14 hours ago
Could ash dieback kill the wood wide web?
S ince the 1990s, UK scientists had been waiting for an invasion. Then in 2012, ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) started its slow and steady march across the UK, threatening devastation to our landscape and wildlife. There have even been dire predictions that 50 per cent of these beloved trees could die in the next 30 years.
In the firing line are 150 million mature ash trees in the UK, along with 1.8 billion seedlings and saplings, which account for 12 per cent of all of Britain's broadleaved woodland. These trees support 955 species of lichens, mosses, insects, fungi, birds and mammals, some of which are dependent on them, and are part of our national ecosystem. So what is ash dieback, how serious could it be — and could areas of devastation caused by the disease prevent other nearby trees from flourishing by destroying their ecosystem?
