Ash Dieback: Essex Crisis

On 25th October 2012, the ash dieback disease was confirmed as being present in ash trees in Norfolk and Suffolk woodlands. Just this week, ash dieback has reached Essex and Kent.The disease arrived from Europe where 90% of the species in Denmark has been wiped out. Experts suggest it is posing a real danger to the UK’s 80 million ash trees.

The University of East Anglia has been mapping local sightings through an app called Ashtag. This information is passed to the Forestry Commission.

How to Identify Ash Dieback

If you have ash trees nearby, see if you can spot any signs of the disease. Here’s how:

• Look at the leaves – infected leaves will be wilting and coloured black or brown.  If the tree is severely affected the entire crown may be diseased with shoots, twigs and branches dying.
• Check for lesions – small spots will appear on the bark of stems and branches.
• Note any discoloured wood – underneath the bark the wood turns a brown-grey colour which can extend lengthwise down the stem or branch.
• Look out for fungi – not yet been seen in the UK but tiny fungi about 2mm wide can be found on the leaf stalks in damp areas beneath diseased trees.

Ash Dieback and British Wildlife

What does the loss of Britain’s ash trees mean for British wildlife? Much flora and fauna rely upon the ash trees to survive.  Here are some of the species that may be affected:

• Wild garlic, dog’s mercury, hazel and wood cranesbill are all plants that thrive beneath the ash tree.
• Bluebells are often seen carpeting the base of ash trees.
• Many birds feed from the rich ground beneath the ash tree including warblers, flycatchers, owls, woodpeckers and the nuthatch.
• More than 100 species of insects live on ash trees with at least 60 of the rarest associated with the tree.
• The brown hairstreak butterfly is found in ash trees using the high branches for breeding.

The situation is being monitored by the government. But other countries are struggling to control the spread of this disease, so only time will tell if the ash tree will be able to survive this devastating epidemic in Britain.

If you think you have spotted a case of ash dieback your help is needed. You are invited to report it using the Ashtag app available on the App Store or on Google Play for Android: http://ashtag.org/.

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