Open Landscapes With Ancient/Old Trees Habitat Audit
Data Sources, Rationale and Limitations of Approach
Table showing habitat by borough B-L and M-W
Data Sources
Alexander, K. (November 1998). National Trust personal communication.
Archer, J. & Yarham, I. (1991). Nature Conservation in Newham. Ecology
Handbook Number 17. London Ecology Unit.
Bantock, C.R. (1984). The Ecology of Open Spaces in Haringey.Haringey
Wildlife Group.
Bullock, D. J. & Alexander, K. (1998). Parklands - the way forward
19-21 May 1998, Hereford Proceedings. English Nature Research Report
295.
Clenet, D., Britton, B. & Game, M. (1988). Nature Conservation in
Croydon. Ecology Handbook Number 9. London Ecology Unit.
Farino, T. & Game, M. (1988). Nature Conservation in Hillingdon.
Ecology Handbook Number 7. London Ecology Unit.
Forbes, V. (1998). National Trust, Hatfield Park. Personal communication.
Game, M. & Whitfield, J. (1996). Nature Conservation in Tower Hamlets. Ecology
Handbook Number 27. London Ecology Unit.
London Wildlife Habitat Survey (1984/5). Held by LEU, includes habitat dot
distribution maps, aggregated area figures and standardised information on
every survey parcel.
Haringey Parks Service. (Undated). Nature Conservation Strategy.
LB Haringey.
Key, R. (1998). English Nature. Personal communication.
Read, H.J. (1991). Pollard and Veteran Tree Management. Corporation of
London.
Read, H.J. (1991). Pollard and Veteran Tree Management Volume 2.
Corporation of London.
Reid, C. & Wilson, C. (1995). The Parkland Inventory Project: A Pilot
Study for an Inventory of Parklands. English Nature Research Report No.
147.
Richardson, A. (1998). English Heritage. Personal communication.
Swales, S., Yarham, I. & Britton, B. (1992). Nature Conservation in
Kingston upon Thames. Ecology Handbook Number 18. London Ecology
Unit.
Waite, M. (1991). Bexley Wildlife Survey Part 1: Schedule of Sites of
Nature Conservation Importance. London Ecology Unit.
Waite, M. (1998). A revised Schedule of Sites of Importance for Nature
Conservation in Enfield. London Ecology Unit.
Waite, M. & Archer, J. (1992). Nature Conservation in Islington.
Ecology Handbook Number 19. London Ecology Unit.
Yarham, I., Barnes, R. & Britton, B. (1993). Nature Conservation in
Sutton. Ecology Handbook Number 22. London Ecology Unit.
Wicks, D. & Cloughley, P (Eds) (1997). The Biodiversity of Southeast
England: An Audit and Assessment. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife
Trust.
Rationale and limitations of approach
This audit was conducted as a desk top study, relying upon the best available data, the present day accuracy of which may vary from site to site.
The audit should be treated as a guide and not as a definitive statement of the extent of Greater London’s Open Landscapes with Ancient/Old Trees. Each borough could refine the audit by co-ordinating a re-survey of the listed sites, thereby adding to, or reducing the number of sites or area of each site included.
The majority of the data collected has been taken from the London Ecology Unit (LEU) ‘Phase 1' habitat survey of Greater London (1984). This survey represents the most fully comprehensive survey to date. It has been cross-referenced with re-surveys carried out by LEU. Further cross-reference was made with the Register of Parks and Gardens of Greater London compiled by English Heritage. Without visiting every site to assess whether or not each should be included within this audit, it is not possible at this stage to differentiate easily between parks with ancient/old trees but with no other notable habitat features and those parks with all these features. Therefore, some sites may have been included at this stage that do not possess all features, whilst others that do possess all features have been excluded.
A considerable amount of further research is needed to obtain a full audit of this resource. For example, difficulties may arise where ancient and old trees occur alongside rivers and streams; some opinion holds that this relationship should be treated as linear wood pasture. Further difficulties may arise where ancient and old trees occur at the edges of ancient woodland, where the distinction between woodland and open landscape may not be clear. At this stage of evaluation, it has not been possible to identify those pasture sites where the intervening hedgerows include ancient or old trees; this information is not yet included in the LEU data set. For example, there may be significant numbers of ancient hedgerows alongside hay meadows or pastures in several of the north London outer boroughs such as Havering and Barnet.
Whatever definitions are arrived at in future in London, a fundamental point must be maintained: namely that it is the wood decay caused by the symbiotic relationship between the tree and its fungi that is most important. This relationship gives rise to a ‘deadwood’ ecosystem where fungi, mosses and lichens thrive and provide a food source for an invertebrate food chain. Conserving deadwood will pose the biggest challenge to London’s site managers.