Visit by FC England and Forest Research Staff to Germany to inspect the effects of Oak Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea processionea)

Oak Processionary Moth can cause serious defoliation of oak trees, their principal host. On the Continent they have also been associated with hornbeam, hazel, beech, sweet chestnut and birch, but usually only where there is heavy infestation of nearby oak trees.

As with many moth species, population levels tend to vary from year to year, but they also show longer term cycles in which the population builds up to high densities over a period of 3-4 years and then declines again to lower density. Although a native of central and southern Europe, the moth spread northwards during the latter half of the twentieth century. It was first recorded in The Netherlands in 1991, and subsequent reports of damaged trees indicate that numbers soared, with 1995 - 1996 and 2004 - 2005 being particularly bad years for tree damage. Populations declined between those years, but are again reaching very damaging levels in The Netherlands and neighbouring areas of Belgium and in parts of Germany.

Click here to download the full report (Adobe Acrobat, PDF)

Agenda for LTOA static load test for assessing tree stability on Friday 19 August 2011

This will be an outdoor practical assessment of some trees in North London.

10.15am Paul Muir, Arboricultural Consultant / Contracts Administrator from Treework Environmental Practice will carry out the static load test on a tree.

The static load test is the most up-to-date and detailed method for assessing tree stability. This has proved successful in both saving trees thought to be unsafe and thus condemned to be felled and for increasing public safety by identifying trees that are critically unstable.

This is achieved by measuring both the bending strength of the tree stem and the anchoring strength of the tree roots.

Static Load Test and Tree Structural Assessment Provides:

• An understanding of the structural stability of tree roots (previously inaccessible)
• Recommendations for retaining valuable trees thought previously to be unsafe
• Guidance on the maximum, stable height of a tree
• An understanding of the effects of ‘wind load’ on a tree’s stability

1pm Lunch in The Mill pub sponsored by City Suburban

Thank you to Andy Tipping at Barnet for arranging the meeting and to City Suburban for sponsoring the lunch.

Agenda for LTOA training on i-tree

Wednesday 13 July 2011 in Islington

Agenda:

• 9.30am Welcome – tea and coffee
• 10am Keith Sacre, Barcham Trees, The potential of i-tree. The US experience
• 10.30am Kenton Rogers, Hi-line consultancy, The i-tree suite of programmes: what is available and what can and cannot be used in the UK
• 11.15am Kenton Rogers, The Torbay Project
• 12noon Keith Sacre, Data Collection in the field: the method explained
• 12.45pm Questions
• 1pm Lunch in Assembly Hall sponsored by Barcham Trees
• 2pm Practical demonstration of data collection in the field. The setting out of an i-tree plot and a practical examination of what is actually involved
• 3.30 - 4pm Discussion and close

Thank you to the tree officers at LB Islington for hosting the meeting and to Barcham trees for the refreshments teas, coffees and lunch.