Barry Gardiner, BSc, Phd, FRMetS

 

Programme leader and Deputy Head of Division, Forest Management Division

Email:barry.gardiner@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Tel: +44 (0)131 445 2176
Tel direct: +44 (0)131 445 6950
Fax: +44 (0)131 445 5124

Address:
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY
UK

Barry graduated from Durham University in 1976 with a BSc (Hons) in Physics. He then worked for 2˝ years with the British Antarctic Survey as a meteorologist/physicist making synoptic and upper air meteorological measurements along with measurements of ozone and solar radiation. Barry then completed a PhD at the University of Manchester investigating the development of clouds and fogs in Britain, Germany and the United States. Following his PhD he accepted a position at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada to investigate thunderstorm electrification. After 2 years he became Director of the Precipitation Physics and Chemistry Laboratory with responsibility for a number of large scale programmes investigating winter storm systems in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

In 1987 joined the Forestry Commission with particular responsibility for investigating wind damage to trees and airflow in complex terrain. Full scale experiments have been carried out to measure turbulence and wind loading in forest canopies and complementary experiments have been conducted in a wind tunnel using 1:75 scale model trees. At a larger scale a number of field campaigns have been conducted to determine the effect of topography on wind speeds in complex terrain. Other work investigated the microclimatology of agroforests and shelterbelts, the development of turbulence over forest edges and the adaptive growth of trees in response to the wind. These data have been used to develop and test computer models of tree mechanical behaviour and airflow over forests. These models form the basis for an integrated computer based model (ForestGALES), which is able to predict the risk of wind damage for forests in complex terrain.

Since 1997 Barry has been involved in the measurement and prediction of the quality of timber in coniferous trees growing in Britain, in particular Sitka spruce and Scots pine. His particular interests are the development of models for predicting wood properties and linking these models to growth and sawn timber performance models..

Current role

Timber Properties Programme Leader and Deputy Head of Division, Forest Management Division

Has responsibility for the programme on the timber properties of British grown conifers. A primary interest is the development of Sitka spruce and Scots pine timber properties models based on the growth predictions of models developed by the Biometrics Division. Such models are designed to predict the wood properties of importance for the wood processing industries (e.g. wood density, knot size and status, grain angle, microfibril angle, stiffness, fibre length, fibre width, etc.). Other work involves investigating the influence of exposure on wood properties, the impact of conversion to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) on timber quality and supply and developing indicative measures to aid the management of Scots pine forests. This work is carried out in collaboration with colleagues at BRE, SIRT (Napier University and Glasgow University), INRA (France) and STFI-Pakforsk (Sweden).

Also continues to be actively involved in the development of the wind damage risk model ForestGALES (www.forestresearch.gov.uk/forestgales). In particular he is working closely with other colleagues to extend the model to cover alternative silvicultural systems and to adapt the system for use in other parts of the world (Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, USA and France).

Current programmes

Timber quality
Programme leader
Modelling timber properties of conifers.

Tree stability and climate
Project leader
Modelling wind damage risk.

Continuous cover silviculture
Project leader
Tree stability in Continuous Cover Forestry systems.

COMPRESSION WOOD (EU project)
Co-ordinator.

Cell wall macromolecules and reaction wood (CEMARE) (EU project)
Work package leader.

EFORWOOD (EU project)
Deputy project leader.

Affiliations and achievements

• Fellow of the Royal Meterorological Society
• Member of the American Meteorological Society
• Member of the American Geophysical Union
• Member of Organising and Scientific Committees for “The Forestry Woodchain Conference”, Edinburgh, 2004 (www.forestry.gov.uk/forestrywoodchain)
• Visiting Professor in the Institute for Atmospheric Sciences, Leeds University
• Associate Professor, Laval Université, Quebec, Canada
• Honorary Fellow, College of Science and Engineering, University of Edinburgh
• Honorary Fellow, Dept. of Chemistry, Glasgow University

Main recent publications

Suárez, J., García, J., Gardiner, B., and Patenaude, G. (2007). The estimation of wind risk in forests stands using airborne Laser scanning, Journal of Forest Planning, In Press.

Quine, C. P. and Gardiner, B. A. (2007). Understanding how the interaction of wind and trees results in windthrow, stem breakage and canopy gap formation. In Johnson, E. (Ed) Plant disturbance ecology: the process and the response. Academic Press.

Wellpott, A. and Gardiner, B. (2006). Wind loading on trees in a mature Sitka spruce forest 5th Plant Biomechanics Conference – Stockholm, August 28 – September 1 2006.

Nicoll, B. C. and Gardiner, B. A. (2006). The effects of increased wind action on the radial growth of tree stems and structural roots. 5th Plant Biomechanics Conference – Stockholm, August 28 – September 1 2006.

De Ioanni, M. and Gardiner, B. (2006). Modelling the Mechanics of Oak Trees Growing on Slopes. 5th Plant Biomechanics Conference – Stockholm, August 28 – September 1 2006.

Brüchert, F. and Gardiner, B. (2006). The effect of wind exposure on the tree aerial architecture and biomechanics of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis Bong.). American Journal of Botany. 93, 1512-1521.

Nicoll, B. C., Gardiner, B. A., Rayner, B. and Peace, A. J. (2006). Anchorage of coniferous trees in relation to species, soil type and rooting depth. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 36, 1871-1883.

Achim, A., Gardiner, B., Leban, J-M and Daquitaine, R. (2006). Predicting the branching properties of Sitka spruce grown in Great Britain. New Zealand Journal of Forest Science. 36(2/3): 246–264.

Gardiner, B. A., Palmer, H. and Hislop, M. (2006). The Principles of using Woods for Shelter. Information Note 150, Forestry Commission, Edinburgh.

Moore, J. R., Gardiner, B.A., Blackburn, G. R. A., Brickman, A., and Maguire, D. A. (2005). An inexpensive instrument to measure the dynamic response of standing trees to wind loading. Ag. and Forest Met.. 132 (2005) 78–83.

Achim, A., Ruel, J-C., and Gardiner, B. A. (2005). Evaluating the effect of precommercial thinning on the resistance of balsam fir to windthrow. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 35(8): 1844-1853.

Nicoll, B. C., Achim, A., Mochan, S., and Gardiner, B. A. (2005). Does steep terrain influence tree stability? A field investigation. Can. J. For. Res. 35(10): 2360-2367.

Cucchi, V., Meredieu, C., Stokes, A., de Coligny, F., Suárez, J., and Gardiner, B. (2005). Modelling the windthrow risk for simulated forest stands of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.). Forest Ecology and Management. 213, 184-196.

Achim, A., Ruel, J-C., Gardiner, B. A., Laflamme, G. and Meunier , S. (2005). Modelling the vulnerability of balsam fir and white spruce to windthrow on different soils. Forest Ecology and Management. 204, 35-50.

Gardiner, B. A., Achim, A., Marshall, B. J., Belcher, R. E. and Wood, C. J. (2005). The stability of different silvicultural systems: a wind tunnel investigation. Forestry. 78: 471-484.

Gartner, B. L., Moore, J. R. and Gardiner, B. A. (2004). Gas in stems: abundance and potential consequences for tree biomechanics. Tree Physiology, 24, 1239–1250.

Gardiner, B. (2004). Windbreaks and Shelterbelts. In Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences. Burley, J., Evans, J. and Youngquist, J. A. (eds.). Elsevier, Oxford.

Morse, A. P., Y. Brunet, Y., Devalance, M., Gamboa-Marrufo, M., Irvine, M. R., Marshall, B. J., Paw U, K. T., Shaw, R. H., Wood, C., Yang, B. and Gardiner, B. A.. (2004). The venfor project: the role of forest edges in the patterns of turbulence development – findings from a field experiment, wind tunnel experiment and a large eddy simulation model experiment.  International Conference ‘Wind Effects on Trees’, September 16-18, 2003, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Gardiner, B. A., Suárez, J., Quine, C. P. (2004). Development of a GIS based wind risk system for British forestry. International Conference ‘Wind Effects on Trees’, September 16-18, 2003, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Hale, S. E., Levy, P. E. and Gardiner, B. A. (2004). Trade-offs between seedling growth, thinning and stability in Sitka spruce stands and the implications for alternative silvicultural systems: a modelling analysis. Forest Ecology and Management. 187, 105-115.

Palmer, H., Gardiner, B. Hislop, M. and Buttery, N. (2003) trees for shelter – basic principles revisted. New Zealand Tree Grower, 24, 38-40.

Marshall, B. J., Gardiner, B. A., Belcher, R. E. and Wood, C. J. (2002). Conditional sampling of forest canopy gusts. Boundary Layer Meteorology, 102, 225-251.

Morse, A. P., Gardiner, B. A. and Marshall, B. J. (2002). Mechanisms controlling turbulence development across a forest edge. Boundary Layer Meteorology, 103, 227-251.

Vosper, S. B., Mobbs, S. D. and Gardiner, B. A. (2002). Measurements of the near-surface flow over a hill. Q. J. R. Meteor. Soc., 128, 2257-2280.

Quine, C. P. and Gardiner, B. A. (2002). Climate Change Impacts: Storms. In Climate Change: Impacts on UK Forests. M. Broadmeadow (ed), Bulletin 125, Forestry Commission, Edinburgh, pp 198.

Moore, J. and Gardiner, B.  (2001). Relative windfirmness of New Zealand-grown Pinus radiata and Douglas-fir: A preliminary investigation. New Zealand Journal of Forest Science, 31 (2), 208-223.

Gardiner, B. A. and Peltola, H. and Kellomaki, S. (2000). Comparison of two models for predicting the critical wind speeds required to damage coniferous trees. Ecological Modelling. 129 (1), 1-23.

Gardiner, B. A. and Quine, C. P. (2000). Management of forests to reduce the risk of abiotic damage – a review with particular reference to the effects of strong winds. Forest Ecology and Management, 135 (1-3), 261-277.

Gardiner, B. A. and Quine, C. P. (2000). The mechanical adaptation of trees to environmental influences. In Plant Biomechanics 2000. H-C. Spatz and T. Speck (eds.), Thieme Verlag, Stuggart.

Suárez-Minguez, J. C., Gardiner, B. A. and Quine, C. P. (1999). A comparison of methods for predicting wind speeds in complex forested terrain. Meteorological Applications, 6, 1-14.

Kerzenmacher, T. and Gardiner, B. A. (1998). A mathematical model to describe the dynamic response of a spruce tree to the wind.  Trees: their structure and function, 12, 385-394.

Irvine, M. R., Gardiner, B. A. and Morse, A. P.  (1998). Energy partitioning influenced by tree spacing. Agroforestry Systems, 39, 211-224.
Gardiner, B. A., Stacey, G. R., Belcher, R. E. and Wood, C. J.  (1997). Field and wind-tunnel assessments of the implications of respacing on tree stability. Forestry, 70(3), 233-252.

Irvine, M. R., Gardiner, B. A. and Hill, M. K. (1997). The evolution of turbulence across a forest edge.  Boundary Layer Meteorol.,.84, 467-496.