Hi Oldoaktree,
I apologise if it has already been stated but in answer to your question; it
will take as long as it takes your tree species to become veteran.
However, it is the soil that is the most important component of ASNW.
After all, the theory suggests that if you can trace your plot of woodland on
old estate maps going back to 1600 AD, or even further back, then the
likelihood is that the woodland is a remnant of the original established
woodland component at that site. Thus, the soil has never been tilled, turned
or fiddled with in any way. It is as natural as it gets in that location -
except for the addition of modern airborne particulates that is.
So, unless you can find a plot of land that has never been dug, ploughed,
mined, built on or had any other such mucking about with, you may have a
collection of very old trees but the soil will not be the same as that found
at other ASNW sites.
Sean
-----Original Message-----
From: uktc-request@xxxxxx.tree-care.info <uktc-request@xxxxxx.tree-care.info>
On Behalf Of oldoaktree@xxxxxxxxx.net
Sent: 09 February 2021 13:16
To: UK Tree Care <uktc@xxxxxx.tree-care.info>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: How long does an ancient woodland take to develop?
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Thanks for all of your replies, illuminating and thought provoking.
I'm not in a position to say much on here, but as an Arb it is so sad to see
such wanton ignorance about these, to use a Chris Packham phrase, 'Ecological
Cathedrals'.
I'm just reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Everything which I
thoroughly recommend and the extent of what we don’t know is a real take home
factor from this very accessible book. Some of it is very funny too which
always goes down well with me!
Indulge me a quote on fungi "gather together all the fungi in a typical
hectare of meadowland and you will have 2800 kilogrammes of the stuff. These
are not marginal organisms. - Altogether, about 70 thousand species have been
identified but it is thought the total number could be as high as 1.8
million".
That book was wrote in 2003 so I wouldn't be surprised if those figures are a
lot higher now.
Cheers
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: uktc-request@xxxxxx.tree-care.info <uktc-request@xxxxxx.tree-care.info>
On Behalf Of Jon Heuch
Sent: 09 February 2021 12:34
To: UK Tree Care <uktc@xxxxxx.tree-care.info>
Subject: Re: How long does an ancient woodland take to develop?
Dave
It's quite a challenge since it is a categorisation (I was told off once by
describing ASNW as a designation) so it cannot be recreated:
i) About 400 years
ii) You will need a time machine to enter the plot on some
ancient maps to make sure that each subsequent map shows the area to be wooded
However, If you are asking how long will it take for a bare patch of land to
develop into woodland with some good ecological features of course the best
model is the Rothamsted fields that were left. Wildnerness was the word
adopted then; now we might used the term re-wilding. They are very well
documented http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/index.php?area=home
<http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/index.php?area=home&page=index&dataset=8>
&page=index&dataset=8. They have been around for 140 years so you may have a
lot of reading to do to work out what sort of time frame you want to consider.
Jon
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