NEC05558 PuRpOsE: PRotecting Oak Ecosystems: understanding and forecasting causes and consequences, management for future climates

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In the UK, Quercus robur and Q. petraea are under threat from new diseases including Acute Oak Decline (AOD). The PuRpOsE (PRotect Oak Ecosystems) project will improve knowledge and understanding of interactions between pests and diseases, environments and humans related to the health threats to native oaks now and going forward through projected climate futures. We will identify the wider impacts of oak decline on biodiversity, ecosystem function and services, and interactions between institutional stakeholders, to identify policy and practice that will reduce or mitigate these impacts. We will deploy state of the art methodology to identify biotic and abiotic factors that affect tree susceptibility and disease development and determine phenotypic changes brought on by AOD infections. Horizon scanning using expert opinion and novel climate matching tools will identify potential future oak pests/pathogens. We will screen current and new oak silvicultural systems and use existing trials of climate matched provenances and species diversity plots. Together with key stakeholders, we will use the assimilated project knowledge to investigate adaptive management pathways to prevent/slow down oak pest and pathogen impacts. Applying theoretical and methodological innovations in the social sciences relating to tree health issues and complex stakeholder interactions, we will consider how disease 'stories' emerge and how the enthusiasm of actors involved in AOD can help develop collaborative strategies for managing and living with AOD. Working with stakeholders throughout the project we will enable:
1. Policy makers in charge of natural resource planning to understand the risk of oak decline and provide them with evidence-based knowledge to change policies appropriately
2. Managers to feel confident in preparing for change and to start managing their woodlands appropriately
3. Stakeholders to be less averse to the changes required to mitigate the impacts of oak decline.

Impact SummaryImpact Summary: The impact we aim to generate will stem from our interdisciplinary research including state-of-the-art microbiome and metabolomic studies coupled with applied and practical forest ecology and social science work to establish human approaches to recognising and managing oak disease. Specifically, we will seek to: 1) influence decision-makers in forest policy and practice (e.g. Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Woodland Trust, Forestry Commission England and Scotland, Environment Agency, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, National Trust, Fera, Defra, Confederation of Forest Industries, Institute of Chartered Foresters, City Councils, nursery trade and community woodland groups) to improve their understanding of oak related pests and diseases and the threats posed to the wider ecosystem; 2) provide policymakers in charge of natural resource planning with the evidence to change policies appropriately; 3) instil confidence in forest managers to implement the management required to maintain oak ecosystem health; 4) prepare stakeholders for a potential loss, or major decline of oak. We can only do this by understanding if trees are experiencing stress that makes them more susceptible to disease (WP1 & 2) with knock on effects to ecosystem services (WP3) to use these data to develop indicators of threat (WP1) and in combination with tree surveys to develop a risk map (WP2) for future management purposes. Underpinning the project is WP4, which addresses the need to effectively understand the different human approaches to understanding how pests and diseases spread and how different scientific approaches might drive different management policies. Throughout the project's implementation we will deliberatively engage with key stakeholders in a co-learning process, specifically working together with individuals from our case study sites dispersed across the UK, as well as with local, regional and national organisations, for example through our Project Advisory Group.