Ash Archive

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The Ash Archive is a project founded in 2019 [1] to restore ash trees to the landscape in England. English ash trees experienced massive dieback beginning in 2012 as a result of a fungal pathogen, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus . [2] [3] The archive contains over 3,000 trees, all of which propagated from the shoots of trees that had demonstrated some resistance to the fungus. [3] The archive was established with £1.9 million (about USD 2.5 million) in government funding, and followed a five-year project to identify ash trees that were resistant to the fungus. [4] One of the final trees in the archive was planted in January 2020 by Nicola Spence, the Chief Plant Health Officer of the UK government. Spence said, "I'm delighted to acknowledge the successes of the Ash Archive project and welcome the International Year of Plant Health by planting an ash dieback-tolerant tree." [3]

The Ash Archive trees were planted in the county of Hampshire in an unspecified location by the Future Trees Trust. Propagated shoots came from trees in East Anglia. All the trees will be monitored for five years to identify those that are the most resistant to disease. These will form the basis of the future breeding program. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fraxinus</i> Genus of plants

Fraxinus, commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergreen trees. The genus is widespread throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America.

<i>Fraxinus americana</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a fast-growing species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America.

<i>Fraxinus excelsior</i> Species of deciduous tree in the family Oleaceae

Fraxinus excelsior, known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains, and Great Britain and Ireland, the latter determining its western boundary. The northernmost location is in the Trondheimsfjord region of Norway. The species is widely cultivated and reportedly naturalised in New Zealand and in scattered locales in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald ash borer</span> Species of beetle

The emerald ash borer, also known by the acronym EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees to emerge as adults in one to two years. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and does not cause significant damage to trees native to the area. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to Europe and North America. Before it was found in North America, very little was known about emerald ash borer in its native range; this has resulted in much of the research on its biology being focused in North America. Local governments in North America are attempting to control it by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, and through the use of insecticides and biological control.

<i>Phytophthora cinnamomi</i> Species of single-celled organism

Phytophthora cinnamomi, also known as cinnamon fungus, is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "dieback", "root rot", or, "ink disease".

<i>Pterocarpus indicus</i> Species of legume

Pterocarpus indicus is a species of Pterocarpus native to southeastern Asia, northern Australasia, and the western Pacific Ocean islands, in Cambodia, southernmost China, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

<i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus pennsylvanica, the green ash or red ash, is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to Oklahoma and eastern Texas. It has spread and become naturalized in much of the western United States and also in Europe from Spain to Russia.

<i>Ulmus</i> Nanguen Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'Nanguen' is a complex fourth generation Dutch hybrid cultivar raised at the Dorschkamp Research Institute for Forestry & Landscape Planning, Wageningen. Lutèce was derived from the cross 'Plantyn' ×, an ancestry comprising four field elms, a wych elm, the curious Exeter Elm ('Exoniensis'), and a frost-resistant selection of the Himalayan elm.

<i>Ulmus</i> New Horizon Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'New Horizon' is an American hybrid cultivar raised by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), from a crossing of the Japanese Elm clone W43-8 = 'Reseda' with Siberian Elm clone W426 grown from seed collected from a street tree at Yankton, South Dakota. Tested in the US National Elm Trial coordinated by Colorado State University, 'New Horizon' averaged a survival rate of 74% after 10 years.'New Horizon' was patented in the US in 1994, while in Europe, it is marketed as one of the 'Resista' elms protected under EU breeders' rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claret ash</span> Variety of tree

Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa 'Raywood', known as claret ash or Raywood ash is a cultivar of ash, a seedling variant of Caucasian ash, Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa. It is distinctive in its leaves turning to a dark red colour in autumn.

<i>Ulmus</i> Sapporo Autumn Gold Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'Sapporo Autumn Gold' is one of the most commercially successful hybrid elm cultivars ever marketed, widely planted across North America and western Europe, although it has now been largely supplanted by more recent introductions. Arising from a chance crossing of the Japanese elm and Siberian elm, seed was sent in 1958 by Prof. Nobuku Takahashi and his colleagues at the Sapporo Botanical Garden of Hokkaido University, Sapporo, to Eugene Smalley at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The patent issued in 1975 has expired, and there are now no propagation restrictions. However, the tree has proven weak-wooded on maturity, and its popularity has waned in Europe as a consequence of susceptibility to wind damage.

<i>Ulmus</i> Wanoux Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'Wanoux' is a Dutch hybrid cultivar raised at the Dorschkamp Research Institute for Forestry & Landscape Planning, Wageningen, from an open pollination of 'Plantyn'. Originally identified as clone No. 762, it was selected for assessment by the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), which patented it as 'Wanoux' in 2006.

<i>Chionanthus virginicus</i> Species of tree

Chionanthus virginicus is a tree native to the savannas and lowlands of the northeastern and southeastern United States, from Massachusetts south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas.

<i>Ulmus</i> Fiorente Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'Fiorente' is a hybrid cultivar elm derived from a crossing of the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila clone 'S.10' from Lucca, Italy, with the Ulmus minor clone 'C.02' from Lungarno, Florence, by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), part of the Italian National Research Council, in Florence. The tree is protected by Plant Breeders' Rights bestowed by the EU on 25 March 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest dieback</span> Stand of trees losing health and dying

Forest dieback is a condition in trees or woody plants in which peripheral parts are killed, either by pathogens, parasites or conditions like acid rain, drought, and more. These episodes can have disastrous consequences such as reduced resiliency of the ecosystem, disappearing important symbiotic relationships and thresholds. Some tipping points for major climate change forecast in the next century are directly related to forest diebacks.

<i>Armillaria</i> root rot Fungal tree disease

Armillaria root rot is a fungal root rot caused by several different members of the genus Armillaria. The symptoms are variable depending on the host infected, ranging from stunted leaves to chlorotic needles and dieback of twigs and branches. However, all infected hosts display symptoms characteristic of being infected by a white rotting fungus. The most effective ways of management focus on limiting the spread of the fungus, planting resistant species, and removing infected material. This disease poses a threat to the lumber industry as well as affecting recreational areas.

<i>Hymenoscyphus fraxineus</i> Fungus, cause of ash dieback

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is an ascomycete fungus that causes ash dieback, a chronic fungal disease of ash trees in Europe characterised by leaf loss and crown dieback in infected trees. The fungus was first scientifically described in 2006 under the name Chalara fraxinea. Four years later it was discovered that Chalara fraxinea is the asexual (anamorphic) stage of a fungus that was subsequently named Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus and then renamed as Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

The Future Trees Trust is a charity that aims to improve and increase the stock of hardwood trees in Britain and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Spence</span> British biologist

Nicola Jane Spence is the Chief Plant Health Officer and Deputy Director for plant and bee health at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Edwards (botanist)</span> British plant scientist

Anne Edwards is a British plant scientist, based at the John Innes Centre and was the first person in the UK to identify Ash dieback disease in England,

References

  1. Appleby, Matthew. "Pioneering project to tackle ash dieback launches International Year of Plant Health". Horticulture Week. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. Pain, Stephanie (2020). "The accidental tree killers". Knowable Magazine. doi: 10.1146/knowable-092120-1 . S2CID   224939766.
  3. 1 2 3 "Completion of Ash Archive launches International Year of Plant Health". Landscape Institute. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  4. Defra Press Office (17 January 2020). "Ash dieback project launches International Year of Plant Health". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  5. "'Resistant' trees planted in Hampshire in ash dieback fight". BBC. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.