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The magic (and management) of woodlands

Autumn colours by Paul Lane

Lydia finds delights in woodlands and gets a taste of how to manage them...

As I near the fourth month into my traineeship and have visited a variety of nature reserves, my favourites so far have been the woodlands – Chaddesley and the woodland at The Knapp and Papermill are currently top of the list but all of the woodlands I’ve been to  have offered me something different.

I recently visited Trench Wood and watched a fox wander up the path in front of me, which was lovely to see, whilst Tiddesley gave me my first taste of coppicing – the list could go on. The vastness of woodlands is somewhat overwhelming and you can completely forget where you are and be totally immersed in nature within them – just one of the reasons I love them.

It seems fitting to talk about woodlands during National Tree Week which this year runs from 27th November to 5th December. I’m sure we are all aware of just how important trees are not only for ourselves but for wildlife too and I hadn’t realised just how much management is needed to ensure a woodland is able to work at its best for both flora and fauna.

My tree knowledge was quite limited when I started the traineeship - I knew very few but over the past few months with help from Iain, my supervisor, I’m slowly beginning to be able to recognise different species (a surprise tree quiz while out on a task seems to be doing the trick, thanks Iain).

Wilting ash leaves on a young sapling by Wendy Carter

Ash dieback in a young tree by Wendy Carter

I recently went out with Dom, one of our reserves officers, to learn how to do a tree survey and my increased knowledge of identifying some of the species definitely helped with this. The survey aimed to look for any tree that might need removing or making safe and one overriding factor of a tree being potentially hazardous was the appearance of ash dieback disease. Ash dieback is now found all across the UK and can affect any age of ash tree. The spores of this airborne fungal disease disperse onto ash leaves, seep into the leaf and continue to affect the whole tree. The fungus kills the tree by blocking water from passing through. At the Trust, we only remove those that are affected and may pose a risk of falling onto pathways. Although it's predicted that around 80% of ash in the UK will be lost to the disease there is a glimmer of hope as some ash trees appear to be unaffected and resilient against the disease - fingers crossed that as these trees reproduce they will pass on their resistance.

I've also come to realise the need for forestry work within woodlands - if left without any management the canopies can become too dense, shading out any light from reaching the ground flora. Sunlight not only  encourages a high diversity of vegetation but animals will also benefit from the variety of plants that can grow, providing them with sources of food. Whilst some of this can be completed during volunteer tasks where we're able to deal with smaller trees, some areas need to be thinned (taking selected trees within an area) where trees are much larger and we need contractors with the right equipment to come in and help.

A log pile and stem left alongside stump in a woodland by Dominique Cragg

Log pile and stem by Dominique Cragg

The contractors will completely fell some trees but others can be cut down to a short height to be left as standing deadwood – spikes can be left at the top of their trunks to encourage rainfall inside and help the speed up the decaying process and many species of wildlife, such as woodpeckers and many beetles, benefit from deadwood. Log piles are also left as deadwood and the nutrients released during decay can be reused by remaining trees as well as acting as a refuge for wildlife. I have to say that I've always wondered why some logs are taken away and not all are left like this but I’ve learnt that too many habitat piles can have negative effects too – they can result in the loss of open space for ground flora to thrive, for example. One thing that woodland management has taught me is that it’s all about balance!

On a recent visit to Chaddesley Woods with Andy, another of our reserves officers, forestry work was also underway there for another reason – to remove non-native conifers. Where these are removed the areas will be opened up for native species to take hold naturally or will be planted with native species like oak or hazel, which are essential for our wildlife. Research has shown that our two native oak species can provide for a huge 2300 species!

I’m coming to realise that there is so much more to woodland management than I first thought! I’ve learnt a lot about the different management techniques whilst out on volunteer tasks and visiting different sites with reserves officers. I’m looking forward to be able to keep on learning about one of my favourite habitats over the rest of my traineeship.  

 

Lydia Rackham is following her dream of working in wildlife conservation after a change of career and a return to education. 

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