New evidence to inform woodland creation for climate change mitigation

Robert Matthews

Adapting forest and woodland management to the changing climate

Our climate is changing rapidly, with milder, wetter winters, warmer summers, longer growing seasons and more frequent extreme conditions, including drought periods and heavy rainfall events. The projected rate of climate change is unprecedented and therefore action is essential now to improve the resilience of forests and woodlands, and to protect the benefits that they […]

Climate change and urban forests

Can urban forests help cities adapt to climate change? Urban forests can both help reduce climate change and help urban society cope with its impacts. As growing trees remove carbon dioxide from the air, storing the carbon in their biomass, urban forests are an important part of our response to...

Factsheet: Climate change and urban forests

Urban forests can both help reduce climate change and help urban society cope with its impacts.

Factsheet: Climate change adaptation

The changing climate is affecting our trees, forests and woodlands, how they grow and survive and the important ecosystem services they provide. For our forests and woodlands to thrive, adaptation measures must be considered carefully, and action taken. Ten measures to reduce climate risks and improve resilience are presented.

Factsheet: Climate change and tree diseases (canker)

Canker-inducing pathogens kill the inner, living bark of trees resulting in poorer growth or mortality of affected individuals which limits their contribution to climate change mitigation.

Factsheet: Climate change and tree diseases (Phytophthora)

Milder and wetter winters, followed by increased spring rainfall, are likely to enhance the survival and infection potential of many tree pathogens. Hotter, drier summers leading to drought stress in trees will also increase their susceptibility to disease and expand the distribution range of some pathogens. The increased incidence and severity of diseases caused by Phytophthora species reduces the benefits that trees provide, including climate change mitigation.

Threshold Response to Extreme Drought Shifts Inter-Tree Growth Dominance in Pinus sylvestris

Many studies quantify short-term drought impact on tree growth relative to pre-drought growth averages. However, fewer studies examine the extent to which droughts of differing severity differentially impact tree growth or shape stand dynamics. Focusing on three droughts in high and low density stands of Pinus sylvestris in Scotland, we calculated pre-drought growth averages using […]

Life after recovery: Increased resolution of forest resilience assessment sheds new light on post-drought compensatory growth and recovery dynamics

Understanding the impacts of extreme drought on forest productivity requires a comprehensive assessment of tree and forest resilience. However, current approaches to quantifying resilience limit our understanding of forest response dynamics, recovery trajectories and drought legacies by constraining the temporal scale and resolution of assessment. We compared individual tree growth histories with growth forecasted using […]

Comparison of the carbon, water, and energy balances of mature stand and clear-fell stages in a British Sitka spruce forest and the impact of the 2018 drought

Sitka spruce is the major conifer species in British upland forests and is predominantly managed as even-aged, single-species plantations with rotation lengths of less than 50 years using a “patch clear-felling” system. Evidence on the impact of clear-felling on the carbon, water and energy balances of plantation forestry is sparse and extreme weather events, such […]

Woodland Creation and Expansion – Programme 6

This research aims to find out how to expand woodland cover in a way that maximises ecological and social benefits. The programme complements the other six programmes and follows collaborative principles to produce tools which support land managers, stakeholders and policymakers to increase engagement with woodland creation activities

How extensive are the impacts of nitrogen pollution in Great Britain’s forests?

Protecting our forests from pollutant deposition is and has been a topical issue for some time. Nitrogen, as well as being an essential nutrient for trees, is one of the most important of these pollutants. This article discusses the extent and severity of the issues associated with nitrogen pollution in our forests. By Fiona Kennedy. Article in […]