The most frequently quoted issues relating to the management of the archaeological resource relate to cultivation or windthrow damage. However, there are many wider environmental parameters associated with woodland that could potentially be either benign or detrimental to archaeological preservation. For example:

• Trees have the potential to alter the physical above-ground environment, typically providing more shelter and less temperature variation than an open landscape.
• The chemical composition of any wet deposition under a woodland canopy will also vary to that outside the woodland.
• The chemistry and volume of any precipitation entering the forest soil, combined with the litter production and site hydrology can, over a sufficient time period, influence the soil chemistry, structure and any associated fauna.

More detailed information is available in Trees and forestry on archaeological sites in the UK: A review ^(PDF-1653K)