Ash Dieback and what it means for our Ash trees

Seely Copse rangers have done what a lot of forest rangers are doing to protect the rest of the life systems in the forest.

This is what the Ash population looks like in Seeley Copse

What is ash dieback and how does it effect the tree? According to The Woodland Trust it is a fungus that can kill up to 95% of the UK’s ash trees. Originally from Asia the host trees Manchurian and Chinese ash are not damaged as much as the European ash. The scientific name for ash dieback is Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. The fungus stays in the ash leaf litter on the ground and produces white “fruiting bodies” which release spores over the months of July and October. The spores land on the leaves of living trees and penetrate through the leaves and then it grows in the tree so big that it cuts off the water supply to the tree therefore killing it.

If it came from Asia, how did it get here? The way it got to the UK hasn’t been discovered however, the scientist believe that the winds carried the spores from one country to the next and continued until it got to the UK. However a more likely reason is imported saplings from Asia and other parts of Europe coming in to the UK and then planted in gardens across the UK. Once it was recognised we had infected trees coming in a ban was put in place in 2012.

What did the Seeley Copse rangers do? How can we stop it? Unfortunately there is nothing to save an infected tree. The rangers of Seeley Copse have made a decision similar to many other forest rangers and removed all of the Ash trees, healthy and infected to ensure it cannot spread to other life in the forest. It is expected that the UK will lose 95% of the ash trees and it can cost as much as £15 Billion to reverse the damage done to the biodiversity of the UK. The Woodland trust said: “The predicted cost of managing the diseases is high. It includes the practical expense of clearing up dead and dying trees, to the loss of its environmental services such as air purification.”