Only 2.5% of the UK is covered with ancient woodland. Much of the woodland has been felled for things like timber, land use changes and supporting growing economics.
A woodland can be classified as ‘ancient’ if it has existed on the same site since the 1600s, 1750 in Scotland. This means the soil, plants, animals and trees are all part of the original landscape. The woodland has not been felled or the soil excavated. This is proving more and more difficult to find.
One of the leading land management changes happened during the second world war. During the second world war, resource gathering for the war effort became the priority, naturally. But this left little forward thinking for what this destruction would do in a post war era. Land was used for construction and agriculture. Cutting down many of the forests that have never been allowed to be returned to their former habitat.
Soils have been damaged beyond repair and many species lost forever.
Habitat destruction like this causes massive losses to biodiversity that will take centuries to come back. In some cases, this loss is total and will never recover. Some of the most important organisms in the world we cannot see. The soil microbes play a huge role in the effective management of the soil, nutrient cycling and water and carbon retention. Their losses mean these ecological services we rely so heavily on, are no longer able to function, as we have destroyed their habitat.
Ancient Woodland Categories
Ancient semi-natural woodland
This has been woodland for over 400 years
It has been allowed to develop naturally, allowing species to cohabit.
This is a managed woodland with management strategies in place that must be followed.
Wood from these forests are used for human construction materials.
Management practises such as coppicing, where trees are cut from the bottom and grow many thin branches is common here.
Plantations on ancient woodland
Former ancient woodland that has been felled and re-planted with non-native trees
Plantations usually consist of conifer, red oak, and sweet chestnut trees
They have the same soils from the original ancient woodland but the trees growing are non-native. This means they do not support the symbiotic relationships found in ancient woodland.
These trees do not provide the same resources for nature that would usually be found in a native woodland.
Ancient Woodland Habitat
These habitats have developed unique relationships with native species that are found nowhere else
Providing homes for many animal, invertebrate and plant species.
The soil in these environments also contains many fungal and microbial species that cannot be found in other places.
Tree species often found in ancient woodlands are: English Oak, Ash, Hazel, Birch and Beech
Woodlands are made up of trees, plants, fungi, lichen, mammals, invertebrates, birds, microbes – all working together in one huge cycle
Indicator Species
These are species found in ancient woodlands. They indicate the age of the woods, quality of the soil and show the rich diversity that can be found
- Bluebells
- Wood Anemone
- Primrose
- Lily of the Valley
- Wild Garlic
- Dogs Mercury
- Red Campion
- Barnacle Lichen
- Lungwort Lichen
- Lemon Slug
- Guelder Rose
- Lime, Small Leaved
- Wild Service Tree
- Spindle
- Scaly Male Fern
- Hart’s Tongue Fern
- Hard Fern
- Hazel Gloves Fungi
- Pendulous Sedge
- Violet Click Beetle
- Purple Emperor Butterfly
Veteran Trees
Once a tree has reached hundreds of years old, it can be classed as a veteran tree
Veteran oaks are our most common veteran trees in the UK – they show the weight of age, with their branches hanging low
These amazing trees provide woodlands with a whole ecosystem;
Their size, shape and many holes provide housing and shelter for many of the species found in the woodland.
Offer protection for birds, mammals, insects and fungi.
Provide food for the many animals that live in and on them
Not all organisms are large, the crevices in the bark, underside of branches and swellings on the side of trees all provide homes for microorganisms. These microhabitats created naturally by the growth of the tree provide microclimates, different light and moisture levels and facilitate nutrient cycling. If you were to swab a crevice in a tree and look at it under the microscope you would see a whole other world, unaware of how small they are in comparison to us. Their world consists of plants, herbivores and predators like ours. All of which we cannot see with our naked eyes.
The microhabitats afforded by the tree support many hundreds if not thousands of species, on a micro and macro level.
Trees require support and management as they age. This allows then to continue providing the value resources not only to the organisms that live in and on them, but also for us. They hold carbon, produce oxygen and keep the environment healthy.
There are management strategies in place to help these trees. This often entails using beams to hold up the branches as they hang low, preventing breakages.
These trees are also surveyed for disease and fire damage. Many can appear completely hollow, but still live and continue to be of value.
Threats to Ancient Woodland
Construction Practices
An example of this is the HS2 project. This project has caused massive habitat loss, not just to ancient woodland. Despite the protests, this project has been continuing and in true government style it is both overbudget and under-delivering. It will not reach as many places as originally planned, which provides a double edged sword. On the one hand it has saved habitats destined for destruction, but also many the habitat lost currently might not have been necessary. Better planning would have helped here.
The losses we have experienced already due to our human expansion needs will never recover.
Often there is a balance between economic growth and nature. I feel nature is always the victim.
Plantations and Management
Planting non-native trees to provide wood for the construction industry means native trees are lost.
Many non-native trees grow much quicker than UK trees, therefore cutting down an acre of oaks would take hundreds of years to re-grow. However birch trees grows in tens of years.
Tree felling, soil excavation, and draining, damages the soil so significantly in some cases the microbes are lost forever. We do not fully appreciate the soil microbes, we cannot see them, so they are hard to relate too. However, they are there and provide so many services we take for granted.
Clear felling and soil loss also lead to flooding, as the root systems and microbes are no longer there to absorb rain water.
Habitat Fragmentation
Large areas of woodland have been felled for agriculture. This has divided the landscape. For some trees, the distance between the fragments is too large to allow successful breeding
The farming practices necessary for human food production, lead to these land division being permanent and the woodland cannot grow as it naturally would
Woodlands need space to expand. Moving the edge of the forest as it radiates out. This is not possible if the land is being cleared and heavily managed for construction and agriculture.
Chemical used on farms washes into the forest, these can have a detrimental effect on saplings and insects.
Intervention and planting is the only wait to aid woodland growth
Non-Native Plant Invader
Examples of non-native plants that invade our woodland are:
Rhododendron
Himalayan Balsam
Snowberry
These plants encroach on the woodland and take up space for native plants
Non-native plants are usually fast growing, out compete native plants, have few predators and support few native species
Pests and Disease
Non-native species can bring diseases with them that are detrimental to our tree and plant species.
Deer can destroy new saplings, preventing the woodland from self-restoring. They also affect the understory plants. If the native plants are not allowed to grow, or give the right amount of space, non-native plants will invade.
Privately Owned Woodland
As the name suggests these are owned by individuals or groups of people
They do not have to surrender to the government or charity pressure to protect their property – although many clearly do and want to protect the woodlands
Where there are more owners, the individual needs can cause issues for setting uniform management practices, leading to poor management
Humans are not very good as seeing benefits beyond our generation, therefore management strategies tend to be short term, in woodland terms.
Humans want to see benefits for their money now, and take their piece back. Tree that can live for thousands of years, they need us to think bigger.
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