The James Hutton Institute
This page is no longer updated. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute joined forces with SCRI on 1 April 2011 to create The James Hutton Institute.
THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005
9. FORESTRY AND FARM WOODLAND
General
The amount of woodland is of significant environmental importance. The extent of forestry has wide-ranging effects on wildlife habitats, the physical environment and is an indication of the development of paper and timber production. In addition, woodland has aesthetic and recreational properties.
The ecological value of semi-natural woodland, in terms of the diversity of plant communities and species present, is often closely related to woodland age and origin. Ancient woodland is a small and highly fragmented, but vitally important part of Scotland ’s natural and cultural heritage. Of the 14,500 ASNO sites (Ancient Woods of Semi-natural Origin, see Table 9.2) most are smaller than 10 ha. LEPO (Long-Established Woods of Plantation Origin) have been plantations from the mid-1800s, mostly of native species (SNH, 2004).
Table 9.2: Origin of historic woodland (1999)
|
Woodland area (km 2) |
% semi-natural |
||
Semi-natural |
Plantation |
Total |
|
|
Ancient (ASNO) |
891 |
591 |
1,482 |
60 |
Long Established (LEPO) |
249 |
1,628 |
1,877 |
13 |
Other historic woods |
51 |
119 |
170 |
30 |
Total |
1,191 |
2,338 |
3,529 |
34 |
|
||||
Most plantations are stands of exotic species, planted during the 20 th century. They are often dense, even-aged monocultures, but opportunities are being taken to diversify them, particularly as they reach harvesting age. A large proportion of recent plantations of native species is classed as “new native woodlands” and will be managed according to the guidelines for semi-natural woodlands. 97.8% of the woodland area is in woodlands of 2ha and over (Forestry Commission, 1999).
The most recent woodland survey, the National Inventory of Woodland and Trees Scotland, carried out by the Forestry Commission in 1995, showed that Sitka spruce was by far the most widely spread conifer, with pine coming a second; the main broadleaved species was birch (see Table 9.3). A total of 17 881 woods in Scotland are over 2 ha with a mean wood area of 70.2 ha; the total of 64 525 woods from 0.1 – 2 ha have a mean area of 0.44 ha. (Forestry Commission, 1999)
Table 9.3: Woodland area by principal speciesSpecies/Groups |
Total area (ha) |
% of total area |
|
Categ. |
Species |
||
Pine |
264 154 |
29 |
23.5 |
Sitka Spruce |
527 591 |
58 |
47.0 |
Larch |
65 213 |
7 |
5.8 |
Other conifers |
51 297 |
6 |
4.6 |
Mixed conifers |
8 235 |
1 |
.7 |
Total conifers |
916 490 |
100 |
81.6 |
Oak |
21 114 |
10 |
1.9 |
Beech |
9 961 |
5 |
.9 |
Sycamore |
10 882 |
5 |
1.0 |
Ash |
4 904 |
2 |
.4 |
Birch |
77 780 |
38 |
6.9 |
Elm |
1 343 |
1 |
.1 |
Other broadleaves |
18 685 |
9 |
1.7 |
Mixed broadleaves |
61 690 |
30 |
5.5 |
Total broadleaves |
206 363 |
100 |
18.4 |
Total all species |
1 122 853 |
|
100.0 |
Category: species/group % of conifer or broadleaved category
Species: species/group % of all species
Source: Forestry Commission (1999)
In 2004, 79% of all forest land in Scotland was conifers and 21% was broadleaved species. The many small sites of ancient and long-established woodland areas are an important part of Scotland ’s natural and cultural heritage.
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