Old trees

[AnnemarieMorris]

We have a beautiful old Ash tree on the edge of one of our meadows and I wondered if anyone had any information on the importance of these old trees within a meadow setting. I know they can sustain over a hundred different species of plants and animals and I would be interested to know if I could somehow record these. Any thoughts on how I might go about this??

[Donna Cox]

What a fabulous tree Annemarie!
You could add it to The Woodland Trust ancient tree inventory. They have a dedicated page on their website where people can log (excuse the pun) old trees. I'm not sure what the criteria is but your ash looks sizeable.

[Steve Pollard]

Out of interest, attached is a wonderful article on the value of different tree species to wildlife (orginally shared on the email exchange by Andrew Taylor). As you will see from the table, Ash scores high for wood decay inverts and epiphyte communities (both found with old trees).

[AnnemarieMorris]

Thanks for the help and advice Donna and Steve! I will take a look.