Mitigating Wild Fire Risk to Woodland

This unusually dry and warm period being enjoyed across Britain has brought the usual spate of wildfires. It seems this happens every year even after a relatively short dry period in the summer. There are many areas which are particularly prone including draineand intensively managed heather moorland, heathland, and forestry plantations. IN a forestry context it is often the spruce dominated commercial plantations which are most at risk, especially in semi-urban settings such as the South Wales Valleys, an area particularly susceptible to deliberate fire raising and anti-social behaviour. For Eadha this is all the more poignant on the anniversary of a devastating fire which destroyed the polytunnel we used for propagation which torched some of our stock of aspen trees stored nearby.

One year on and our phoenix aspen are showing remarkable resilience, with lush regrowth from our 4 year old stock trees. Even the young saplings growing in trays are growing back in what is left of the original plastic trays.

There are of course many ways to reduce the risks of wildfires happening and then reducing their impact when they occur. However the observations in our nursery point to one idea perhaps not considered and that is the greater use of aspen in fire prone areas.

The resilience of aspen to wildfire is most evident in North America where regular wildfires are a natural part of the forest cycle. In particular where aspen and spruce naturally co-exist or where they have been planted in mixed silviculture systems, a fairly common occurrence, then a cycle of wildfires and forest regeneration takes place. The spruce will be decimated by fire whereas aspen roots can remain viable leading to rampant suckering and regeneration. The resulting dense thicket will then act as a nurse for later spruce seedlings, ameliorating soil conditions and providing protection against the elements. The maturing spruce will eventually shade out the aspen which is then relegated to forest margins or areas less suited to spruce.

Although wildfires are perhaps not perceived as such a natural part of forest dynamics in Britain there is perhaps a greater role for aspen in such fire prone areas, with more mixed aspen/spruce planting and the planting of pure aspen along forest edges and public access routes.