A rare 'temperate rainforest' featuring plants usually only found in centuries-old forests has been discovered growing on top of a 75-year-old industrial landfill.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Celtic rainforest and ancient woodland indicator plants on an anthropogenic site at the Holy Loch, Argylll, Scotland
EcoEvoRxiv · 10.32942/X29674
The Takeaway
Conservationists usually assume 'ancient woodland indicator' species require hundreds of years of undisturbed soil to establish. Finding these rare mosses, lichens, and plants thriving on a relatively young trash heap suggests that high-value ecosystems can regenerate on human-damaged land much faster than previously believed.
From the abstract
This study documents the floristic, bryological and rainforest lichen composition of a young, anthropogenic woodland at Holy Loch Nature Reserve (HLNR), Argyll. Although the woodland is no more than 75 years old and established on upper, roadside saltmarsh and on an adjacent, capped industrial landfill, it supports a species assemblage characteristic of hyper-oceanic temperate rainforest. Surveys conducted between 2022 and 2025 recorded many bryophytes and lichens, including several oceanic spec