Late in the day – probably too late in the day – we
have woken up to ash die-back (Chalara fraxinea). Indeed, at last government seems to be taking
tree diseases in general more seriously.
However, if we fall into panic mode then we could come up with a whole
host of “cures” that are far worse than the disease.
The first reaction was to cut and burn infected trees. This could only possibly work if the disease
had not progressed far. If caught in
time, with just a few trees affected, then there could have been a policy of
cutting infected trees and also removing trees in the vicinity in order to
prevent spread.
Increasingly, however, the evidence seems to indicate that
the disease is now established in the wider countryside, and that spores may be
spreading on the wind. The genie may now
be out of the bottle. Far from helping,
a slash and burn approach now may be counter-productive. Some of our ash trees may have resistance to
the disease. If we destroy all ash trees
in sight then any new race of resistant ash trees will never emerge. Acres of dead ash trees, killed by the
disease, will be bad enough, but a scorched-earth landscape with no chance of
ash tree recovery will be far worse.
We are now also seeing the emergence of some most bizarre
ideas for a “cure”. Recent news reports
suggests that “scientists” have come up with a “cure” and it is only “red tape”
that is holding things up. This cure is
the aerial spraying of a solution of copper sulphate and nutrients, presented
as a modern answer that just requires fast-tracking through trials.
On the contrary, the use of copper sulphate as an anti
fungal agent is centuries old – throwing it out of an aeroplane does not make
it a new cure and goodness knows what any “trial” might show that we don’t
already know! This is a highly damaging
broad-spectrum fungus-killer. It will
kill a wide range of fungi, could well persist in the soil and might
fundamentally damage woodland ecosystems.
Our under-rated fungi are the engines of woodland ecology. They recycle all the nutrients, form soil and
enable plants to grow. Without them our
environment would simply not work. Tipping
chemicals into woods in the hope of curing ash die-back is about as likely to
be helpful as is randomly jamming a screwdriver into the back of a computer. Indeed it is quite possible that we are
seeing an increase in diseases because our fungal flora is already unhealthy. The broad-spectrum killing of more fungi is
not the answer.
This underlines the point that government needs to take
proper advice on this subject from people who know something about woodland
ecology. They should not simply fall for
any wacky knee-jerk reaction.
In the end I suspect that the only sensible course now is to
let nature take its course and try to encourage a new generation of resistant
ash trees.
2 comments:
You rightly point out that a 'Foot & Mouth' approach to the destruction of our woodland is a nonsense of an idea. But for someone who puports to have ecology in mind the rest of your argument is also as daft as a brush.
You would appear to think that it is better for the ecology of our woodlands to lose huge numbers of trees than to to tackle the fungus killing those trees with something that is known to work (even if there is a tiny risk that a proportion of other 'good' fungus would also be taken out). The reason that it would appear field trials of this new iteration of an ancient technology would be a good idea is because it will prove one way or the other that the modern formulae (at a concentration of no more than a few hundred parts per million) coupled with a modern delivery method might just be what we are looking for to put a stop to arboreal armageddon.
Your assertion that targeted air dispersion using modern GPS technology equipped helicopters is akin to some kind of napalming of the forest is a purile and sensational argument. Your conclusion that the best thing to do is await a tree stock replacement by some kind of disease resistant arboreal replicant is as far fetched as Blade Runner. It didn't work for the Elm and it won't work for the Ash.
I hope that DEFRA wake up and smell the coffee and let these guys do their testing. You keep your head in the sand if you want to. By the time you take it out, sand may be all that is left!
You are correct, the fact and matter is that the government and those in charge are senseless enough to try slash and burn techniques, in desperation, which I'm pretty sure they are, lets hope that they don't make such a move, yet. Before we can save them our selves.
-Samudaworth Tree Service
Tree Removal Brooklyn
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