The Management of Trees in the Wood Pasture Systems of South East England

This chapter outlines the history and past management of trees within the wood pasture systems of South East England. Changes over time are discussed, and the challenges that the trees now face are outlined along with some potential solutions. Wood pasture was a common and traditional form of management in South East England although the conservation significance of it has only recently been realised. The types of wood pasture included wooded commons, Forests and parks, all of which have quite precise historical meanings. Many trees in wood pastures were managed as pollards, probably mainly for fuel wood, but some were open-grown. The number of trees has declined, and the area of wood pasture has diminished due to development pressure and agricultural intensification. Despite this, the area remains important in a European context for the number of old trees. In addition, lack of traditional management is a threat to tree and wood pasture survival. Restoration of grazing using traditional livestock is an important first step. New skills are required to work on trees that have been left many years out of a regular pollarding cycle, and new uses for the products will be important to help these trees become relevant again

Endophytes dominate fungal communities in six-year-old veteranisation wounds in living oak trunks

Old trees are rare in the landscape, as are many of their associated species. Veteranisation is a method by which attempts are made to create microhabitats, otherwise found only in old trees, in younger trees at an earlier stage than would occur naturally. Here, we analysed the early fungal succession in 6 y-old veteranisation wounds in ca. 100 y old living oak trunks by DNA-barcoding of the wood at eight sites in Sweden and Norway. We hypothesised basidiomycetes would be most abundant, and exposed sapwood and heartwood would select for different communities. We identified 686 fungal taxa, mainly ascomycetes, with a large overlap in species composition and surprisingly similar species richness, i.e. 325 vs. 308–360, between intact and different types of damaged wood, respectively. Endophytes continued to be present and common in damaged wood. The results demonstrate that damage to sapwood and heartwood partly select for different fungi and that 6 y is too early to evaluate if veteranisation can positively favour fungi of conservation interest

Slåtterängar i Västra Götalands län : Resultat av övervakning 2000-2006

Följande rapport är en sammanställning av återkommande vegetationsanalysersom genomförts i ett urval av slåtterängar i Västra Götalands län under 2000,2003, 2004, 2005 och 2006. Under 2004-2006 undersöktes 10 fasta objektårligen och ytterligare 20 objekt årligen som slumpvis valdes ut ur befintligdatabas över länets slåttermarker. I varje objekt placerades sedan en kvadratiskprovruta om 10x10 meter ut i ett för ängen "representativt avsnitt". I dennaruta lades sedan 10 mindre provrutor om 1 m2 ut enligt ett på förhand utslumpatmönster. Vegetationen i dessa provrutor dokumenterades sedan med hjälp avart-area analys. I varje provruta om 1 m2 bedömdes också mängden förna i enfyragradig skala efter täckningsgrad.Vid analysen delades de noterade växterna in i de ekologiska grupperingarnapollineringssätt, livsform och växtform. Artnoteringarna behandlades somförekomst/icke förekomst per provruta om 1 m2. Analys av artrikedom gjordesgenom att jämföra medelvärde (antal arter/m2) per provruta för respektiveobjekt. Som jämförelse gjordes även analys av ekologiska grupperingar av dearter som tas upp i Ekstam 1992. Förändringen över tid analyserades med linjärregressionsanalys. Skillnader mellan hävdade och ohävdade ängar analyseradesmed 2-vägs ANOVA, med hävd och fuktighet som faktorer.The following report is a compilation of the vegetation analysis whichhas been carried out in a selection of traditionally cut hay meadows in theCounty of Västra Götaland in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In theyears 2004 to 2006, 10 permanent plots and an additional 20 sites randomlyselected from the existing County database of meadows were surveyedannually. In each site a quadrat 10m x 10m was placed in an area that wasconsidered to be "representative" for that meadow. In this larger quadrat,10 smaller quadrats 1 m2 were marked out according to a pre-preparedrandom pattern. The vegetation in these smaller squares was recorded usingthe sampling method known as the species-area method or relevé method.In each quadrat of 1 m2 the coverage of dead plant material was recordedaccording to scale of four.For the analysis, the plants recorded were divided into the followingecological groups: method of pollination, life form (according to Raunkier)and plant type (herb, grass, sedge etc.). The species recorded were treated aspresence/absence per small quadrat (1 m2). Analysis of species richness wascarried out by comparing the average (number of species/m2) per quadratfor each site. As a comparison, analysis of the ecological grouping of speciesaccording to Ekstam, 1992 was also carried out. Changes over time wereanalysed using linear regression analysis. The differences between managedand unmanaged meadows were analysed using 2-way ANOVA, withmanagement and soil moisture as factors

Trees beyond the wood conference proceedings

Abstract Veteranisation has in fact been around for centuries in the form of for example pollarding. It is now known as a technique whereby younger trees are "damaged" in a way which may speed up the process of production of the valuable habitats, found otherwise only on very old trees. The idea is to try and mimic nature using manual tools. The treatments should be relatively mild in character so that the tree survives, but adequate to create decaying wood habitat in living trees. In this way it may be possible to bridge any potential generation gaps which are commonplace in our modern landscape. Veteranisation is generally most suitable on sites, where there are plenty of younger trees, which would otherwise be removed for example to increase the level of light to favour other younger individuals or existing ancient trees. This means that you make use of the existing tree resource instead of removal. Veteranisation in the form described above is a technique that has been developing in different countries including Italy, USA and the UK over the last few decades. Rarely however, has the level of follow up been adequate to properly evaluate the techniques used. This paper will present an international project, initiated by the County Administrative Board of Kronoberg in partnership with Nordens Ark, which will attempt to carry out a number of relatively simple treatments on many oak sites in Sweden, Norway and England with the purpose of implementing a long term research project to establish which techniques provide the best results for nature conservation

Endophytes dominate fungal communities in six-year-old veteranisation wounds in living oak trunks

publishedVersio