Fire has long been recognised a key feature of disturbance dynamics in forest habitats and it seems likely that most tree species have evolved to cope with episodic surface fires. However the long-term effects are not straightforward as Tom Bradfer-Lawrence and Shaila Rao of the National Trust for Scotland explain.Owned by the National Trust for Scotland the varied landscape of the Mar Lodge Estate includes 840 hectares of old-growth Caledonian pine wood (Forestry Commission, 1998). In May 2002 accidental fire swept through the lower end of Glen Derry on the estate in the southern Cairngorms (Figure 1). The burned area totalled 61 hectares, of which nine hectares was in old-growth Scots pine woodland. 206 mature pine trees were damaged, suffering varying degrees of scorching.
展开▼
