SNH - March biodiversity topic

March 2006 - NATIVE PINEWOOD

SNH, together with partners, is working to restore and rejuvenate Scotland’s native pinewoods.

Native pinewood once covered a fifth of Scotland. Today, fragmented remnants provide an evocative insight into this former landscape. The majestic, gnarled Scots pine dominates the woodland canopy with an understorey of blaeberry, mosses and lichens. Pinewood is home to a range of animals from the agile red squirrel and secretive Scottish wildcat to the spectacular capercaillie and the elusive crested tit. The survival of many of these species is dependent on establishing better connectivity between the remaining fragments of native pinewood.

One of Scotland’s most iconic habitats, pine-dominated forests may have covered over 1.5 million ha of the Scottish Highlands in pre-historic times. Now they occupy about 1% of their former area, some 16,000 hectares, from Glen Falloch in the south to Strath Oykel in the north, although the majority is found within the Cairngorms National Park. The largest remaining area is Abernethy forest, owned by the RSPB and particularly famous for the ospreys on Loch Garten.

Many other sites are owned by conservation organisations and managed for conservation and informal outdoor recreation. Apart from Abernethy, pinewood NNRs include Beinn Eighe, Glen Affric, Glen Tanar, Loch Fleet and Loch Maree Islands.

The eastern pinewoods of Strathspey and Deeside are overwhelmingly dominated by pine, with lesser amounts of birch, rowan, willow, juniper and – an important component in this part of Scotland – aspen. In the west, although pine remains dominant, birch often takes a greater role, and sessile oak and holly may also be prominent.

The pines themselves, with their characteristic pinkish bark towards the top of the trunk, are magnificent trees. They may live for hundreds of years, and the venerable old, open grown branchy trees are known as ‘granny pines’.

Pinewoods are often carpeted with blaeberry, making them attractive to large grouse as well as to people, and some support restricted northern plant species, such as Creeping Lady’s-tresses, Twinflower and one-flowered wintergreen.

Many animals make their homes in these woods, including red deer, red squirrel, pine marten and the rare Scottish wild cat. Some stands support important populations of Capercaillie, crossbills or Crested Tit, and where there are lochs associated with the woods, as at Abernethy, there may be osprey and goldeneye. In addition to these more obvious species, there is a wide range of invertebrates – dragonflies and butterflies may be seen zipping by, although wood ants are less obvious unless you come across their mountainous nests.

Much of the remaining pine forest is sparsely wooded and regeneration is being prevented in many areas by the heavy browsing of deer and sheep. In some woods, there has been no regeneration for up to 200 years – there are no middle-aged trees waiting to take over when the grannies die. However, recent regeneration schemes have started to increase the area again.

Native pine woodlands are a priority habitat for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and are listed in the Habitats Directive as Caledonian Forest.

Forthcoming Biodiversity related events:

3 March
Action Plan and Science Group Conference
Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

20 March
Ministerial launch of SNH consultation for SNH Species Framework

2-4 June
The 3rd annual Glen Affric Walking Festival, with Trees for Life staff leading some of the walks
Glen Affric area

March 2006 - NATIVE PINEWOOD

Forthcoming Biodiversity related events:

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