damage to tree roots

[James]

Hello all,

 

Does anyone know of any good research into how damage to tree roots affects tree health.

 

I'm mainly interested in how well different tree species respond to direct damage(eg changes in level, root pruning, accidental damage from diggers etc.) if possible.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

take a camera, visit a few sites old new and currently being built and youll have plenty of good photographic samples of how why and where it occurs!

 

Lots of good books on the roots these days

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/roots-built-environment-Research-amenity/dp/0117536202]Tree roots in the built environment Research for amenity trees: Amazon.co.uk: John Roberts, Great BritainDepartment for Communities and Local Government, Nick Jackson: Books[/ame]

 

Trees Are Good - Tree Care Information

 

give you a good start, but do check out the arboricultural information exchange site, good site AIE

[Lee Winger]

 

I'm mainly interested in how well different tree species respond to direct damage(eg changes in level, root pruning, accidental damage from diggers etc.) if possible.

 

In a nutshell they don't.............

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

probably similar to trees responses above ground, but magnified! ie beeches sensitive, planes hardy

[James]

Thanks Hamadryad,

 

I've had a really good look in TRIBE and can't find any proper research relating to this other than a mention (at section 8.3.2.2) of Watson 1998 who found that trenches dug at 90cm from the trunk had little effect on tree health.

 

The other link shows all sorts of measures to prevent damage to trees, but has no research on the effects of damage to tree roots on tree health.

 

I may be missing something, but it seems there is a lack of scientific research into this.

[James]

Lee,

 

Care to expand?

 

I find it very difficult to believe that a healthy tree would not react and recover from minor damage to its roots.

 

If this was the case, what would be the point of remediation works?

[Giles Hill]

Lots of good books on the roots these days

 

Tree roots in the built environment Research for amenity trees: Amazon.co.uk: John Roberts, Great BritainDepartment for Communities and Local Government, Nick Jackson: Books

 

 

That is a good book and it has a lot of information along the lines of what you're asking.

 

There are a number of factors to consider - species of tree is just one of them - vigour, age and environment of the tree will all have a bearing on how well a tree can respond to soil disturbance and root damage.

[James]

Thanks Giles,

 

I've got the book, where does it say which trees are more tolerant of root damage than others?

 

Also, where is the research into the amounts of damage a tree can take?

[Arborist Sites]

Lee,

 

Care to expand?

 

I find it very difficult to believe that a healthy tree would not react and recover from minor damage to its roots.

 

If this was the case, what would be the point of remediation works?

 

James you are correct in your thinking, the roots of a tree will not only recover from minor but also significant damage.

 

For instance a tree with significant root compaction that is showing signs of distress in the crown can benefit significantly from decompaction works, but please be aware that just waving an airspade around and chucking up a bit of dirt isnt sufficent. A tree will require time to rejuvinate and quick fixes are not possible, infact if you see this happening soon after any rpa works it will most likely be the tree has been further damaged and is having its last push.

 

 

We have recently (past 2years) managed decompaction works on a row of HC's with B-Canker, another row was left as is as the funds where not available to treat them. The trees that recived radial trenching and mulching are still in good nick, but unfortunately the others have all died.

 

Tree health care/root management is not an exact science and has really not yet been explored. If you are still looking for bits on this i suggest searching whe web for US based info and contact chaps out there as they are very helpful.

 

If you want i could have a look in our archives and see if i can root ;') anything out.

[Arborist Sites]

This is a great pdf

 

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcin078.pdf/$file/fcin078.pdf

 

Dont knbow if this one still works

 

REVIEWS -- Review by the EDITOR 6 (2): 191 -- Forestry

 

Giles not forgot about the Terram inof data, will find it over christmas and email it over