Filtered publications and research

How do contemporary Great British attitudes to urban trees vary between locality, individuals and communities with different socio-demographic backgrounds? Forest Research aims to investigate this through a rapid evidence review, a national questionnaire and a series of focus groups.

This research aimed to explore people’s engagement with trees and woodlands, as well as wider nature, before and during the Covid-19 restrictions of spring to autumn 2020. There was an increase in social media traffic outlining the benefits of engaging with local nature spaces and a greater awareness of how much people can value and rely on nature to support their wellbeing.

The ForLand-Restoration project is developing a forest landscape restoration decision support platform. A collaborative research project funded by Climate-KIC to explore landscape restoration opportunities with stakeholders with the aim of reaching consensus on land use decisions.

A project entitled 'molecular detection of Phytophthoras in forest, woodland and urban garden environments' aims to; i) examine Phytophthora diversity in soil at forest, woodland and public garden sites in Scotland, ii) assess the feasibility of using Illumina metabarcoding technology combined with spore trapping for longer-term monitoring of aerial Phytophthora diseases, such as P. ramorum, and iii) to provide evidence to inform biosecurity and remediation policy aimed at limiting the introduction, spread and impact of Phytophthora diseases.

Forest Research has recently examined some long-term experiments to examine provenance variation of emerging species. The table below is a summary of how the results compare with Forestry Commission Bulletin…

Phd Students asociated with the Forest Hydrology research programme.

Examining the effects of climate change on woodland and forestry.

Using tree ring measurements (dendrochronology) and stable isotope analysis, the research aims to examine the stem growth and tree health histories of Acute Oak Decline (AOD)-affected trees, to look for evidence of predisposition to AOD, the impact of AOD on recent growth, and correlation with A. biguttatus attack.

A series of nine local authority case studies in England to understand the processes, drivers and barriers behind tree strategy development and implementation.

This research aims to better understand potential large-scale threats to plant biosecurity in Scotland. In particular, we are exploring the risks posed by i) non-specialist and online horticultural sales, ii) large-scale plantings for landscaping and infrastructure projects, and iii) large-scale tree plantings for environmental benefits.