As appeared in Forestry Journal:
UK independent ecology specialist Thomson Ecology has won the contract to work with Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission, on a new project looking at urban tree growth rate across the UK, with the aim of determining how urban environments affect tree growth patterns.
Surveyors from Thomson Ecology will be collecting tree cores from five cities across the country – Cardiff, Birmingham, Peterborough, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The four species of tree chosen are:
- Pedunculate Oak
- Sycamore
- Silver birch
- Ash
Sam Lowe, Head of Aboriculture at Thomson Ecology, said:
“This is a very interesting study and we are delighted to be working together with Forest Research on this project, which will take place over the next couple of months.
“Trees will be chosen from city parks, targeting healthy, open grown specimens. We will also be using tree survey data from each of the local authorities involved to help locate suitable trees for coring. Data from the survey, which is collected using the latest interactive mobile data capture technology, is forwarded each week to Forest Research who combine it with environmental data to determine how the urban environment affects tree growth patterns. The results should be very informative.”
Heather Rumble from Forest Research said:
“We hope that the data collected during this survey helps inform future urban tree work Forest Research is undertaking. We anticipate results being available in late 2014.”
