Filtered publications and research

Exploration of the resilience of woodlands to future change by assessing how ecosystem service values and natural capital stocks of woodlands may be affected by change through the application of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA) scenarios and different management approaches, e.g. forest diversification through the application of forest management alternatives

What is tree resilience and how can we support better management for tree health in the face of climate change and pests and diseases?

FR have established how to detect young trees from space using synthetic aperture RADAR and machine learning techniques. This will support the monitoring of the planting of tens of thousands of restock sites and new woodland across Britain. In searching for a solution researchers hypothesised that even if the trees are too small to see, maybe we could ‘feel’ them using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). A different technique to utilising optical data, SAR provides ‘fuzzy’ data on the presence of objects, their size, orientation and texture. The research found that this was possible and data on whether sites had tree cover or not has been derived for extensive areas of Britain and NFI are working to operationalise the process.

Resilient forests are important if our trees are to cope better with changing environmental conditions and threats from pests and diseases. This page provides information on the publications produced as part of Forest Research's 'Delivering Resilient Forests' programme of research.

The soil conditions experienced by a growing tree are reproduced under controlled conditions. Fluid distributions with the tree are visualised using magnetic resonance imaging in order to identify stresses and determine if these are linked to drought cracking and shake.

Explores optimal management in a multi-stand / Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) setting and various ecosystem services and benefits provided by complex forests.

Neurostresspep explores the use of insect neuropeptide hormones for controlling pest insects; Forest Research is investigating whether these naturally occurring compounds can be used in forest management to reduce damage by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis).

This project is providing understanding of the current and future health threats to native oaks in the UK. It is focussing on Acute Oak Decline (AOD).

A collaboration between Forest Research, Oxford University and Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) which will use DNA-marker technology to identify at a very early age those Sitka spruce trees which will have outstanding growth rate and timber quality when felled 30-years later

We are working with Southampton University and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to develop and test novel modelling frameworks to explore the drivers of ecosystem services at different spatial scales in order to predict and map their delivery.