20050614_CC
Source: BBC News
Date: 15/06/2005
Event: Climate change threatens UK woodland
People:
- Guy Barter: Head of Royal Horticultural Society Advisory Service
- Dr Mark Broadmeadow: Environmentalist at Forest Research
- Tom Heap: BBC journalist and presenter
- Lyn Randall: Head of the Savill Garden
[Scenes of trees, in a woodland setting.]
Tom Heap: They may look unshakeable, but their survival - like every other living thing - rests on the climate. Beech, birch and ash are particularly sensitive to drought. One dry summer is okay. Put a few together, and their thirst begins to tell.
Mark Broadmeadow: We've seen what happens where you get two droughts in a row - in '75, '76 - and that is what we're likely to get more of, in the future. More frequent droughts and more intense droughts. So that is how trees in the south-east of England are likely to be affected by climate change, in the first instance.
Tom Heap: The early warning signs are nearer the ground.
Lyn Randall: The whole concept of this garden is to grow things from the drier areas of the world, that like it hot and sunny.
Tom Heap: Here at Savill Gardens, Lyn Randall says their Dry Garden is becoming increasingly low maintenance. But the advice from garden experts is not to abandon traditional species, just think where you're planting them.
Guy Barter: In the hotter, drier summers we're going to have, it's likely that there's going to be a lot of hose pipe bans. So the really important thing is to choose a tree that's suited for the soil. Because once they're established, trees are, by their nature, drought-resistant.
Tom Heap: It's not bad news for all species of trees or all areas. Oaks can survive on less water. And, in the west of Britain, climate change could actually help some forests, as the rainfall won't drop so much and the heat could help them to grow faster.