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This project expanded Forest Research’s intensive forest monitoring network to seven sites, enabling assessment of environmental change impacts on riparian and ancient woodland. This data, analysed within the context of UK International Co-operative Programme (ICP) Forest network, will deepen understanding of forest ecosystems and strengthen the scientific basis for air‑pollution...

The NCEA Trees Outside Woodland (TOW) survey maps and assesses individual trees, small groups, and hedgerows across England. These non‑woodland trees support biodiversity, improve habitat links, store carbon, and help cool urban areas. This survey strengthens the monitoring and management of these important features.

The NCEA Air Quality project assesses data availability, suitability, and gaps to improve quantification of forests’ natural capital in air‑pollution mitigation and the impacts of pollutants on forest ecosystems. It supports modelling using long‑term monitoring and inventory datasets, and expands ongoing air‑pollution monitoring across Forest Research’s intensive ICP Forests Level...

A national assessment of forest soil condition integrating chemical, physical and biological indicators to inform soil health, ecosystem services, sustainable forest management and environmental policy.

This project aimed to overcome common challenges in the study of soil biodiversity in terms of taxonomy and sampling replication, with the development of a machine learning-based ‘MESOSCAN’ dataset and tool, for soil biodiversity identification (mesofauna).

Overview This paper reports on the physical and mechanical properties of small wood samples of eight species with potential for larger-scale planting in Great Britain. Six of these have been prioritised for future commercial production in Scotland and five have been prioritised in England. Measurements include wood density, Modulus of...

Bats are a powerful indicator of woodland ecosystem health. The National Woodland Bat Survey uses acoustic monitoring to assess bat presence, distribution and relative abundance across England’s woodlands.

This study assessed the performance of the ForestGALES model in predicting wind damage within the Rangipo genetic accelerator trial and examined the influence of stocking and cultivation on wind vulnerability.

A farm’s new riparian woodland shows how targeted tree planting can deliver major water and climate benefits.

Overview In this paper the importance of matching restoration methods and FRM to site and climate conditions is outlined, the risks of using unsuitable material are highlighted, and findings from the B4EST project are summarised, including advances in climate‑informed FRM selection, genomic tools and seed‑orchard deployment to support resilient planting...

Summary In this paper the effects of climate and socio‑economic change on Scotland’s national forests are explored using 100‑year scenario modelling, comparing a baseline management approach with scenarios that prioritise either biodiversity, carbon or timber. Results show that while the baseline delivers balanced, modest gains across most ecosystem services, forcing...