“SMALL HOPE” AGAINST THE TRENDS – The unquiet woods [06Jul13]

There is a small hope that unique British races of the species—isolated from continental Europe 8,500 years ago—may prove unusually resistant to the blight.

During the 19th century, as global trade increased exponentially, so did the incidence of tree blights. In the early 20th century, after rich countries instituted biosecurity regimes, the growth rates slowed, and in America, at least until recently, remained fairly linear. But in Europe, around 1960, the infection rate picked up, very likely due to the trade-boosting effect of economic integration. This not only spread diseases around the continent itself. It also made the law-abiding countries of northern Europe, such as Britain, susceptible to the sloppier customs regimes of the continent’s southern fringe.

http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21580459-arboreal-confirmation-britain-european-country-european-problems-unquiet-woods?fsrc=rss|btn

 

LETTING GO – Our ash trees are dying, but don’t despair [01Jun13]

Dutch elm disease is a tragic thing to watch, but we shouldn’t be too gloomy. Woody vegetation responds, adapts, regroups. What emerges in its recovery stage may not be the same as before, but it will always be a vital, dynamic, arboreal community.

The fungus, now known as Chalara fraxinea, is biologically mysterious, an entirely new organism of uncertain origins. It probably evolved in eastern Asia, where it appears to be harmless to native ash species. Its ancestor is a benign and widespread leaf fungus called Hymeno­scyphus albidus, native even in the UK. But at some recent date, this threw up a mutant, Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, with slight genetic differences but a terrible virulence.

Natural resistance is likely to be the best hope for the survival of a core population of ashes in the UK. Isolated from the continent for nearly 8,000 years, our trees may be more genetically diverse than those in Poland.

For their part, ordinary rural people were mystified by the need for plantations, having lived for thousands of years with woods that renewed themselves spontaneously and indefinitely by seeding, or by regrowth from cut coppice stools and pollards. In place of this system of natural regeneration came the notion of trees as artefacts, biddable machines for the production of timber, programmed at every stage of their lives from planting to cutting.

The fundamental grammar of our relationship with them had been changed. Previously, “growing” had been an intransitive verb in the language of woods. Trees grew, and we, in a kind of subordinate clause, took things from them. In the forest-speak of the Enlightenment, “growing” became a transitive verb. We were the subject and trees the object. We were the cause of their existence in particular places on the earth.

Now, in the extremities of ash dieback, we can see that decades of well-intentioned planting have been not only often unnecessary, but, quite possibly, dangerous. Runtish saplings, often mislabelled and of unknown provenance, are shoved into the ground, regardless of whether they might be vectors for disease, or whether the soil is right and the site appropriate.

The existence of a large population of indigenous ashes is our best safeguard for the future and makes rather baffling the Forestry Commission’s experiment, initiated early in May, of planting out trial plots with 150,000 saplings of “15 different varieties”. The intention is to discover whether a few may be resistant and eventually propagate from them. But as 80 million ashes from probably ten times that number of genotypes are already engaged in just such an experiment across Britain, it is hard to see this as much more than a PR exercise – one that fits tidily in to our long, hubristic belief that the salvation of trees lies with us and our superior arboreal intelligence only.

http://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/2013/06/our-ash-trees-are-dying-dont-despair-catastrophes-are-natural-events-lives-trees

See also: http://worldwidewood.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/natural-ash-nursery-cleared-and-ready-for-the-deer-fence/

 

UNPROFESSIONAL POLICY – #Ashdieback: South East is ‘low priority’ [14May13]

The South East has been declared a “low priority” area – authorities say that because the disease is already widespread, it is not cost effective to tackle it.

Dr Alun Griffiths, microbiologist and chairman of the Kent Men of the Trees conservation charity, said the county needed better protection.

“I’ve been studying diseases around the world all my professional life,” he said.

“I’ve always thought that if you have a focus, an area where disease is being spread rapidly, that would be the place where you’d put most of your effort.

The government is planting thousands of young ash trees in the region as part of a research trial, including at the Hucking Estate near Maidstone.

Scientists hope 1% of them may survive and develop resistance in a decade’s time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-22510873

 

 

PLANTING SEEDLINGS ‘EN MASSE’ – Defra Chalara Action Plan [28Mar13]

• Developing resistance to the disease in the native ash tree population
• Encouraging landowner, citizen and industry engagement in surveillance, monitoring and action in tackling the problem

Defra said it is planting 250,000 ash saplings in the east and south east so Defra scientists and the Forestry Commission and local landowners can monitor the trees for signs of Chalara, paying particular attention to any signs of resistance.

http://www.trees.org.uk/aa/news/Defra-admits-impossible-to-eradicate-ash-dieback-148.html

Comment: It is crazy to spend all the money planting out nursery reared seedlings, when natural woodlands can do a much better job themselves for free, with woodland saplings benefiting from their ancient mycorrhizal support systems. See: http://worldwidewood.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/ashes-from-ashes-making-a-one-acre-natural-nursary/ (JW)

 

BUDGET SET BY DEMAND!? – Ash dieback: landowners will be paid to restock woodlands [26Mar13]

Landowners in England will be paid to remove young ash trees and replace them with other species to help slow the spread of the disease killing them, the environment secretary said on Tuesday.

Paterson said: “We know we can’t stop Chalara fraxinea infecting our ash trees, so we have to throw our resources into managing it and slowing the spread. A key part of that strategy will be identifying those trees which have a natural resistance to the disease so that we can restock our woodlands in the future.”

The amount the government will spend on replacing young trees will depend on demand, said a spokeswoman. Landowners will be paid to remove recently planted ash from high priority areas – a band running from Cornwall and Devon and then north through Gloucester and up to the Midlands – and replace the trees with other species.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/26/ash-dieback-landowners-restock-woodlands

 

£1.5 million available – Government to plant 250,000 trees to beat ash dieback [26Mar13]

The government is to plant a quarter of a million ash trees in an attempt to find strains that are resistant to the fungus responsible for ash dieback.

The £1.5m project is part of the long term management plan, unveiled by the Environment Secretary Owen Paterson.

Funding will also be made available to woodland owners to help them remove infected ash saplings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21937163

 

 

“WILL DISTRACT STAFF” – Scrapping forestry quango leaves trees at greater risk of #ashdieback type diseases [03Apr13]

A group including the Confederation of Forest Industries, the Woodland Trust and the Ramblers Association urged ministers not to scrap the Forestry Commission, which manages publicly owned forests in England and Scotland.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph today, the group warned against any plans to merge “the Forestry Commission with Natural England or the Environment Agency”.

They said: “A merger would distract front-line staff at a time of threat from tree pests and diseases, and it would threaten, over time, the professional expertise built up in the Forestry Commission.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/9967598/Scrapping-forestry-quango-leaves-trees-at-greater-risk-of-ash-dieback-type-diseases.html

 

SWAMPED – Biosecurity agency cut by Labour experiences 1000 per cent increase in workload [25Feb13]

In a normal year, the service receives a combined total of 750 enquires. But in autumn 2012, the UK saw multiple cases of chalara, a serious disease of ash trees which is caused by the fungus Chalara fraxinea.

Since then, THDAS has received over 4000 enquiries from England and Wales alone (as well as approximately 200 from Scotland), a workload ten times higher than normal.

That massively increased workload comes as the service struggles with budget cuts introduced in the years leading up to the 2010 election.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/02/biosecurity-agency-cut-labour-experiences-1000-cent-increase-workload

 

BORDER CONTROLS – Imported trees to be vetted by inspectors in bid to stop ash disease spreading [20Jan13]

• All consignments of plane trees, sweet chestnut, oak and ash are now being checked by plant health inspectors in a bid to stop disease
• imports must be accompanied by paperwork indicating the species of trees in transit, their origin and destination
• The clampdown come as ash dieback continues to spread

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265291/Imported-trees-vetted-inspectors-bid-stop-ash-disease-spreading.html#ixzz2N1uXmL9K

 

MAGINOT LINE? – Trees face the axe in buffer zone bid to control disease [07Mar13]

HUNDREDS of trees could be chopped down to halt the spread of a disease wreaking havoc on woodlands.

The zone would run diagonally across Scotland from the Moray Firth to the Clyde to create a sheltered area to the west.

It is hoped that, while some more areas will be affected in the next five years, the sheltered area could remain disease-free for up to 20 years, allowing new approaches to be developed.

Statutory action is being considered which would require the removal or killing of all recently planted ash trees on any infected sites in both the buffer and sheltered areas.

Actions could include uprooting or cutting the trees before burning and deep burial, spraying the stumps or chemically injecting standing trees.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/trees-face-the-axe-in-buffer-zone-bid-to-control-disease.20429396