mid-1800s.

Today, the small pieces of Celtic Rainforest that are left are very important. They are protected so that we can conserve them and study their unique ecosystems.

Since the 1900s, many groups have worked hard to protect and manage these woodlands. They face challenges like invasive plants such as Rhododendron, too much grazing by sheep and deer, and non-native trees that were planted there. Protecting these special forests helps keep their amazing plants and animals safe for the future.