Abstract
Ancient, veteran and notable trees are ecologically important keystone organisms and have tangible connections to folklore, history and sociocultural practices. Although found worldwide, few countries have such a rich history of recording and treasuring these trees as the UK, with its extensive Royal and aristocratic land ownership, unique land management methods and long-standing interest in natural history and species record collecting. As a result, the UK has collated an extensive database of ancient, veteran and notable trees called the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI). The ATI is the result of a successful, long-term citizen science recording project and is the most comprehensive database of ancient and other noteworthy trees to date. We present here the first review of the ATI in its entirety since its initiation in 2004, including summaries of the UK ancient, veteran and notable tree distributions, the status and condition of the trees, and key information about the recording process and maintenance of the database. Statistical analysis of components of the dataset, comprising 169,967 tree records, suggest there are significant differences in the threats, size, form and location of different types of trees, especially in relation to taxonomic identity and tree age. Our goal is to highlight the value of the ATI in the UK, to encourage the development of similar ancient tree recording projects in other countries, and to emphasise the importance to conservation of continued efforts to maintain and expand databases of this kind.
Highlights
Ancient, veteran and notable trees are ecologically important keystone organisms and have tangible connections to folklore, history and sociocultural practices
We present here the first review of the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI) in its entirety since its initiation in 2004, including summaries of the UK ancient, veteran and notable tree distributions, the status and condition of the trees, and key information about the recording process and maintenance of the database
Our goal is to highlight the value of the ATI in the UK, to encourage the development of similar ancient tree recording projects in other countries, and to emphasise the importance to conservation of continued efforts to maintain and expand databases of this kind
Summary
Veteran and notable trees are ecologically important keystone organisms and have tangible connections to folklore, history and sociocultural practices. Our goal is to highlight the value of the ATI in the UK, to encourage the development of similar ancient tree recording projects in other countries, and to emphasise the importance to conservation of continued efforts to maintain and expand databases of this kind It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit Robert Louis Stevenson (1875-6). These include formative growth from seedling establishment until maturity, the mature phase when the crown reaches maximum size and the ancient (or senescent) phase During this last phase the characteristics associated with ancient or veteran trees emerge, including a hollowing trunk, holes and cavities, deadwood in the canopy, bark loss and the presence of fungi, invertebrates and other saproxylic organisms (Read 2000; Rust and Roloff 2002; ATF 2008a, b; Owen and Alderman 2008). They are a very important source of decaying and dead wood, a rare and declining habitat throughout Europe (Siitonen 2001; Butler et al 2002), and support a wide range of saproxylic organisms including fungi
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