Europe's Changing Woods and Forests

After a Ph.D. at University College, London and a short appointment in Aberystwyth University, Dr Peterken was for two years co-ordinator of part of the International Biological Programme and then scientific officer in the Biological Records Centre. He was then appointed to the Nature Conservancy's woodland management section at Monks Wood in 1969, and remained a woodland ecologist with NC and successor bodies until 1992, spending much of his time as the senior woodland ecologist in the Chief Scientist's Team, where his work ranged from policy negotiations through research commissioning, personal research and lecturing to on-site management advice, in fact anything and everything that might advance woodland ecology and nature conservation. He took a sabbatical for 18 months in 1989-90 to study so-called virgin forests in mainland Europe and to hold a Bullard Fellowship at Harvard University. In 1993, he went independent. For a decade he was part-time nature conservation advisor to the Forestry Commission, but was also involved in collaborative research projects, teaching, lecturing, writing and routine consultancy. Shortly after the Millennium he decided to spend his time mainly writing a New Naturalist volume and more recently a book on Meadows - meadows being a retirement hobby. Long-term studies have been a theme of his research and research-commissioning since the 1970s, when he first became involved with Lady Park Wood, the subject of this book. Dr Peterken's interest in historical ecology dates from the 1960s.

• I: Contributors II: Preface III: Acknowledgements PART 1: Introduction and Overview 1.0: Overview of Europe’s woods and forests 1.1: Introduction 1.2: The current state and composition of European woods and forests 1.2.1: European forests in a global context 1.2.2: Variation in forest cover across the continent 1.2.3: Variation in forest composition 1.3: Forestry policy and cooperation at a European level 0 1.3.1: Forestry policy 1.3.2: Conservation measures 1.3.3: Landscape and amenity conservation. 1.3.4: Certification as an approach to sustainable forestry management 1.3.5: Forest research cooperation across Europe 1.4: Conclusion 1.5: References 2.0: Methods and approaches in the study of woodland history 2.1: Introduction 2.2: Oral history 2.3: Photographs and drawings 2.4: Biological indicators 2.5: Historical records 2.6: Preserved wood and dendrochronology 2.7: Lidar and GIS 2.8: Applying archaeological insights to ecological issues 2.9: Pollen and charcoal analysis 2.10: Conclusion 2.11: References 3.0: The forest landscape before farming 3.1: Where to begin? 3.2: A cold open continent 3.3: Trees spread back after the ice 3.3.1: Forming a canopy 5 3.3.2: The wood beneath the trees 3.3.3: Molecular markers for re-colonisation routes. 3.4: A holey blanket of trees 3.5: The role of large herbivores, particularly bison, wild horse and aurochs 3.6: People in the landscape: the trees in retreat 3.7: References 4.0: Evolution of modern landscapes 4.1: Introduction 4.2: The emergence of woodland management 4.3: Changes in forest extent and distribution 4.3.1: Reductions in forest cover 4.3.2: Increases as well as decreases 4.3.3: Patterns of clearance and survival 4.3.4: The ecological consequences of a patchy landscape 4.4: Changes in structure and composition through management 4.5: Deliberate modification of the tree and shrub composition of forests 4.6: Other species gains and losses 4.7: Changes to the fire regime 4.8: Changes to the forest soil 4.9: Forests and atmospheric pollution 4.10: Climate change 4.11: Conclusion 4.12: References PART 2: The variety of management across European woods and forests 5.0: Wood-pastures in Europe 5.1: Introduction 5.2: Wood-pasture: a multi-purpose system 5.3: Historical development of wood-pastures in Europe 5.3.1: Forest grazing and pasturing in ancient times 5.3.2: Driving the livestock out of the forest (18th-19th centuries) 5.3.4: New recognition for wood-pastures? 5.4: National inventories of wood-pastures 5.5: Wood-pastures as multi-functional landscape elements: past and present 5.6: Threats to wood-pastures 5.6.1: Management changes 5.6.2: Policy mismatch 5.6.3: Decline of old, hollowing or dying trees 5.6.4: Lack of regeneration 5.7: Conclusions 5.8: Acknowledgements 5.9: References 6.0: Coppice silviculture: from the Mesolithic to the 21st century 6.1: Introduction 6.2: The physiological and evolutionary significance of coppice 6.3: Historic development of coppice silviculture 6.4: The rise and fall of coppice as an industrial resource 6.5: Surviving and neglected coppice in Europe: the extent of the forest estate 6.6: Coppice silviculture 6.6.1: Cutting methods 6.6.2: Time of cutting 6.7: Conversion to high forest 6.7.1: Coppice versus high forest yields 6.8: Reinstating coppice management 6.9: Future drivers of change 6.10: References 7.0: High forest management and the rise of even-aged stands 7.1: Introduction 7.2: Changing from coppice to high forest systems 7.3: The need for new administrative tools 7.4: Silvicultural systems 7.5: The rise of plantations 7.6: Increased use of conifers and introduced species 7.7: How forestry is changing 7.8: Future high forest and natural forest structures 7.9: References 8.0: Close-to-nature forestry 8.1: Introduction 8.2: Roots and pre-requisites 8.3: Developments in the 20th century 8.4: Ecological implications 8.5: Conclusion 8.6: References 9.0: The impact of hunting on European woodland from medieval to modern 9.1: Introduction 9.2: Early impacts of hunting 9.3: Meat or merit? 9.4: Medieval hunting reserves 9.5: Early modern hunting parks in Europe 9.6: Hunting and the wider landscape 9.7: Modern hunting 9.7.1: The influence of driven pheasant shoots on British woodland 9.7.2: The influence of modern hunting enclosures on Spanish woodland 9.8: Conclusion 9.9: References PART 3: How plants and animals have responded to the changing woodland and forest cover. 10.0: The flora and fauna of coppice woods: winners and losers of active management or neglect 10.1: Introduction 10.2: The diversity of coppice 10.2.1: Plants 10.2.2: Birds 10.2.3: Invertebrates 10.2.4: Deadwood and associated species 10.2.5: Mammals 10.3: Impacts of deer browsing on flora and fauna in coppice 10.4: Conservation strategies 10.5: Short Rotation Coppice 10.6: Conclusion 10.7: References 11.0: The importance of veteran trees for saproxylic insects 11.1: Introduction 11.2: What are saproxylic species 11.3: Veteran trees in past and present landscapes 11.4: Important structures and associated species in old trees 11.4.1: Microhabitat diversity 11.4.2: Tree cavities and their invertebrates 11.4.3: Other microhabitats 11.5: Effects of environmental factors on the invertebrate fauna 11.5.1: Effects of tree characteristics on species assemblages 11.5.2: Effects of surrounding landscape on species assemblages 11.5.3: Catering for the needs of the adult as well as the larvae 11.5.4: Survey methods 11.6: Current situation in Europe 11.7: How to preserve the specialized saproxylic species? 11.7.1: Management for increasing habitat amount and quality 11.7.2: Management for securing spatio-temporal continuity 11.8: Future prospects 11.9: References 12.0: The changing fortunes of woodland birds in temperate Europe 12.1: Introduction 12.2: The birds of the early Holocene 12.3: The birds of the wildwood: alternative models of forest dynamics 12.3.1: Largely closed forest – ‘closed canopy’ scenario 12.3.2: Open mosaic landscape – ‘wood pasture’ scenario 12.3.3: Forest-dominated, but more varied – ‘closed but varied’ scenario 12.4: Fragmentation of the wildwood 12.5: Effects of the historical emergence of management 12.6: The age of managed pasture woods and coppice 12.7: The shift towards high forest 12.8: Woodland birds today 12.8.1: Population trends 12.8.2: Influences of agriculture 12.8.3: Forestry intensification 12.8.4: Birds and afforestation 12.9: Recent trends 12.10: Conclusions 12.11: References 13.0: Evolution and changes in the understorey of deciduous forests: lagging behind drivers of change 13.1: Introduction 13.2: Background 13.3: What sorts of plants occur in forests? 13.4: Comparing ancient and recent forests 13.5: Colonization of new forests 13.6: Dispersal and recruitment limitation 13.7: Changing ancient forests 13.7.1: Management effects 13.7.2: Effects of environmental changes 13.7.3: Effects of grazing 13.7.4: Effects of invasive non-native species 13.8: Conserving and expanding forests: does it work? 13.9: References 14.0: Gains and losses in the European mammal fauna 14.1: Introduction 14.2: Aurochs 14.3: The carnivores 14.3.1: Wolf 14.3.2: Brown bear 14.3.3: Lynx 14.4: The Beaver 14.5: A species that has done too well 14.6: The decline and rise of wild boar and deer 14.6.1: Wild boar 14.6.2: Deer 14.7: Conclusion 14.8: References 15.0: The curious case of the even-aged plantation: wretched, funereal or misunderstood? 15.1: Introduction 15.2: What is an even-aged plantation? 15.3: A brief historical overview of Atlantic spruce forests 15.3.1: The dominance of Sitka spruce 15.3.2: Breaking up the conifer blanket 15.4: Species composition of spruce plantations 15.5: Ecological implications of stand dynamics 15.5.1: Precursors - the creation of woodland through afforestation (Stage 0) 15.5.2: Stand initiation (Stage 1) 15.5.3: The impact of stand development – canopy closure and mortality (Stages 2 and 3) 15.5.4: Prolonging the rotation and developing multiple storeys (Stage 4) 15.5.5: Resetting the woodland through disturbance 15.6: Forest design 15.7: The landscape setting 15.8: Where next? 15.9: Conclusions 15.10: References PART 4: A variety of woodland histories. 16.0: Historical ecology in modern conservation in Italy 16.1: Introduction 16.2: Background 16.3: The spread of an historical ecological approach in European conservation thinking 16.3.1: Forestry versus Woodmanship 16.3.2: Woodland or land-bearing-trees 16.3.3: The need for an inter-disciplinary approach 16.3.4: The role of historical ecology 16.4: Integrating Historical and Local Knowledge into Management Strategies 16.4.1: An introduction to the case studies 16.4.2: Trees and Woodlands Producing Leaf Fodder 16.4.3: Trees, woodland and soil fertility 16.4.4: The collection of litter 16.4.5: Trees invading bogs: an experiment in applied historical ecology 16.5: Conclusion 16.6: References 17.0: Bialowieza Primeval Forest: a 2000-year interplay of environmental and cultural forces in Europe’s best preserved temperate woodland 17.1: Introduction 17.2: Previous studies 17.3: A new palaeo-ecological record for Bialowieza Primeval Forest 17.3.1: Methods 17.3.2: Results 17.4: Archaeological evidence 17.5: Archival studies 17.5.1: Royal forest of Polish kings 17.5.2: Under Russian rule 17.5.3: World War I to the present 17.5.4: Changes in land use extent and character 17.6: Dendro-chronological analyses of fire dynamics 17.7: Interplay of natural and cultural forces 17.7.1: The Iron Age 17.7.2: The Migration Period, mediaeval and early modern times 17.7.3: The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 17.7.4: The nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries 17.7.5: The recent decades 17.8: The role of large herbivores in shaping BNP 17.9: Conclusions 17.10: Acknowledgements 17.11: References 18.0: Woodland history in the British Isles - an interaction of environmental and cultural forces. 18.1: Introduction 18.2: Outline of British woodland history 18.3: Historical stages and processes of change 18.4: Regions 18.4.1: Pre-Neolithic wildwood 18.4.2: Exploited wildwood 18.4.3: Traditional woodland management 18.4.4: Parks, Forests and wooded commons 18.4.5: Improved traditional management 18.4.6: Plantations 18.4.7: Revival and restoration of native woodland 18.5: Some consequences of differences in regional history 18.6: References 19.0: Forest management and species composition: an historical approach in Lorraine, France 19.1: Introduction 19.2: The study of forest history in France 19.3: Historical forest uses and their consequences on forest management 19.4: The making of the technical and legislative framework 19.5: The consequences of forestry policies on forest composition in woodlands of Lorraine 19.6: The modern forest - conclusion 19.7: References 20.0: Barriers and bridges for sustainable forest management: the role of landscape history in Swedish Bergslagen 20.1: Introduction 20.2: The European scale 20.3: The regional scale 20.4: Bergslagen – an introduction 20.5: Forests, forest ownership and land use dynamics 20.6: Barriers to sustainability 20.6.1: Ecological sustainability 20.6.2: Economic sustainability 20. 6.3: Social and cultural sustainability 20.7: Bridges towards sustainable forest management 20.8: Discussion 20.8.1: From forest history to history of forest landscapes 20.8.2: Landscapes with different histories: using space for time substitution 20.9: References PART 5: Lessons from the past for the future? 21.0: The development of forest conservation in Europe 21.1: Introduction 21.2: Why conserve forests? 21.2.1: As a spiritual place 21.2.2: As a place for the Chase 21.2.3: As a source of raw materials and a barrier against the elements 21.2.4: For a new form of communing with the forests 21.3: Type and extent of Protected Forest Areas 21.4: Selection of protected areas 21.5: Developing a European perspective 21.6: Forest protection and conservation as part of land-use practice. 21.7: Rewilding and forest conservation 21.8: From the past to the future 21.8.1: Conservation for people? 21.8.2: What sorts of woods and forests will be conserved in future? 21.9: References 22.0: The UK’s Ancient Woodland Inventory and its Use 22.1: Introduction 22.2: Developing the ancient woodland concept 22.3: The creation of the ancient woodland inventory 22.4: Developing and using the inventories 22.4.1: England: the ‘Red Queen’ dilemma 22.4.2: Wales 22.4.3: Scotland 22.4.4: Northern Ireland 22.5: Testing the limits of the English inventories 22.5.1: Uncertain evidence 22.5.2: What is a wood? 22.5.3: How small can an ancient wood be? 22.6: Conclusion 22.7: References 23.0: Tree and forest pests and diseases: learning from the past to prepare for the future 23.1: Introduction 23.2: Background 23.2.1: Dutch Elm Disease, Ramorum blight and Ash Dieback 23.3: The Dutch Elm Disease outbreak 23.4: ‘Sudden Oak Death’ (ramorum blight) in the UK 23.5: A landscape without ash? 23.6: The lessons from history 23.7: References 24.0: Reflections 24.1: Introduction 24.2: Ways of exploring and understanding woodland histories 24.3: Issues for the future historian 24.4: From cultural landscapes back to wildwood? 24.5: Europe’s woods and forests: the future?