Pests and Protection

Woodlands and forests have their fair share of pests and diseases. Whilst familiar problems of deer, squirrel and rabbit seem to have increasing impact, new diseases have been emerging to affect trees, plantations and ecosystems. Below are a few increasingly important pests and diseases.

Deer

Increasing numbers of deer have been affecting the regeneration of woods throughout Britain. Total populations of roe, fallow, red and muntjac deer have been growing beyond natural woodland carrying capacity, with trees, shrubs and flowers being browsed as they try to establish themselves. Without protection and control, seedlings and re shooting coppice will not come on, and the whole woodland ecosystem can be severely damaged.

Protection is expensive but may include fencing, or use of brash over coppice stools, and tubes. Roe and red deer are native species, and play a part in the natural history of British woodland. However, where total numbers of all species are so damagingly high, landscape level control may be appropriate to reduce populations. Licenced deer stalkers can be engaged where sites are suitable.

Acute Oak Decline

Cursory and initial observation will find stem bleeding during the growing season. Over winter, the bleeding area dries up, leaving blackness around loosened bark. Secondary attack comes in the form of successions of beetles, entering wet nutritious sapwood, which the tree is no longer able to protect. Dieback and death can be relatively quick.

The cause is currently unknown, though environmental change, such as several prolonged droughts, in combination with other factors, may have been overwhelming oak’s normal resistance. It seems possible that this disease is bacterial. Clearly the vascular tissue under the bark is being attacked. Forest Research have recently started asking owners and managers to report the incidence and location of cases as they arise.

Red Band Needle Blight

This is particularly affecting Corsican Pine in Eastern England, though it can also affect the more resistant pine species. Red and yellow bands on the needles indicate the parasitic fungus Dothistroma septosporum, with infection spreading upwards from the lower branches. Incidence increases in warm, wet seasons, which provide good conditions for inoculation and spread of the disease.

Oak Processionary Moth

This moth has spread to Britain from Southern Europe. Larvae feed on the leaves of many oak species, and can severely defoliate the tree. There is also an implication for human health in urban areas. Hairs on the larvae have defensive toxins in them, which can cause not just irritation and allergies, but toxic shock in susceptible people.

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