13 January 2023
Managing ash dieback
Teagasc’s Forestry Development Department have produced a series of videos “Managing ash dieback” to provide objective advice to forest owners whose ash plantations have been affected by ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus).
Here we highlight the important factors that need to be considered when removing the infected ash trees and replacing them with alternative tree species.
Ash trees severely impacted by the fungal ash dieback disease.
Practical advice
In this series, practical advice and information is provided by Teagasc’s Forestry Development Officers.
The first video provides a very useful overview of the life cycle and symptoms of this fungal disease, with descriptions of how this fungal disease spreads and how to recognise the symptoms of this disease of our ash trees.
Harvesting ash dieback-infected timber is not possible without suitable access. This video deals with the importance of access into and through a plantation infected by ash dieback. The necessity of adequate forest roads providing access for timber harvesting operations is emphasised.
Harvesting diseased trees presents particular challenges. In the third video, the challenges faced when carrying out timber harvesting operations in ash dieback-infected plantations are discussed, in particular the important health and safety considerations when harvesting dead or dying ash trees.
Another video considers important factors when selecting alternative tree species, planting options and protecting the newly established trees once the diseased trees have been removed.
Dr Ian Short looks at management options to counter the disease.
Teagasc research
The series also comprises two videos providing an overview of the important research work that is being carried out by Teagasc investigating solutions to the ash dieback fungal disease.
Teagasc has developed two research projects on ash dieback. Unfortunately, it is expected that the disease will affect most ash trees in Ireland, causing the majority of them to die over the next two decades.
A very small proportion of ash trees show natural tolerance to the pathogen. This means that they show minor symptoms and the disease does not have a noticeable impact on their growth or health. Teagasc is working to identify such trees and build up a gene bank with the ultimate goal of producing tolerant ash seed and plants restoring ash trees to Irish forests and hedgerows.
Dr Ian Short gives an overview of his remedial silvicultural research over more than a decade supporting forest owners in managing their ash dieback-infected plantations. He discusses alternative silvicultural management options including coppicing, underplanting, free-growth, and felling of small coupes.
Dr Dheeraj Rathore, tree improvement researcher with Teagasc discusses the Teagasc tree improvement programme to breed tree genotypes that are resilient to the ash dieback disease, productive and adapted for a changing climate. The long-term aim of this work is to multiply these tolerant genotypes to establish clonal seed orchards, seedline seed orchards and continue field-testing the clones and their progeny to restore ash in the Irish landscape.
Dr Dheeraj Rathore investigates tree genotypes that are resilient to the ash dieback disease, productive and adapted for a changing climate.
This important series on how to deal with ash dieback is made up of six short videos. They can be viewed here www.bit.ly/managing_ashdieback.
These and other forestry-related videos can be viewed on the Teagasc Forestry YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/teagascforestryvideos.