There was a sting in the tail of the storms during the 2013/14 winter, with catastrophic damage in the Wessex area on a local scale. Typically, stands which succumbed to wind blow were those residing on sites with limited tree-rooting depth and which were in a vulnerable state having received a thinning intervention within the previous year.
During this meeting we will visit Cockroad Wood and Newpark Wood, being such sites situated on the exposed western scarp of the southern Greensand Ridge. These stands took the full brunt of the final gale in February 2014.
Responses to dealing with storm-damaged sites, subsequent tree regeneration and storm risk mitigation measures during the development of stands will be illustrated and under discussion in forest areas not visited by the WSG for at least a decade.
Being well qualified, our invited guest speaker for the day is Bruce Nicoll. In his work with Forest Research Bruce leads on Forest Climate Change Adaption Strategies, and the Tree Stability and Climate research project that released ForestGALES. Bruce’s recent work has focused on the relationships between structural root architecture and tree wind stability, and between root development and tree establishment.
Pre-meeting notes: Meeting notes and map Site notes