Summary

LAP2 commenced in 2019 as an extension of the earlier Living Ash Project phase I.

The objectives of LAP2 are to:

  • Establish a National Archive of Tolerant Ash based on selections made in the Living Ash Project phase I and from Forest Research’s mass screening trials (Future Trees Trust)
  • Intensively screen selected trees using chemical and controlled inoculation approaches (FERA, Forest Research).
  • Maintain and monitor ash dieback mass screening trials and progeny trials to enable a final assessment and a second round of selections of tolerant trees in 2024 (Forest Research).
  • Develop vegetative propagation techniques (Kew)

LAP2 is funded by DEFRA and runs from 2019-2024.

Our Involvement

Forest Research leads two work packages in the Living Ash Project phase II.

In work package 1, we will maintain and monitor the mass screening trials and progeny trials established under earlier projects. Following a reassessment of all sites in 2024, we will select outstanding trees and replicate these by grafting for inclusion within the National Archive of Tolerant Ash.

In work package 4 we will perform intensive controlled inoculation trials to screen selected trees to verify levels of tolerance, using two methods:

  1. Ascospores will be harvested from fruiting bodies and inoculated on to ash leaves
  2. Small cubes of sterile ash wood will be inoculated with the fungus and taped to the main stem of the ash tree following the creation of a small wound. The infected trees will be monitored for several months and any resulting infections recorded.