National Forest Trial (Barton 1999)
A series of species trials were set up to investigate the establishment and early growth (up to 14 years old) of 44 native and non-native tree species on a variety of different site types in lowland Britain. On good quality lowland afforestation sites, Platanus x hispanica (London plane) established and grew more successfully than the native trees tested, and may be an example of a species that could theoretically be established in anticipation of future climate change. Experiments on a variety of community woodland sites indicated that a range of exotic species, such as X Cupressocyparis leylandii (Leyland cypress), may have the potential for establishing a woodland cover on poorly restored land where few other trees would grow. However, on less challenging, better restored sites, a wide range of native species also grew successfully. Further long-term and larger scale trials on a wider variety of sites are required to confirm the potential of the species tested for British conditions. The results from these experiments also showed that relative growth rates of different species can vary through time, highlighting the danger in making premature judgements about species suitability based solely on very early tree growth. See also: Willoughby, I., Stokes, V., Poole, J., White, J.E.J. and Hodge, S.J. (2007) The potential of 44 native and non-native species for woodland creation on a range of contrasting sites in lowland Britain. Forestry, 80 (5): 531-553. Attribution statement:
dataset
http://data.defra.gov.uk/Forestry/FC_OpenData/FR/NationalForestTrial_Barton1999.csv
protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
name:
description: Data download
57ebd6a8-08d0-46c6-9253-547c27854df6
eng
http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700
environment
OpenData
England
Science
Research
Biodiversity
tree
introduction of plant species
survival
publication
2010-01-13
-1.708
-1.7
52.765
52.757
http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/country/england
1994-05-18
1999-01-25
creation
1999-01-25
revision
2016-05-12
notPlanned
All species were native to the region except Acer saccharinum L. (silver maple) and Alnus incana (L.) Moench (grey alder) which were included for comparison. Two-year-old planting stock was used. Some stock was sourced from reputable supplies, some grown from seed at Headley Research Nursery, UK (51° 08 ′ N, 1° 51 ′ W). This site was maintained for five growing seasons. Trees were planted at 1.8 × 1.8 m spacing, and each 14.4 × 14.4 m plot contained 64 trees, with assessments carried out on all trees. There were three replicates of each of the 17 species, laid out as three randomized blocks, giving 51 plots in total. Acer campestre L. (field maple) was planted around any plot edges not abutting other treatments. Acer campestre was also used to replace any dead trees in all the species plots, to maintain conditions of even competition. Herbicides were used to keep a 1 m2 area weed-free around each tree from April to August for each of the 5 years the experiment was maintained. Height (to the nearest 0.1 cm), stem diameter (to the nearest 0.1 mm) at 5 cm above ground level and survival were assessed after planting and at the end of each growing season. The site is described as: Planting date: April 1994 Elevation (above sea level): 52m DAMS: 11 WHC: 2 Continentality: 11 Annual average rainfall (mm): 680 Annual average growing degree days (>5°C): 1734 Annual average soil moisture deficit (mm): 180 Ecological Site Classification: Moist, rich Topography: Even Underlying geological formation: Triassic Keuper Marls Soil: 831c Wigton Moor, fi ne and coarse loamy soil Previous land use and vegetation: Good quality agricultural land; arable stubble Protection: Rabbit fence, vole guards where necessary Initial site preparation: Left uncultivated
Open format | Comma Separated Values file (CSV)
NA
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2020-03-19