News in brief
Trees ‘will survive’ ash dieback devastation
Ten years on from the discovery of the first confirmed case of ash dieback in the UK, the hunt is still on for trees with natural immunity. Ash dieback, caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has spread to almost every area of the UK since it was first identified in 2012. Hundreds of thousands of ash trees have died: last year alone, the National Trust felled over 30,000 affected ash trees.
1 GIANT HIDES AT KEW
“The devastation here has been almost total,” says Mark Ballard, curator at Westonbirt, The National Arboretum in Gloucestershire. He’s had to fell about 5,000 trees affected by ash dieback in the Arboretum’s ancient Silk Wood, which dates back to the 13th century. But Mark says he’s seizing the chance to future-proof the woodland by replanting it with trees resilient to climate change, like the small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata) and the wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis). “We’re keeping one eye on the future,” he says.
Scientists at Kew have discovered a new giant waterlily growing right under their noses. Victoria boliviana was stored in Kew’s herbarium but wrongly labelled; it was identified after experts planted it in the garden’s waterlily house. kew.org
Research suggests up to 5 per cent of native ash trees should have some resistance to the disease, so conservationists are now pinning their hopes on a living ark of trees that made it through earlier outbreaks and could have some natural immunity. Saplings propagated from these survivors have been growing in the National Archive of Tolerant Ash since 2018, in what the government calls, “a major step towards landscape recovery”.
2 ANCIENT TREES A new map of ancient trees has used computer modelling to suggest there are about two million trees of exceptional age or cultural value in England – ten times as many as are on official records. woodlandtrust.org.uk
"About 40 per cent of the original trees have died, but one in five shows no signs of disease''