http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20226831

Wonder if this is going to turn into another foot & mouth type crisis? Large scale closures of FC land and the like?

Closures won’t achieve anything sadly. And tbh DEFRA can’t really call for it, while still claiming that the disease entered the country by blowing across the north sea, which it looks like they’re going to cling to.

What’s the remedy (if there is one)? Cut & burn?

Wasn’t it imported by some nurseries? Either way it’s here now. Dalbeattie forest is right on my doorstep. I’ll be make sure I don’t get any leaves stuck to me on my way out…

I live next door to a guy that is high up in forestry management, its spread beyond Dalbeattie already, try central and lothian as far as he’s saying.

order of events
1. ash population dies back rapidly
2. will be a special report with John Craven in CountryFile in 2013
3. all Ash dissapears
4. wait till 2014, no virus anymore
5. import Ash from elsewhere to repopulate

As the BBC article states, there are at least seven sites in Scotland.

What’s the remedy (if there is one)? Cut & burn?

order of events
1. ash 90% population dies back rapidly slowly
2. will be a special report with John Craven in CountryFile in 2013
3. all most Ash dissapears
4. wait till 2014, no virus fungus anymore
5. import Ash from elsewhere to repopulate ash trees seem to spring up all over the place with little or no help from people – but the new trees will be resistant to the fungus.

natural selection innit.

ash seedlings require mature ash trees!

you missed out, remaining tree’s cut down for profit/firewood.

Ash disappears.

cheap firewood ????

What’s the remedy

don’t interfere, let nature run it’s course.

ash seedlings require mature ash trees!

and?

this disease kills off 90% of the ash trees, that still leaves (no pun intended) a lot of ash trees.

while we wait for the population to recover (aka get on with our lives), other trees like oak, beech, birch, chestnut, etc. will happily fill the holes the in the canopy.

i really don’t see the problem.

while we wait for the population to recover (aka get on with our lives), other trees like oak, beech, birch, chestnut, etc. will happily fill the holes the in the canopy.

i really don’t see the problem.

There are many species of fungal and invertebrate life that rely on ash trees. And there will be other species that rely on them, so you get a massive disruption to the food chain.

And ash trees allow more light to the floor, meaning you get a greater variation of low-level vegetation, and with it a greater variation of dependent species. In fill by other trees would darken the canopy shadow, leading to a loss of that variation.

I thought this was going to be a thread about a Welshman on holiday in SW Scotland

I don’t think they’ll totally die out, there are still many Elms around, though the fungus vector is admittedly a bit different. DED has been around for decades in its latest novo-ulmi guise and there are still Elms, but also great cost for local authorities to try and control it and remove dead Elms.

Think a lot has been learnt from DED and phytopthora and there won’t be the same slash and burn, lot of expense for potentially the same outcome, it is here, now to just control it where found to reduce spread. Despite the Carmarthen result, hopefully with the prevailing wind, this will remain in the east through control of whips.
Mature trees tolerate it better, also, ash is a pioneer species, it will keep coming back through seed and coppice until it is successful.

On the upside, I now have 60% less trees to plant this winter and there is no rush to build an extra log store.