SCOTTISH scientists have warned a deadly tree disease is worse than feared and capable of wiping out more than half the ash trees that exist in woodland.
Edinburgh University experts' research suggests nine million, or 90% of ash trees north of the Border, will become infected in time with a fungus that causes ash dieback.
It puts the figure at around 110 million of Britain's total 126 million trees ash trees.
Dr Dave Reay, from the university's School of GeoSciences, said: "We already have the infection in Scotland, mainly in the central belt and in the east, so it is a problem for us."
The study estimates the disease, threatening to remove ash trees from the British landscape, could destroy enough woodland to fill Murrayfield Stadium more than 16 times over
They predict that, based on a similar epidemic in Lithuania, 60% of infected trees could die, most likely within a decade.
However, the hope is that the spread to Scotland can be slowed down sufficiently to find an answer which will reduce the impact north of the Border.
The Edinburgh team say the loss of a large volume of trees could aggravate the effects of climate change. Losing a large portion of Britain's woodland would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the air and stored in trees, and the harmful greenhouse gas would instead be released into the atmosphere.
In the study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, the scientists calculate the overall impact on the environment will depend on whether ash trees are replaced by another tree species, and how quickly. Many ash trees were planted to fill the gaps left by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s and 1980s.
The scientists are also concerned over the potential impact of the loss of ash trees on the ecosystem, such as plants and animals living in or near the trees.
Dr Reay said: "Most of the large-scale infection is in the east of England but with luck we can slow down the spread to Scotland."
A spokesman for Forestry Commission Scotland said Chalara – ash dieback – was established in Britain and would inevitably spread further.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article