| Tree Redlist |
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The World Conservation Monitoring Centre provides information services on conservation and sustainable use of the world's living resources, and helps others to develop information systems of their own. As part of its works, it maintains the World List of Threatened Trees. The WCMC maintains strict criteria for application to rare or threatened trees, the standards for which are established by another international body, the IUCN. The criteria cover such areas as population count, density, recent declines, statutory protection, threat assessments etc. The only Irish entry on this list is the English Whitebeam (Sorbus anglica) which grows only in England and Ireland, but was added to the list by British researchers. As part of our aims to conserve the trees of Ireland, we are currently engaged in detailed research to establish the conservation status of three indigenous Irish trees, not found outside of this country: Irish Whitebeam Sorbus hibernica Irish Willow Salix hibernica Salix x grahamii nothovar moorei a rare hybrid found on Muckish mountain in Donegal now extinct in the wild. As these trees have not been added to the IUCN redlist and may meet the specified criteria, the Native Woodland Trust will apply its research to the criteria for the IUCN list. The Trust is currently in the process of registering all qualifying trees with the international bodies mentioned above and will continue to monitor these and other species in order to guard against their demise. Irish Redlist As the international agencies mentioned only cater for species endangered at an international level, and because the last redlist of Vascular Plants in Ireland has not been updated since 1985,the Native Woodland Trust also intends to maintain its own "Redlist" of species threatened or rare within Ireland. Currently the focus is on tree species, but the redlist will soon be extended to all woodland flora and fauna. The Trust will attempt to use the same criteria as the IUCN / WCMC, but will apply them only at national level. Similar research and monitoring is already taking place for this Irish list, and the Trust will concentrate on these species at the commencement of our Genotype Ark project. We also intend to make use of our New Woodland Creation project to repopulate the countryside with these species. Tree species which are mentioned in the Irish state's official list include: Bird Cherry Prunus padus This small tree was originally recorded in 28 of Ireland's 32 counties but is now found in only 9: Cork, Meath, Roscommon, Sligo, Donegal, Armagh, Antrim, Derry and Fermanagh. Alder Buckthorn Frangula alnus This small tree of boggy and rocky ground was originally found in 16 counties in Ireland , but is now only seen in 6: Clare, Galway, Mayo, Westmeath, Antrim and Armagh and has declined in the midlands due to the exploitation of the bogs. Tea-leaved Willow Salix phylicifolia This shrub/small tree is found only on mountains in the west of Ireland and has only been confirmed from Sligo and Leitrim. There are unconfirmed reports of it in Mayo, Donegal, Derry and Antrim however, due to the difficulty in reliably identifying this species, not all of these sites can be considered factual. As an example of the lack of information on this species, one of its confirmed sites was not found until 1977. Other rare trees of note: Scots Pine Pinus Sylvestris Scots Pine of native Irish stock is considered by many academics to be extinct. Although the species is found widely in Ireland, the fashion for planting trees of exotic stock (which favoured the planting of Scots Pine from Scotland throughout the 18th century) has continued in Ireland until the present day. It is possible that some existing stands or individual trees of Scots Pine are native, but it is currently impossible to verify this. Scots Pine is the only pine tree native to Ireland. The only other native coniferous trees are Juniper (Juniperus communis) and the Yew (Taxus baccata). Wych Elm Ulmus glabra Wych Elm is the only species of Elm found in Ireland. Unlike most of the other species found in Britain and Europe, the Wych Elm does not reproduce by suckering (new trees growing from roots of the original tree) and is only spread by seed. Despite being one of Ireland's most common trees before the arrival of man, Elm is rare in Ireland due to its tendency to occupy the most fertile soils which are the most sought after for agriculture. The species has also suffered from the effects of the infamous Dutch Elm disease. Many different species of Elm are still very common in hedgerows throughout Ireland, but truly native trees are probably confined to rocky hillsides and remote valleys in the west of Ireland. Strawberry Tree Arbutus unedo The strawberry tree is one of our rarest native trees. Its presence in Ireland has also been somewhat of a mystery, as it is not found in Britain and is a tree typical of the Mediterranean and western France. There is, however, no doubt that the tree is native, as its pollen has been found buried in peat bogs and has been dated to over 4,000 BC. Theories as to how it persists in Ireland range from colonising via a land bridge between Ireland and western Europe in prehistoric times, to surviving the last Ice age. The tree is now found only in Kerry and West Cork, with one isolated locality near Lough Gill in County Sligo, although there is evidence that it was once far more widespread in Waterford, Clare and Mayo. Crab apple Malus sylvestris The native wild Crab Apple is quite a rare tree in Ireland. Although it can be commonly found in hedgerows e.g. in north Dublin, many of these trees are descended from cultivated stock. The true Crab apple can still be found in some isolated localities and is described as abundant in St. John's Wood. Bibliography: Nelson, E.Charles & Wendy F. Walsh 1993. The Trees of Ireland Native and Naturalised. The Lilliput Press. Curtis, T.G.F. & McGough H.N. 1988. The Irish Red Data Book Vascular Plants. Dublin: The Stationery Office. |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 08 November 2009 21:22 |