Ancient Woods, Trees and Forests

Description

From antiquity until today, trees and woods have inspired artists, writers and scientists; they have shaped cultures and reverberated through belief systems. Yet worldwide forest cover has declined dramatically over the last 1,000 years. Now, primeval forests are only to be found at a few sites unreachable by humans, and even then they are affected by climate change, atmospheric pollution and species extinctions. 



Nonetheless, ancient woods, trees and forests are at the core of many global landscapes. Understanding the vital resources that they provide requires genuinely multidisciplinary research. With contributions from major authorities in the field such as Oliver Rackham, Frans Vera, Elisabeth Johann, George Peterken and Melvyn Jones among others, this timely volume reflects on the importance of our oldest trees from a range of perspectives and varied geographical locations.

Individual chapters consider eco-cultural heritage, the archaeology of trees, landscape history, forest rights, tree management, saproxylic insects, the importance of deadwood, practical conservation and monitoring, biodiversity, wood-pasture and more. Fresh insights are provided from across Europe as far as Turkey. Given the urgent need to understand, conserve and restore ancient woodlands and trees, this book will do much raise awareness, foster enthusiasm and inspire wonder.

1. Ancient woodland in concept and practice 

George Peterken



2. The cultural heritage of woods and forests 

Ian D. Rotherham



3. Archaeology of trees, woodland and wood-pasture 

Oliver Rackham



4. Ancient rights in ancient forests 

Graham Bathe



5. The importance of an open-grown tree: from seed to ancient 

Ted Green



6. Ancient and other trees of special interest: indicators of old-growth

biodiversity and heritage 

Jill Butler



7. Worked trees and ecological indicators in wooded landscapes 

Ian D. Rotherham



8. Ancient forests in Germany: distribution, importance for maintaining

biodiversity, protection and threats 

Monika Wulf



9. Tree abundance, density and age structure: the key factors that determine

species richness in saproxylic invertebrates 

Keith N.A. Alexander



10. Old growth and deadwood as key factors for nature conservation in managed

forests 

Harald Schaich, Thomas A.M. Kaphegyi, Rudolf Lühl, Nicole Schmalfuß, Mattias Rupp,

Thomas Waldenspuhl and Werner Konold



11. The diversity of ancient woodlands in Austria: historical developments and

contemporary social importance 

Elisabeth Johann



12. Wood-pasture: for food, wood and biodiversity

Frans Vera



13. The ancient woodland concept as a practical conservation tool: the Turkish

experience 

Simay Kırca, Alper H. Çolak and Ian D. Rotherham



14. Using pollen data and models to assess landscape structure and the role of

grazers in pre-agricultural Denmark 

Anne Brigitte Nielsen



15. Tanneries and treescapes: the influence of the tanning industry on woodland

management 

Christine Handley and Ian D. Rotherham



16. A hidden treasure in Turkey: old oaks of unique value 

Nicklas Jansson, Ogün Ç. Türkay and Mustafa Avcı



17. Antiquity of ancient woodlands and cultures: the example of Sandras

Mountain, Turkey 

Alper H. Çolak, Simay Kırca and Ian D. Rotherham



18. Woods and trees in England’s Anglo-Saxon countryside 

Della Hooke



19. Ancient and modern: the conservation of ancient woods and trees in a

changing world

Keith Kirby



20. Walls, woodbanks and woodwards: the protection of coppice woods from

trespassers, thieves and grazing animals 

Melvyn Jones



21. The natural character of ancient woodland 

Tom Williamson



22. European woodland history and management: some concluding thoughts 

Ian D. Rotherham, Alper Çolak and Simay Kırca

Sujets

• Sciences de la nature
• Botanique
• Science
• 454 Life Sciences
• Trees
• Botany
• Applied ecology
• Biology
• Plant ecology
• Sciences et techniques
• Plants
• Forests
• Life Sciences

Informations

• Publié par: Pelagic Publishing
• Date de parution: 14 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781784272661
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 23 Mo

Extrait

Ancient Woods, Trees and Forests
Ancient Woods, Trees and Forests
Ecology, History and Management
Edited by
Alper H. Çolak, Simay Kırca and Ian D. Rotherham
PELAGIC PUBLISHING
First published in 2023 by
Pelagic Publishing
20–22 Wenlock Road
London N1 7GU
UK
www.pelagicpublishing.com
Copyright © 2023 Alper H. Çolak, Simay Kırca, Ian D. Rotherham and the authors of individual chapters.
The right of the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Apart from short excerpts for use in research or for reviews, no part of this document may be printed or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, now known or hereafter invented or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78427-264-7 Hbk
ISBN 978-1-78427-266-1 ePub
ISBN 978-1-78427-265-4 PDF
https://doi.org/10.53061/KZAD4079
Cover image: Ancient oak forest in Portugal. © Chodimeafotime/Shutterstock.com
Frontispiece: Common Yew Taxus baccata more than 2,000 years old at Gümeli Natural Monument, Alaplı/Zonguldak,Turkey. (Necmi Aksoy)
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain permission to reproduce the material included in this book. Please get in touch with any enquiries or information relating to an image or the rights holder.
This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Oliver Rackham OBE FBA

Oliver Rackham in an ancient and burnt Cypress stool, Mavrodassos, Anopoli Sphakia, July 2010. (Photograph: Agnieszka Helman-Wazny)
Oliver was one of the originators of the concept of ‘ancient woodland’, a prodigious and brilliant writer with a wide-ranging intellect. His death cut short a long and productive career and we are saddened by the loss of a giant on the world stage, with his enthusiasm for ancient woodlands. He was one of the most original thinkers and leading scientists in his field. Oliver is greatly missed by all those who care for trees, woods, history and the landscape, and the environment more widely. Not only did he inform and influence our professions, but he has been a great advocate too. We salute Oliver and all that he has done.

We will miss him very much in our exchange of thoughts in order to disentangle the riddles of nature and trees in particular. Frans Vera
Oliver Rackham is one of the very few academics who has changed the way that everybody thinks; a rare talent indeed. Oliver Gilbert

The book is also dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Melvyn Jones, who passed away in early 2021. He too was a pioneer of woodland history and of archival studies.

An ancient Stinking Juniper Juniperus foetidissima (age: 1,113 years, height: 22 m, diameter: 3.5 m), a species typically found in south and east Anatolia and the Mediterranean/Sub-Mediterranean forest region (Kozanpınarı Mevkii-Çamlıyayla-Mersin-Turkey). (Aykut Ince)
Contents
Information on contributors
Foreword to the first edition
Preface
1. Ancient woodland in concept and practice
George Peterken
2. The cultural heritage of woods and forests
Ian D. Rotherham
3. Archaeology of trees, woodland and wood-pasture
Oliver Rackham
4. Ancient rights in ancient forests
Graham Bathe
5. The importance of an open-grown tree: from seed to ancient
Ted Green
6. Ancient and other trees of special interest: indicators of old-growth biodiversity and heritage
Jill Butler
7. Worked trees and ecological indicators in wooded landscapes
Ian D. Rotherham
8. Ancient forests in Germany: distribution, importance for maintaining biodiversity, protection and threats
Monika Wulf
9. Tree abundance, density and age structure: the key factors that determine species richness in saproxylic invertebrates
Keith N.A. Alexander
10. Old growth and deadwood as key factors for nature conservation in managed forests
Harald Schaich, Thomas A.M. Kaphegyi, Rudolf Lühl, Nicole Schmalfuß, Mattias Rupp, Thomas Waldenspuhl and Werner Konold
11. The diversity of ancient woodlands in Austria: historical developments and contemporary social importance
Elisabeth Johann
12. Wood-pasture: for food, wood and biodiversity
Frans Vera
13. The ancient woodland concept as a practical conservation tool: the Turkish experience
Simay Kırca, Alper H. Çolak and Ian D. Rotherham
14. Using pollen data and models to assess landscape structure and the role of grazers in pre-agricultural Denmark
Anne Birgitte Nielsen
15. Tanneries and treescapes: the influence of the tanning industry on woodland management
Christine Handley and Ian D. Rotherham
16. A hidden treasure in Turkey: old oaks of unique value
Nicklas Jansson, Ogün Ç. Türkay and Mustafa Avcı
17. Antiquity of ancient woodlands and cultures: the example of Sandras Mountain, Turkey
Alper H. Çolak, Simay Kırca and Ian D. Rotherham
18. Woods and trees in England’s Anglo-Saxon countryside
Della Hooke
19. Ancient and modern: the conservation of ancient woods and trees in a changing world
Keith Kirby
20. Walls, woodbanks and woodwards: the protection of coppice woods from trespassers, thieves and grazing animals
Melvyn Jones
21. The natural character of ancient woodland
Tom Williamson
22. European woodland history and management: some concluding thoughts
Ian D. Rotherham, Alper Çolak and Simay Kırca
Index
Contributors
Keith N.A. Alexander is a freelance ecological consultant specializing in saproxylic invertebrates and their wood-decay habitats. Having researched, lectured and written on these topics across both Britain and wider Europe, he is a noted authority on such issues and on their conservation implications.
Mustafa Avcı graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Engineering. He got his Master’s degree in 1993 from İstanbul University, and a PhD in 1997. He became Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2010. He has more than 200 publications in the field of forest entomology to his name. Some of these are related to insects living in old and dead trees.
Graham Bathe is Environmental Consultant and Charity Trustee at the Open Spaces Society, the Foundation for Common Land. He was formerly Principal Project Manager with Natural England and has over forty years’ experience in nature conservation, working for a variety of national and international charities and agencies, specializing in common land, and ancient or customary rights. He has researched the history of royal hunting forests and conducted an intensive twenty-year study of Savernake Forest based on original manuscripts from the eleventh century onwards. This work seeks to reconcile archaeological and documentary sources to reveal the natural and human-made landscape.
Jill Butler is a well-known speaker who regularly features at international events and conferences, where she is acknowledged as a highly effective representative of UK arboriculture, building international links and collaborating with partners around the world. She helps organize Trees Romania, which gives wider recognition of the importance of Romania’s ancient trees, and has participated in four study tours to the Białowieża National Park in Poland. Jill is a strong proponent of the work of Frans Vera and the dynamic European forest theory, and is an effective communicator of these important, and sometimes controversial, ideas through presentations, articles and on social media. She was one the founders of the Ancient Tree Forum and has worked closely with Ted Green.
Alper H. Çolak was born in 1968 in Kars and studied forest engineering at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Forestry. He got his PhD from the same university with his research on the silvicultural characteristics of Rhododendron ponticum . He is a Professor in the Department of Silviculture of Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa. His research interests cover close-to-nature silviculture, high-mountain forestry, nature conservation in forests, species/habitat conservation, and restoration and rehabilitation of forest landscapes.
Ted Green is a passionate communicator and innovator of critical thinking in relation to ancient trees, wood-pastures and rewilding. Deeply knowledgeable on matters such as soil health and the importance of fungal associations, he has been a champion who pioneered the new awareness of fungal highways through mycorrhizas. In the 1990s, Ted was a key inspiration and actor in setting up the Ancient Tree Forum.
Christine Handley holds an MA in history and a Diploma in local history, both from Sheffield Hallam University. She is Events Coordinator for the Biodiversity Research Group and has co-chaired numerous conferences and other events. She has edited and written numerous book chapters and collaborative volumes on history and landscape.
Della Hooke is a historian of Anglo Saxon England and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. She is a member of the Society for Landscape Studies (editor since 1985), Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society (editor since 1988), the Historical Geography Research Group of the Institute of British Geographers, Society for Name Studies, and the English Place-Name Society. She has published widely with volumes such as Trees in Anglo-Saxon England (2010), The Anglo-Saxon Landscape: The Kingdom of the Hwicce (2009) and England’s Landscape: The West Midlands (2006), among many others. She has been an educator at many institutions, especially the University of Birmingham.
Nicklas Jansson has studied insects nearly all his life. He now works with on beetle conservation projects in Sweden and Turkey, with particular focus on the saproxylic fauna of deadwood in ancient trees and treescapes. He manages a pan-European oak beetle proje