Sycamore Gap: what the long life of a single tree can tell us about centuries of change

• The tree’s dramatic and photogenic setting made it a culturally significant landmark, often used as a symbol of the surrounding Northumberland region.
• However, this single tree also symbolised our relationship with the landscape in this part of the world, both past and future.
• Sycamores are also often found in soil with lots of different fungal species, and they’re an important habitat for lichens.

300 years of change

• The sycamore needed this tough coloniser biology to survive its 300 year or so lifespan in Northumberland, where it endured significant environmental changes over the centuries.
• Those summers became drier and brighter in the 20th century, until anthropogenic climate change really took hold and the tree recently withstood its hottest decade on record.
• The landscape of Northumberland is also not fixed, but has seen significant alterations often driven by thousands of years of human economic and social change.
• Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?