A thousand years ago, significant areas of the country were devoted to wood pasture, that was grazed by livestock.  As time passed, much of this became royal hunting forest - a mixture of woodland, coppice, open land and farms.  As the woodlands were managed (through traditional techniques such as coppicing and pollarding), many of the trees were able to grow to maturity.  They became veteran trees.  Trees such as beech reach maturity after some 200 years, oaks take 400 years and yew 900+.   Such veteran trees can be seen in areas like the Savernake (south of Marlborough) and Sherwood Forests. Saverrnake has veterans like the Big Belly Oak, and Sherwood has the Major Oak.  Sadly, since the nineteenth century many veteran trees and ancient woodlands have been lost due to the expansion of agriculture, housing development and road & rail creation.  Veterans have also been lost from hedgerows, many of which were grubbed out to enlarge fields to allow for increasing mechanisation. As oaks and beeches age so they change, they expand, trunks hollow, cracks and holes appear, heart rot develops and dead wood appears.  Each tree offers a myriad of micro-habitats.  Bracket fungi feed on the dead heart wood, as do stag beetle larvae.   Mosses and lichens live on the bark, attached to crevices that channel the rain down the trunk, bats, woodpeckers and nuthatches inhabit holes. Other birds (like redstarts) nest in the branches and twigs.  The decaying leaf litter beneath the tree offers sustenance to a variety of beetles, and fungi (e.g. oakbug milkcap).  English oaks are associated with more than two thousand species, and more than two hundred are directly dependent on the trees. The loss of so many veteran trees has resulted in an international project to determine if these trees can be ‘replaced’.  It involves a technique termed veteranisation. Younger trees are damaged in order to start the process of decay and ‘ageing’.  The process may include Creating woodpecker-like holes Creating nest boxes for birds / bats Breaking branches Damaging the bark / trunk - to simulate deer / animal damage Inoculation with fungi It is being trialed at some 20 different sites in Norway, Sweden and England.  The project started in 2012 and will run for some 25 years.  It is hoped that such ‘techniques’ could be used to accelerate the formation of veteran trees status with its associated biodiversity. Thanks to Angus for tree jpgs. For further information : https://naturebftb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Introduction-to-Ancients-of-the-Future-Jamie-Robins.pdf https://www.gov.uk/countryside-stewardship-grants/creation-of-dead-wood-habitat-on-trees-te13 https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/1798/wood-wise-ancient-trees.pdf  (opens PDF)

Reports in the papers and electronic media have made us aware that many forms of wildlife are under threat.  This threat is wide ranging - from the destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, the loss of species-rich meadows, the insect apocalypse - indeed where does this loss of plant and animal species end? One small positive observation amidst the doom and gloom is the findings of The Biodiversity in Urban Gardens project [BUGS] at the University of Sheffield.  The original study focused solely on Sheffield and finished in 2002, but  it was then extended to five cities across the U.K.    Professor K Gaston who led the study is now working at the University of Exeter.  The original study was important in that it revealed within Sheffield city, there was 33 km2 of wildlife habit was available within the city 360000 trees in the city limits 45000 nest boxes 25000 ponds and  50000 compost heaps Furthermore, there were in excess of a thousand plant species (flowering plants, ferns and conifers) and a diverse collection of invertebrates (bumblebees, hoverflies, beetles and spiders).  Whilst the diversity was in no way comparable to that of an ancient woodland (with veteran oak trees etc) or indeed of wetlands, it is significantly better than that found on farmland - particularly in those areas where the farming is intensive and characterised by monocultures (e.g. oil seed rape extending to the horizon).  Farmland now occupies some 70% of the landscape. Gardens, parks and urban areas are therefore an important resource for wildlife.  It is important as house building proceeds, on both brown and green field sites, that the associated gardens continue to provide ‘sanctuaries’ for wildlife, for example, by avoiding large areas of hard standing for cars (which also encourage  rain / water run off - which can overwhelm the drainage systems).  Professor Gaston has emphasised the importance of ‘dimensional complexity’ in gardens; that is a variety of trees, shrubs and plants of different shapes and sizes.  This provides a range of different niches / habitats for wildlife.  Of course,  in gardening to promote wildlife, there are the additional benefits (for householders) of physical and mental well-being.   Remember later this month, there is the Big Garden Birdwatch, organised by the RSPB. For further information, click on the image below:- [caption id="attachment_36525" align="aligncenter" width="670"] Ladybird 'stalking' aphids[/caption]

The world's larger and older trees are dying at in unprecedented numbers, according to Professor David Lindenmayer (Australian National University). One of the first clues to this phenomenon was a Swedish study of their forestry records - dating back some 150 years.  Then an Australian study of (their) Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forest confirmed that the bigger and older trees were not only dying in forest fires, but were also dying at a higher rate (than normal) in non-fire years. There has been a similar loss of large, old pines in the forests of (western) North America - partly through selective logging but also through very severe wild fires.    Read more...

In recent years, countryside oaks have been subject to a survey (co-ordinated by the Woodland trust - working with the Ancient Tree Forum, the Tree Register and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.   This survey has identified some 1200 previously unknown veteran oak trees. In consequence, the total number of veteran / ancient oaks in England now stands at 3400. Approximately four fifths of these trees are estimated as being between 400 and 600 years old, and a tenth date back some 600 to 800 years - and a few may be a thousand years old.  England is ‘rich’ in terms of its ancient or veteran Oaks - the whole of continental Europe has only two thousand such trees (approximately); most of which are in Sweden. Read more...

Oak trees are under threat through disease and climate change and it will cost serious money to research causes and solutions.  This could be paid for either through general taxation or by an appeal for charitable donations with help from high profile people such as celebrities and the Royal family.  The rate of required spending on oak disease is increasing.  It is proposed to set up an "Action Oak" charity appeal spearheaded by Woodland Heritage - an organisation based in Haslemere just 10 miles from the Forestry Commission's research arm at Alice Holt in Surrey. Many people will wonder why the government isn't doing more directly through DEFRA Read more...

At Tortworth Arboretum we are restoring a 20-acre woodland for community use – clearing an abandoned woodland of ten years of neglect while making it accessible for people to come and learn about nature, as well as improve their mental and physical health and wellbeing. We manage the woodland mostly with hand tools and an ever-evolving team of volunteers who give their time freely to the project.   The woodland is host to hundreds of exotic trees from around the world, planted from the 1850s onwards by the local Earl, as well as some stunning veteran oaks and sweet chestnut trees. And we have goats.  Read more...

There are many types of woodland, which may be broadly categorised by the dominant type of tree(s) - thus there is, birch woodland, oak woodland, beech woodland etc.  The flora and fauna of these different types of woodland varies though there can be similarities.  Some species, such as brambles and ivy can live in a variety of conditions whilst other plants / animals have very specific requirements. This is certainly true for various animal species - for example, butterflies and moths. For example, the Brimstone (a pale yellow butterfly) has larvae (caterpillars) that need to feed Read more...

pollardAfter the last Ice Age, plants, animals and humans moved back into the vast areas vacated by the retreating ice.  Plant, and then, animal communities became established and much of the area was covered by what has been termed ‘wildwood’ – see previous Wildwood blogs.  These areas would also have been home to human populations migrating from the hinterland of Europe and Doggerland.  Communities developed and we may suppose that areas of forest/woodland/wild wood would have been cleared - for housing, the grazing of animals, to provide firewood/timber.  Such forest / woodland would have been managed to a greater or lesser degree. Read more...