Ancient Woodland

[arbmark]

Management plans can be put together at any time of year. If you speak to your local Biodiversity Records Center thery should help you with records of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and plants found in the area you are looking at - they normally work on a 2km radius of a set grid reference and will probably charge you for the info. This may or may not include your wood specifically, it depends on wether or not it's been surveyed and recorded before. It's a good place to start and will provide you with plenty of back ground knowledge on what to look for and what potential habitat you have.

 

From this you will be able to complete a phase 1 walkover survey so you have the underpinning information to help write or formulate a sound management plan, and it will take some of the guess work away. Or you could wait a few months and record it all yourself, but that can be quite a daunting task!

 

Its worth looking at the BAP species in your area also, and seeing if you can tailor any of your management for specific species, this will also get extra 'points' if your thinking of applying for FC grant aid. And also be an all round good thing to do. Depending on where abouts in the Midlands you are your woods could play host to some of the rarer Hair Streak Butterflys, such as the Black which is in a fairly perilous state at the moment.

 

Try to pick up on any signs of what has been done there before, and integrate this into any aims you may have for the wood now. If it has been undermanaged for the last 45 years or so, there may be historical records or even local people who could help fill in the blanks.

 

A sound management plan is well worth taking the time to complete, will help attract funding if you are looking at any and give you a good methodical timetable for getting the wood back to where it needs to be.

 

I've got a few template and previous management plans for ASNW, if you want them or any help with formulating one then drop me a pm, they could help you on your way a bit or give you some ideas.

 

It sounds like the Syc will be a good firewood source and some of the Oak standards could be looked at for conversion, or some trees haloed out to allow better growth if still semi mature. As others have said creation of habitat is important, and with 45 acres to go at it sounds like an interesting project.

 

Oak-Elm woods arn't that thick on the ground, so most of all - enjoy!

 

was going to give my pennies worth but this chap clearly knows his stuff!!

 

holly supports little life and shades the woodland floor when allowed too much ground.....sycamore supports large aphid populations so adds its own value to the biodiversity & food sources...vandalising sycamore for niche habitat creation is always fun:001_cool:

 

.....some management creating glades/ improving age structure are just speeding up natural processes and surely, if it is designated ancient woodland then there will be a fair bit of these already. I think you need to watch for a year minimum, surveying and then plan and act. I would hope the final plan is not too interventionist!!!

 

good luck and enjoyments

[Fungus]

1. There's lots of fungus around but what creatures rely on it ?

2. We're thinking of clearing out some of the holly, would this be bad for biodiversity? I don't think the birds would like it too much.

 

1. Quite a lot, that don't rely on plants and the trees themselves. There for instance are a lot of insects, that depend on the fruitbodies of bracket fungi or on soil mycelia for their food and reproduction.

2. If you're looking for a partial substitute for the holly, that apart from its fruits doesn't contribute much to the total forest ecosystem, I would suggest the introduction of hazel, the only smaller woodland ectomycorrhizal tree species, that has a well developed tree species specific ecosystem of its own.

[Backpain]

Wow, I could spray them all over the place. We have an old chestnut with a oyster mushrooms growing in a huge trunk cavity, quite scary and smelly when its in bloom.

[Backpain]

Wow, I could spray them all over the place. We have an old chestnut with a oyster mushrooms growing in a huge trunk cavity, quite scary and smelly when its in bloom.

[Backpain]

was going to give my pennies worth but this chap clearly knows his stuff!!

 

holly supports little life and shades the woodland floor when allowed too much ground.....sycamore supports large aphid populations so adds its own value to the biodiversity & food sources...vandalising sycamore for niche habitat creation is always fun:001_cool:

 

.....some management creating glades/ improving age structure are just speeding up natural processes and surely, if it is designated ancient woodland then there will be a fair bit of these already. I think you need to watch for a year minimum, surveying and then plan and act. I would hope the final plan is not too interventionist!!!

 

good luck and enjoyments

Yes, its chapter and verse with this fella, thanks by the way.

I would have thought holly is important cover for small birds. Have seen the odd Sparrow Hawk in there but there seems to be too much of it.

 

I'm getting the impression that its ok to manage an ancient woodland rather than just leave it. Its classified as ancient but there's lots of birch and syc doing their best to dominate or maybe thats as result of earlier work.

 

I'm definately going to speak to some of the older locals to see what they know.

[Charlieh]

Dont be afraid to get stuck into the holly on a couple of the sites im advising on we are clearing acres of the stuff as its stoping regen, smothering the ground flora and generally taking over the woodland, and in terms of biodiversity its not good having a monoculture of holly for large areas.

 

 

 

its not so much fun actually felling and clearing the stuff though

[Christopher Schroeter]

Ive got a woodland management plan to produce for a college assignment. One of the books on the reading list is "Managing Native Broadleaved Woodland" by the Forestry Commision. Its a good book that might be pretty useful for you to have a look at.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

If you're aiming at improving and enhancing biodiversity, you're focus should be on :

- preservation of the ectomycorrhizal oaks with the most extensive tree species specific ecosystem of all indigenous European broadleaved tree species,

- on all of the older elms, that have a far more limited, though specialized tree species specific ecosystem,

- and on the long run on elimination of the sycamores, that are associated with generalistic endomycorrhizal microfungi and have almost no tree species specific ecosystem at all.

 

Gerrit, the sycamore may not offer T.S.S.E in the true sense of the term, but in terms of biological activity and diversity that is indirectly affected they do have a role to play in a diverse eco system.

 

Firstly the aphids feed many young chicks and have themselves a diverse range of predators of the wasp kind, and ladybird larvea. Worms are to be found in great abundence within the soils beneath sycamores, also feeding a diverse range of other organisms and enhancing soil fertility.

 

I was once a lother of the sycamore bar the open grown specimens, and agree that they do have a rather dominating strategy in a woodland.

 

but in small numbers I would not want to eradicate them entirely.

[Fungus]

the sycamore may not offer T.S.S.E in the true sense of the term, but in terms of biological activity and diversity that is indirectly affected they do have a role to play in a diverse eco system.

Firstly the aphids feed many young chicks and have themselves a diverse range of predators of the wasp kind, and ladybird larvea. Worms are to be found in great abundence within the soils beneath sycamores, also feeding a diverse range of other organisms and enhancing soil fertility.

I was once a lother of the sycamore bar the open grown specimens, and agree that they do have a rather dominating strategy in a woodland, but in small numbers I would not want to eradicate them entirely.

 

Tony,

Only a very small number of the organisms you mention are tree species specific and totally depend on the presence of Acer for food and reproduction. And maintaining them in small numbers could be an option, although it would need a lot of managing to keep them that way and from dominating the woodland in ten to twenty years time. I've seen valuable old inner dune woodlands with oak and elm been "destroyed" by sycamore within 25 years, even though the forest management had double ringed them twice every 10 years.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Tony,

Only a very small number of the organisms you mention are tree species specific and totally depend on the presence of Acer for food and reproduction. And maintaining them in small numbers could be an option, although it would need a lot of managing to keep them that way and from dominating the woodland in ten to twenty years time. I've seen valuable old inner dune woodlands with oak and elm been "destroyed" by sycamore within 25 years, even though the forest management had double ringed them twice every 10 years.

 

agreed, I dont like them in general, they have that capacity of that there is no doubt:001_smile: