Talking about trees: Oak stakeholder meeting 2023
At the beginning of March our BAC-STOP and Future Oak projects welcomed stakeholders to Shropshire for a joint meeting to share their research into Acute Oak Decline (AOD) and other tree diseases. AOD is a complex multi-factor disease. Bacterial species (particularly Brenneria goodwinii), the bark boring beetle Agrilus biguttatus, and environmental stresses all contribute, but to date there is no single cause.
The meeting ran over two days with talks on the first day and a site visit on the second. Day 1, 1 March 2023, was held in Shrewsbury with the talks being live-streamed for remote participants. Over 100 participants gathered in person and online, from as far afield as Switzerland and Sardinia. After a welcome from BAC-STOP project lead Sandra Denman, Elena Vanguelova (Forest Research) and Luci Corbett (Reading University) discussed the soil environment in plant health, including environmental predisposition factors to oak decline. Talks followed by Sandra Denman and Nathan Brown (Forest Research) on the management of forest diseases and pests. Robert Jackson (University of Birmingham) discussed developing management strategies to reduce oak disease. This session was concluded with Gareth Thomas (Rothamsted Research) discussing his project work in using the odour of bacteria to tackle AOD.
A workshop run by Mariella Marzano, Liz O’Brien and Michael Dunn (Forest Research) followed, where there were interesting discussions relating to land managers and other stakeholders. The aim of the workshop was to map out current/future management options that could be used to improve oak health. Further workshops will be taking place to continue this work.
In the next session Elena Vanguelova discussed oak response to drought and nutrient limitations using TreeTalkers monitors followed by Jasen Finch (Aberystwyth University) on responses to environmental stress treatments in oak sapwood. Bridget Crampton (Forest Research) gave an update assessing the pathogenicity of bacteria isolated from stem bleeds on broadleaf trees, and Bethany Pettifor (Bangor University) discussed the ecology and infection biology of Gymnopus fusipes, a fungal root rot pathogen of woodland trees.
We then welcomed Estrella Luna Diez (University of Birmingham) looking at atmospheric carbon dioxide impacts on powdery mildew disease in an established oak forest. David Lovelace (geospatial data analysis practitioner) then gave a talk on changes in ancient parkland tree crowns 1946 to 2021 using time series geo-referenced aerial photography. Bruno Scanu (University of Sassari) talked about his project FAGESOS, then the afternoon was concluded by Louise Gathercole (Forest Research) introducing the Centre for Forest Protection.
Day 2 was a site visit to the National Trust estate Attingham Park. It was well attended and gave 75-80 people the opportunity to see AOD symptoms on site and to carry out swab and lateral flow Phytophthora testing in the field. Outdoor talks included the Future Oak project on engineered microbiomes by James McDonald (University of Birmingham); Daniel Maddock (UWE) on the oak rhizosphere, Bridget Crampton (Forest Research) on RNA interference and its application in the treatment of tree diseases, and Ed Pyne (University of Bangor) on fungal combative interactions for biocontrol of Armillaria. Although the weather was bitterly cold, the morning was enthusiastically enjoyed, The meeting concluded in the welcome warmth of the Stewards Room, in the basement of the Mansion House at Attingham Park.
Our special thanks to Gareth Juleff, Ranger at Attingham Park who was present throughout the 2-day event, and Matthew Brooks, Facilities & Support Services Manager, for allowing us to use the facilities and wonderful setting for our meeting. Thanks as always to our funders BBSRC, Scottish Government, NERC, Defra, Action Oak, Woodland Heritage with whom we wouldn’t be able to carry out this research.
Photos by Summer Isle Films.