The Royal Forestry Society has published information for foresters about alternative tree species that might be used in Britain to improve resilience of the forest resource to climate change, pests, and diseases.
Species profile papers cover:
Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) (PNPN)
Japanese incense cedar (aka sugi / Japanese red cedar) (Cryptomeria Japonica) (CYJP)
True cedars (Cedrus spp)
Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce)
Firs (Abies spp)
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp)
Where it comes to timber properties we have to be very careful when interpreting the data we have. It is not always possible to transfer information from timber grown in one country to another – due to climate, forest management and natural variation within species. This applies especially to mechanical properties and durability – where geographical variation within species can be surprisingly large. This is why we are in the process of collecting information on timber grown in the UK. One also has to be careful what data is being used – as there is a world of difference between a small set of data from small clear testing and a fully representative sampling of full structural sized specimens.
Read the FRS species info here (also worth exploring the other information on their website)
and also check out the SilviFuture project.
There is more info on properties in our previous blog post “Grade in Britain“.
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