During one of the hedgerow surveys I came across an Ash tree with a very old (non-biodegradable!) tree guard flat against the trunk. I estimated that the tree was about 30 or so years old and seemed to be in good condition. It was part of a very small plantation opposite Hyde Hall.
I’ve yet to find out from Andrew, the farm manager, why the trees were planted there. No doubt he will have a record kept neatly in a folder somewhere (he’s like that!) that will explain all.
It’s a shame to think that Chalara fraxinea (the Ash dieback disease) will slowly rob us of maybe 90% of all our Ash trees. Ash is very easy to identify and very common across our farm. Nationally it accounts for about 20% of all trees in the UK.
Here at the Chatham Green Project we are close to completing our new Diamond Jubilee Wood of almost 12,000 trees – alas, no Ash. What problems will our woodland face in the future? I’m certain the tree planters of 30 years ago who so carefully planted this Ash didn’t think it would all end like this.
It’s not clear yet if there is a link between climate change and the Ash dieback disease but it does impact on our climate change mitigation strategies. At the moment, we are busy trying to build resilience into our landscapes so that ecosystems don’t collapse at the slightest change in the environment. One of the methods of doing this is through softer, more permeable landscapes that reinforce ecosystem function. Another method is through biodiversity increase. The slow dieback of Ash has a small impact on the effectiveness of both of these methods.
There isn’t much we can do to stop Ash dieback but by creating new habitat patches, protecting existing ones and softening the landscape, we at last have a landscape scale strategy that considers how to plan for and mitigate climate change effects.