Woodlands In Trouble

Walk around just about any wood in Britain these days and you are likely to see evidence of at least some of a large range of problems that are affecting our woodland communities. Young trees, in particular, are under stress from several phenomena, drought, disease, heat stress and browsing by deer amongst them. Ash die-back is harming and killing ash trees across the country but trees of many species, when under stress, are more susceptible to many diseases.  

Researchers at Birmingham University have been studying worrying observations they have made[1]. Their fieldwork has revealed a significant reduction in young saplings of many tree species (usually so obvious in large numbers in the woodland ground and shrub strata), and that the survivorship of those saplings that were present was much reduced. This phenomenon of woodlands failing to regenerate as they have in the past was evident in many woodlands they surveyed of different types in England, Wales and Scotland. I am reasonably familiar with some Worcestershire woods and, whilst I would say, without doing formal surveys, that tree regeneration is good in many areas, they are suffering particularly from ash dieback, deer browsing and, this year, drought.

Ash dieback is killing some ash trees (and some authorities have projected an ultimate loss of 80% of our ash trees!) but in most of the areas I have looked at, many affected trees are showing some signs of recovery as young shoots sprout from the crown and trunk. Whether this will endure, though, is moot, and only time will tell. Certainly the extreme drought stress of a virtually rainless spring and summer has added to the adverse impacts on trees, particularly affecting younger trees without deep roots.

The other problem I am seeing is the excessive browsing of ground flora and saplings by Reeves’ muntjac deer. These cervids, delightful though they are, have increased dramatically in numbers and love to browse in woodlands, gardens, parks and other greenspace. Woodland managers are now fencing off areas to exclude deer to give the saplings a greater chance of survival. 

Betts Ecology monitor our woodland areas carefully and take what measures we can to promote and maintain healthy woodland growth.

[1] Bruno Ladvocat Cintra, Rachel Mailes and colleagues at the University of Birmingham are part of the ongoing MEMBRA project (https://membra.info/) which team has delivered presentations including, in 2024, Sharp decline in tree recruitment in old growth forests from Great Britain.  Formal scientific journal publication is pending at time of writing.