Nobody here would venture an opinion on matter arboricultural without
hearing some Kiwi wisdom first - but you are quite right, Chris, the bulk of
present day Scottish conifer forests are commercially planted (and
harvested), and are most definitely not Scots pine.
The single chap you read about was probably Alan Watson Featherstone. He
runs Trees for Life, a charity which is indeed restoring the Caledonian
Forest at Dundreggan, and other sites around here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trees_for_Life_(Scotland)
But he is not the only one interested in restoration of the Scots Pine - on
the Glenfeshie Estate I have seen for myself the beginnings of natural Scots
pine regeneration, the result of new owners deciding to vastly reduce the
deer population in 2004. It caused significant controversy at the time
(Google is your friend), but here is a later analysis of the wider picture:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/natureuk/2011/11/liz-bonnin-the-science-behind.sh
tml
The story is not simply about regeneration of the tree, more about the
specific ecosystem which the Scots pine supports, and the resulting
bio-diversity. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Forest
One of these days Bob W might release some photos from his walk in Glen
Affric - there will be some Scots pine forest to see there, I am sure.
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Barker [mailto:ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 11 October 2013 06:52
To: Olympus Camera Discussion
Subject: Re: [OM] Soctland 2, wider angle
Thanks, Brian. That sorts that out, then.
But the commercial plantations of conifers are not Scots pines, I don't
think.
And some years ago I saw an article about a single chap who was
single-handedly planting deciduous trees "to replace what was here in the
old days" (or something like that). He was clearly mistaken.
Chris
On 11 Oct 2013, at 00:15, Brian Swale <bj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Chris Barker wrote:
>
>> Thanks for jumping in, Brian. Although I respect your opinion as an
>> expert in this field (ho, ho), but I thought that Scotland was
>> forested with mainly deciduous trees in the distant past, and that
>> Scots Pines were a relatively modern introduction to the region.
>>
>> I'll need to go and do some research: for instance, what types of
>> tree covered the region before the clearances, and how long before?
>>
>> Chris
>
> Hi all, Please read through this article ..
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_pine
>
> I'm pleased to note that my memory wasn't far off the mark.
>
> I had wondered about the influence of bog formation - most pines will
> not tolerate bog at all well, but wasn't sure enough of my remembered
facts to mention it.
>
> It's a longish article but worth reading through - was for me anyway.
--
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