Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

The Ancient Tree Inventory: a summary of the results of a 15 year citizen science project recording ancient, veteran and notable trees across the UK

Nolan, Victoria; Reader, Tom; Gilbert, Francis; Atkinson, Nick

The Ancient Tree Inventory: a summary of the results of a 15 year citizen science project recording ancient, veteran and notable trees across the UK Thumbnail


Authors

Victoria Nolan

TOM READER TOM.READER@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Associate Professor

Nick Atkinson



Abstract

© 2020, The Author(s). Ancient, veteran and notable trees are ecologically important keystone organisms and have tangible connections to folklore, history and sociocultural practices. Although found worldwide, few countries have such a rich history of recording and treasuring these trees as the UK, with its extensive Royal and aristocratic land ownership, unique land management methods and long-standing interest in natural history and species record collecting. As a result, the UK has collated an extensive database of ancient, veteran and notable trees called the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI). The ATI is the result of a successful, long-term citizen science recording project and is the most comprehensive database of ancient and other noteworthy trees to date. We present here the first review of the ATI in its entirety since its initiation in 2004, including summaries of the UK ancient, veteran and notable tree distributions, the status and condition of the trees, and key information about the recording process and maintenance of the database. Statistical analysis of components of the dataset, comprising 169,967 tree records, suggest there are significant differences in the threats, size, form and location of different types of trees, especially in relation to taxonomic identity and tree age. Our goal is to highlight the value of the ATI in the UK, to encourage the development of similar ancient tree recording projects in other countries, and to emphasise the importance to conservation of continued efforts to maintain and expand databases of this kind.

Citation

Nolan, V., Reader, T., Gilbert, F., & Atkinson, N. (2020). The Ancient Tree Inventory: a summary of the results of a 15 year citizen science project recording ancient, veteran and notable trees across the UK. Biodiversity and Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-02033-2

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 6, 2020
Online Publication Date Aug 18, 2020
Publication Date Aug 18, 2020
Deposit Date Aug 21, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Biodiversity and Conservation
Print ISSN 0960-3115
Electronic ISSN 1572-9710
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-02033-2
Keywords Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Nature and Landscape Conservation
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4845687
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-020-02033-2

Files




You might also like



Downloadable Citations