Elm trees could return to woodlands across the UK, new report suggests – inews

NewsEnvironmentElm trees once dominated Britain's countryside, but were almost wiped out by Dutch elm disease half a century ago

Wednesday, 4th December 2019, 11:45 am

The species, which once dominated rural landscapes and has been present in the UK since the Bronze Age, was almost totally destroyed by Dutch elm disease, a fungal pathogen which killed 20 million trees in the UK. Some 90 per cent of elms were removed as a result of the disease and the tree has been largely forgotten as a feature of the countryside.

"Elite" elms

Research by a number of private individuals and organisations who have refused to abandon the elm now suggests that it could return, thanks in part of the discovery of elite elms that remain in the countryside and appear to be able to resist or avoid the disease.

A report by the Future Trees Trust, a charity, said the mature specimens are hundreds of years old and efforts are being made to analyse these individual elms to produce seedlings which reproduce this apparent resistance.

The charity said that with appropriate further research and funding it is now possible to envisage the re-establishment of the elm at a time when other species such as the oak are under assault from pests and diseases.

Karen Russell, the author of the report, said: The current state is that we know a lot about where the mature trees are and we know more than ever about the opportunities in terms of research. With the right people in the right place and the funding we can put elm back in the landscape.

Dutch elm disease, which arrived in Britain in two waves, remains active and continues to spread north - it has yet to reach some parts of Scotland. Immature trees sprouted from diseased parents are capable of growing for a number of years but then themselves succumb to the disease.

The researchers want to build on work in a number of European countries where the elite trees have been crossed with native elms.

More work needed

The Future Trees Trust report suggests that seedlings need to be produced in greater numbers of study their progress and use techniques such as genome sequencing to try to identify the particular genetic traits that contribute to Dutch elm disease (DED) resistance.

The report states: Since the 1990s, it has been apparent that isolated, small populations and individual trees have survived and may be avoiding, tolerant or resistant to DED. With other native species such as ash and oak under increasing pest and disease pressures, there is currently much interest in re-considering elm with an objective of conserving, improving and ultimately restoring elm back in to the landscape at a meaningful level.

The report that such much information remains scattered among individuals and organisations but there is willingness among experts to pool these resources to further research.

Max Coleman, author of book on the elm, said: Elms have demonstrated a tenacious ability to survive; it is about time we gave them a helping hand.

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Elm trees could return to woodlands across the UK, new report suggests - inews