The Ancient Tree Inventory: a summary of the results of a 15 year citizen science project recording ancient, veteran and notable trees across the UK

Nolan, Victoria; Reader, Tom; Gilbert, Francis; Atkinson, Nick

doi:10.1007/s10531-020-02033-2

Cited by 39 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(75 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Compared to C. or N. Jiangsu, S. Jiangsu has the more subtropical humid monsoon climate, with higher mean annual temperature and more precipitation, which may be more suitable for the survival of heritage trees. Many studies have confirmed that ancient trees can better tolerate heat than drought [31,[48][49][50], especially in dry or hot seasons. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H) in S. Jiangsu is similar to that in N. Jiangsu, but each of them is higher than that in C. Jiangsu.…”

Section: Spatial Pattern Of Heritage Trees In Jiangsu Provincementioning

confidence: 99%

Species Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Heritage Trees in the Rapidly-Urbanizing Province of Jiangsu, China

Zhang

2021

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heritage trees have important ecological, historical, and landscape values in cities. Rapid urbanization may cause dramatic change of ecosystem functions of cities, thereby inevitably affecting the growth performance of ancient trees. However, few studies have explored their species diversity and spatial differentiation on the medium scale in the scenario of urbanization in China. Here, we took Jiangsu Province in China, with developed economy in recent decades, as a typical case. Based on the provincial forest inventory data, we addressed the abundance, species richness, tree density, and species diversity of ancient trees in 13 cities, and their tree habitat, growth status, and tree age, as well. Then, we compared the spatial differentiation of tree attributes by 13 districts and nine tree habitats. We also applied detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA) to determine the leading factor influencing their distribution pattern. The 7678 heritage trees in Jiangsu belonged to 215 species. More than half of the trees were native with domination by Ginkgo biloba. Villages and farmlands accommodated the most heritage trees while parks and gardens harbored the most species. This indicates that sparsely-populated rural community and scenic areas with open space are conducive to accommodating more urban heritage trees. The tier 3 heritage trees (100–299 years) accounted for about 80% of the total. Overall, most ancient trees in Jiangsu grew well. The species diversity index (H) of 13 cities was between 1.98 and 3.39. The H value among the 13 cities was largely affected by elevation range shift, while the tree density by GDP per capita. DCA showed that the ratio of unique species was >40%, and that dominant species presented little habitat preference. Therefore, species diversity among different cities are affected by climate and topography, as well as human factors. With the accelerating urbanization process, tree habitat, cultural tradition, and urban history should be taken into consideration for management and conservation of heritage trees in the future.

show abstract

Section: Spatial Pattern Of Heritage Trees In Jiangsu Provincementioning

confidence: 99%

Species Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Heritage Trees in the Rapidly-Urbanizing Province of Jiangsu, China

Zhang

2021

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a final step, the reliability and validity of each record in the ATI have previously been assessed by the Woodland Trust using a star rating system between one (least reliable) and five (most reliable; Table S1; Nolan et al, 2020). Consequently, we excluded all unverified (one or two star) records, and 185 records with incorrect or missing grid references.…”

Section: Study Area and Ancient Tree Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical maps confirm the accuracy of zero‐inflated model predictions of ancient tree abundance in English wood‐pastures

Nolan

Reader

Gilbert

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. Ancient trees have important ecological, historical and social connections, and are a key source of dead and decaying wood, a globally declining resource. Woodpastures, which combine livestock grazing, open spaces and scattered trees, are significant reservoirs of ancient trees, yet information about their true abundance within wood-pastures is limited. England has extensive databases of both ancient trees and wood-pasture habitat, providing a unique opportunity for the first largescale, national case study to address this knowledge gap.2. We investigated the relationship between the abundance of ancient trees in a large sample of English wood-pastures (5,571) and various unique environmental, historical and anthropogenic predictors, to identify wood-pastures with high numbers of undiscovered ancient trees. A major challenge in many modelling studies is obtaining independent data for model verification: here we introduce a novel model verification step using series of historic maps with detailed records of trees to validate our model predictions. This desk-based method enables rapid verification of model predictions using completely independent data across a large geographical area, without the need for, or limitations associated with, extensive field surveys.3. Historic map verification estimates correlated well with model predictions of tree abundance. Model predictions suggest there are ~101,400 undiscovered ancient trees in all wood-pastures in England, around 10 times the total current number of ancient tree records. Important predictors of ancient tree abundance included wood-pasture area, distance to several features including cities, commons, historic Royal forests and Tudor deer parks, and different types of soil and land classes.4. Synthesis and applications. Historical maps and statistical models can be used in combination to produce accurate predictions of ancient tree abundance in woodpastures, and inform future targeted surveys of wood-pasture habitat, with a focus on those deemed to have undiscovered ancient trees. This study provides support for improvements to conservation policy and protection measures for ancient trees and wood-pastures.

show abstract

“…Large old trees, depending on ecological context and geographical region, also referred to as giant, monumental, ancient, notable, oversized, or veteran trees, are keystone structures for the functioning and maintenance of the biological diversity of forests, woods, woodlands, and other landscapes, even those sparsely covered by trees, as well as urbanized [1][2][3][4][5]. However, their importance goes far beyond their ecological role.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species Identity of Large Trees Affects the Composition and the Spatial Structure of Adjacent Trees

Cholewińska

Keczyński

Kusińska

et al. 2021

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Large trees are keystone structures for the functioning and maintenance of the biological diversity of wooded landscapes. Thus, we need a better understanding of large-tree–other-tree interactions and their effects on the diversity and spatial structure of the surrounding trees. We studied these interactions in the core of the Białowieża Primeval Forest—Europe’s best-preserved temperate forest ecosystem, characterized by high abundance of ancient trees. We measured diameter and bark thickness of the monumental trees of Acer platanoides L., Carpinus betulus L., Picea abies (L.) H. Karst, Quercus robur L., and Tilia cordata Mill., as well as the diameter and distance to the monumental tree of five nearest neighbor trees. The effects of the monumental tree on arrangements of the surrounding trees were studied with the help of linear models. We revealed that the species identity of a large tree had, in the case of C. betulus and T. cordata, a significant impact on the diversity of adjacent tree groupings, their distance to the central tree, and frequency of the neighboring trees. The distance between the neighbor and the large trees increased with the increasing diameter of the central tree. Our findings reinforce the call for the protection of large old trees, regardless of their species and where they grow from the geographical or ecosystem point of view.

show abstract

The Ancient Tree Inventory: a summary of the results of a 15 year citizen science project recording ancient, veteran and notable trees across the UK

Cited by 39 publications

References 70 publications

Species Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Heritage Trees in the Rapidly-Urbanizing Province of Jiangsu, China

Species Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Heritage Trees in the Rapidly-Urbanizing Province of Jiangsu, China

Historical maps confirm the accuracy of zero‐inflated model predictions of ancient tree abundance in English wood‐pastures

Species Identity of Large Trees Affects the Composition and the Spatial Structure of Adjacent Trees

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About