Lothian Area Office Silvan House DALKEITH OAKWOOD 3rd Floor East Site of Special Scientific Interest 231 Corstorphine Road EH12 7AT SITE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Tel: 0131 316 2600 Fax: 0131 316 2690 Site code: 487 e-mail: @snh.gov.uk

Purpose This is a public statement prepared by SNH for owners and occupiers of the SSSI. It outlines the reasons it is designated as an SSSI and provides guidance on how its special natural features should be conserved or enhanced. This Statement does not affect or form part of the statutory notification and does not remove the need to apply for consent for operations requiring consent. We welcome your views on this statement.

Description of the site Dalkeith Oakwood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is located within Dalkeith Country Estate, approximately 1km north of Dalkeith, . This is an ancient relict oak woodland, grazed and managed as a park woodland for many centuries. The area has had continuous woodland cover throughout historical times, and is undoubtedly a remnant of the ancient primary forest of the area.

The ancient parkland oakwood is bordered with semi-natural woodland on steep river banks. Within the steep valleys of the Rivers North Esk and South Esk, a mixed oak/ash/elm wood occurs. Outwith the valley, the park woodland consists purely of oak - both pedunculate and sessile. Three distinct age classes of oak exist, the oldest of which are of medieval origin.

The open structure of the park woodland with its abundant deadwood and associated semi-natural woodland provides a unique habitat in for several rare species of beetle and lichen. There is also a good diversity of commoner lichens, higher plants and birds.

Dalkeith Oakwood is one of only two remaining ancient park woodlands in Scotland and is unique in the Lothian area as an ecological and historical record.

The 2002 site condition monitoring (SCM) assessment of the woodland feature found it to be in unfavourable condition due to a lack of regeneration and subsequent poor age structure/diversity.

The 2003 SCM assessment of the beetle assemblage feature found it to be in favourable condition. In general, the site was found to be providing the required microhabitats for a high quality deadwood-dependent beetle assemblage. Good

quantities of fallen and standing deadwood were present across the site, and in a range of varied conditions. Four nationally scarce and five regionally scarce beetle species were recorded during the survey.

The 2004 SCM survey of the lichen assemblage found it to be in unfavourable condition due to the long-term effects of nutrient enrichment and air pollution. The limited age structure and diversity of the woodland also contributed to the unfavourable status, with the site displaying a reduction in the range of lichen assemblage since baseline surveys.

Natural features of Condition of feature Dalkeith Oakwood SSSI (and date monitored) Woodland pasture and parkland Unfavourable – no previous assessment (September 2002) Lichen assemblage Unfavourable – declining (October 2004) Beetles Favourable – maintained (September 2003)

Standing and fallen deadwood Lichen community on oak bough

Past and present management

This SSSI woodland is a remnant of the post-glacial forest which has been grazed as a park woodland since the 12th century. The oldest oaks were coppiced in approximately the 15th or 16th century; younger ‘maiden’ trees have not been coppiced.

The site forms part of the Buccleuch Estate and is managed, as part of Dalkeith Park, for public access.

The long-term goal for the site is to maintain and, if possible, enhance the age diversity and open structure of the parkland oakwood together with its associated assemblages of rare beetle and lichen species.

As the oldest oaks are reaching the end of their lifespan, natural regeneration must be encouraged and/or new trees planted if the age structure and diversity of the wood is to be maintained and enhanced. Any regeneration or planting must also be managed in order to maintain the open parkland nature of the wood.

To date, natural regeneration has had very limited success. This is mainly due to a very

changeable grazing regime (which has included supplementary feeding and pasture improvement). In the recent past, lack of a comprehensive grazing regime and the use of non-organic cattle have proved far from optimal in terms of SSSI conservation interests.

In 1987, Buccleuch Estates and SNH entered into a 21-year Management Agreement (MA) relating to the erection and maintenance of a fenced enclosure for the purpose of promoting natural oak regeneration. The Agreement was adjusted in 1993 to cover the maintenance of an additional fenced enclosure for planting oaks. In 1999, an SNH grant funded the installation of six fenced corrals for oak planting and the MA was further adjusted to cover their maintenance. The 21-year MA expired in 2008. Success within each of the enclosures has been limited, with a 60% average survival rate and surviving oaks displaying somewhat inhibited growth.

In 2005, Dalkeith Oakwood SSSI was selected for a Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) S9 Pilot Stewardship grant for Controlled Grazing in Woodland. The Scheme is initially set to run for 10 years. A detailed preliminary ecological assessment and a comprehensive 50-year Management Plan have been produced for the site as part of the S9 Scheme. The prescriptions and projects within the Plan are aimed at covering most of the management issues which will arise in the 10 years of the S9 Scheme. The S9 Scheme at Dalkeith commenced in 2008.

The objectives of the S9 Scheme relate to woodland stewardship through controlled grazing. This involves installing stock-proof fencing within the wooded areas of the site in order to facilitate rotational cattle grazing. All stock used will be organic. A regular monitoring programme will be implemented in order to assess natural regeneration and changes in ground flora composition throughout the site. Grazing levels will be continually reviewed and adjusted to inform the relative success of actions on the ground in the near-term.

In 2008, SNH funded the planting of 100 oak seedlings with tree guards in order to help establish a cohort of young oaks around the existing woodland edge, where natural regeneration does not occur. SNH then entered into a new 1-year MA with the Estate in 2008, covering the planting of oak seedlings and maintenance of tree guards.

Any future provisions for planting and maintenance should be covered through entry into an appropriate Rural Development Contract scheme which will be run under the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) (available 2007-2013). This could offer benefits for positive woodland management and should aim to protect and enhance the nature conservation value of the site, encourage greater age and structural diversity, and promote the removal of ‘weedy’ species including nettle.

Objectives for Management (and key factors influencing the condition of natural features) We wish to work with the owner to protect the site and to maintain and, where necessary, enhance its features of special interest. SNH aims to carry out site survey, monitoring and research as appropriate to increase our knowledge and understanding of the site and its natural features and monitor the effectiveness of the management agreement.

1. Maintain and enhance the age diversity and open structure of the parkland oakwood through encouragement of natural regeneration and planting of new trees.

2. Monitor ground flora composition and sward height and adjust grazing levels accordingly.

3. Encourage expansion of oak parkland into area of open pasture within SSSI through natural regeneration/planting.

4. Maintain and enhance habitats for beetle fauna including deadwood and nectar-producing flora.

5. Safeguard the populations of rare lichens by maintaining associated habitats including mature woodland and deadwood.

6. Eliminate the input of unwanted seeds, nutrients, herbicide, fungicide, insecticide or anti-parasitic elements within the SSSI.

Other factors affecting the natural features of the site Dalkeith Oakwood SSSI is located within Dalkeith Country Estate, and is therefore well accessed by members of the public including dogwalkers. Both visitor numbers and the impacts of recreational pressure on the woodland and ground flora vegetation should be monitored in the future.

Date last reviewed: 10 March 2010