Dead Wood Webpage
(In conjunction with the Richmond Biodiversity Group and supported by Funding from the Sun Project, Royal Parks Staff have produced a leaflet on the management of decaying wood you can download this as a PDF file 1.6Mb long here.)
What does Dead Wood mean to you?
In the world of work most people think of dead wood as something useless – as people in the workplace, or another organisation, who are stopping progress. To gardeners dead wood is usually seen as something infectious, to be cut out to protect the living plants. Yet biological scientists confirm that dead wood is full of life and fulfils vital functions in natural woodland that challenge those negative images of dead wood so many of us carry around. The aim of this webpage is to help people see the value of dead wood which brings new life and structures to the soil by recycling materials - for more detailed information see ‘Decaying Wood’ http://www.arborecology.co.uk/article_decay.htm (NB 2.1MB) - and its value in creating new opportunities for wildlife, as discussed below.
Why is dead wood important in Richmond Park
In the right conditions dead and decaying wood provides a range of habitats for more than a thousand species of British wildlife including plants, lichens, mosses, fungi, invertebrates and bacteria that are a natural way of recycling organic matter. The community of species dependent on dead and decaying wood are known as saproxylic organisms and are part of natural forests and parklands that have evolved together over millions of years. They form part of a system that ensures that new generations of trees have the right nutrients and conditions for growth. Saproxylic organisms also play a significant role in carbon storage, and so may help to slow global temperature change. Many of our birds and mammals that are in decline such as owls and most species of bat depend on cavities in decaying trees for their homes and no less than 1000 species of insects and other invertebrates depend on decaying wood habitats. To find out more about the species associated with dead wood see http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfecology/ecology.htm.
Some Park visitors will have noticed "Coronet Cuts", provide by the Park's Tree Surgeons, these cuts reproduce the broken ends formed when major tree limbs once would have fallen. You will appreciate that this type of damage is increasingly rare. There is a picture of such a cut being formed at Kew Gardens here (last picture). These jagged ends provide a home for a range of life forms that depend on Aerial Dead Wood. Other special decaying wood habitats are discussed below under the heading - Is all dead wood the same?
What can you do to help dead wood in the park?
Unfortunately, many people do not understand the vital role of decaying wood in the Park nor the need to protect the important creatures that live in it. Climate change is not helping – the more extreme weather with wetter winters and dryer summers is starting to change the way dead wood is naturally broken down and recycled. We must take extra care to look after our decaying wood resource.
Problems in the Park
1 Picking fungi - some people damage or take away mushrooms and toadstools. These are the fruiting parts of these important fungi – if you damage or pick them their spores will be stopped from growing into new fungi. Mushrooms and toadstools also provide a home and food for many different wild creatures. It is very important that you protect fungi and report anyone picking them immediately to the Park's Police.
|
Aside is a picture of Gymopilus junonius an inedible fungi associated with dead wood. |
 |
2 Building Dens - many children like to build dens and as domestic gardens are getting smaller and tidier; more youngsters come to the Park to build dens from fallen branches and logs. Unfortunately, this means that the dead wood used dries – slowing and altering the decay processes. It also seriously affects the wildlife, destroying their habitat and exposing small creatures to predators. Another consequence is that such dens can easily be set alight and as they are often built against old trees these are also destroyed. We loose too many of our precious ancient trees in fires each year.
|
With more than 4 million visitors each year, apparently minor interference with dead wood by even a small proportion of people can add up to a lot of harm. We hope that you care enough about the Park to spread the word and explain to others how den-building is damaging the Park. |
 |
Note: Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve. It is against the law to take or interfere with any plant or animal, or to light fires anywhere in the Park.
Is all dead wood the same?
There are many dead wood habitats, often associated with the particular species of dying tree, but also with its location and the structure of the wood. The way woodlands are managed affects each habitat differently. For example, the cutting back of long or broken branches, accompanied by liberal applications of tar products to the wounds, has wiped out many dead wood species from woodland and some species will take many years to re-establish even in areas readily accessible to them. New methods of conservation tree management include cutting methods that mimic natural damage to trees, such as the coronet cut mentioned above. Different wildlife species are specialised for life in different habitats, these include: standing dead wood, lying dead wood, and buried wood. Some prefer the more open features of general woodland and forest floor litter.
Dead wood habitats have become increasingly scarce
In our increasingly urbanised world, many woodlands have been lost through clearance for agriculture and urban development. More recently, dead wood has been seen as a safety hazard or a source of disease, rather than a natural part of the lifecycle of our woodland landscapes. Management priorities were for tidiness and cleanliness, to prevent fire and safety hazards and promote clean ‘healthy’ trees. Yet those concepts are not part of nature. WWF, the global environment group, say that many forest species are in deep trouble because of the removal of the dead and dying trees they need. They say that insects, plants, birds and mammals are all suffering because of an increasing tendency to remove decaying timber. See the WWF publication ‘Dead wood - living forests’ for information see http://www.panda.org/downloads/forests/deadwoodwithnotes.pdf (NB size 1.7 MB) and the Forestry Commission’s guide ‘Life in the Deadwood’ (NB size 1.9 MB) www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/lifeinthedeadwood.pdf/$file/lifeinthedeadwood.pdf.
Other parts of the site - Home Page
Link to pictures of fungi and other dead wood features from Kew Gardens here
Link to Borough Biodiversity Action Plans http://www.richmond.gov.uk/biodiversity
Link to Richmond Park ’s Website http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/parks/richmond_park
