Europe's Changing Woods and Forests From Wildwood to Managed Landscapes

About this book

Our understanding of the historical ecology of European forests has been transformed in the last twenty years. Bringing together key findings from across the continent, Europe's Changing Woods and Forests: From Wildwood to Managed Landscapes provides a comprehensive account of recent research and the relevance of historical studies to our current conservation and management of forests.

Combining theory with a series of regional case studies, Europe's Changing Woods and Forests shows how different aspects of forestry play out according to the landscape and historical context of the local area, with broad implications for woodland history, policy and management. Beginning with an overview of Europe's woods and forests, Europe's Changing Woods and Forests reviews a variety of management techniques (including wood-pastures, coppicing, close-to-nature forestry and the impact of hunting), describes how plants and animals respond to changes in woodland and forest cover, and includes case histories from around the continent. It concludes with a discussion of how lessons learned from the past can help in the future. Europe's Changing Woods and Forests is both a vital resource and an interesting read for foresters, conservationists, landscape historians, geographers and ecologists.

Contents

Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements

PART 1. Introduction and Overview
Chapter 1. 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

Chapter 2 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

Chapter 3. 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

Chapter 4. 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
Chapter 5 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

Chapter 6 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

Chapter 7. 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

Chapter 8 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
Chapter 9 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.
Chapter 10. 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

Chapter 11 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

Chapter 12 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

Chapter 13 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

Chapter 14. 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

Chapter 15 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?
15.8 Conclusions
15.9 References

PART 4. A variety of woodland histories.
Chapter 16. 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

Chapter 17. Białowieża 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 Białowieża 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

Chapter 18. 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

Chapter 19. 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

Chapter 20. 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?
Chapter 21. 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

Chapter 22 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

Chapter 23. 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

Chapter 24. 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?

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