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To protect biodiversity in the face of environmental change, there is a need to designate and manage areas of habitat for rare and threatened species. However, to identify the right areas usually requires detailed data on species distributions. Reliable data for rare and protected species are sparse as many species...

This Research Note compares the performances of 71 primary schoolchildren carrying out curricular tasks in outdoor and indoor classroom settings. By observing, recording and analysing how the children performed in group activities taken from the Scottish curriculum, an evaluation could be made of the relative merits of indoor and outdoor...

Woodland ecosystems are integral to our health, well-being, security and economy, but they face a number of pressures including climate change, land-use intensification, and emerging pests and diseases. This Research Note explores the links between biodiversity, measured at different levels of organisation (genes, species and communities), and the ability of...

Growing threats to biodiversity from pressure of land use, climate change, and invasive pests and diseases highlight the importance of obtaining accurate baseline measurements of current forest biodiversity, as well as improved monitoring to detect early signals of change. Developments in molecular techniques have advanced to the stage that there...

Financial returns from woodland creation have traditionally been generated from sales of timber. In recent years, the voluntary carbon market has established and grown in the UK and landowners can now generate additional revenue from the sale of carbon. The sale of carbon ‘credits’ allows landowners to increase their financial...

Silver birch is second only to oak in terms of total broadleaved woodland area in Britain. In the last two decades there has been an increase in the planting of birch woodlands both for timber production and the creation of native woodlands. The GB map of Native Seed Zones and...

Ash is a widespread species which makes a substantial contribution to many landscapes. Ash trees are affected by ash dieback, a disease caused by a fungus. It is clear from the European experience of the disease that a significant number of ash trees could be lost from woodlands in the...

This research consisted of a literature review and field study which investigated woodland management for birds within lowland broadleaved woodlands in Britain. The research considered the effect of woodland management (silvicultural intervention and control of deer browsing) on vegetation structure, and the relationships between vegetation structure and woodland birds. Based...

This Research Note is based on a review by the University of Exeter that evaluated existing knowledge on valuing the social and environmental contributions of British trees and woodlands. It starts by bringing together different (but related) economic terms and concepts in a single framework for understanding how trees and...

The softwood processing sector in Great Britain has been built around the use of a very small number of timber-producing species – predominantly Sitka spruce. The recent increase in outbreaks of host-specific tree pests and diseases has led to an interest in diversification, through planting a wider range of tree...

Stand structure is an important determinant of habitat quality for forest biodiversity and is influenced by management. In conifer plantations, the varied structure created within a stand by continuous cover forestry (CCF) systems has been expected to be better for woodland birds than the range of discrete stand structures created...

Planted forests of non-native conifers make up around 36% of Britain’s total wooded area. Increasing the area of native woodlands – including converting non-native conifer to native woodland where appropriate – is an aim of the UK Forestry Standard Guidelines on Biodiversity. It is unclear how much conversion is being...