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Home , Cairngorms, Caledonian Forest, Glen Affric, Glen Strathfarrar, Glen Tanar, Loch Maree

Native pinewoods HABITAT PROFILE CALEDONIAN FOREST HABITAT

The native pinewoods are ’s most important forest , providing a critical habitat for a wide range of species

Distribution in Scotland In the past, after the end of the last an international obligation to protect and Native pinewoods currently occur at a total Ice Age, the pinewoods covered much restore the pinewoods, and this is reflected of 84 sites in the north and west of Scotland, of the Highlands of Scotland, from Perth in their inclusion as a priority habitat in the and these are detailed in the Caledonian northwards. At their maximum distribution, UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Pinewood Inventory produced in 1998 about 4,000 years ago, they may have Many of the larger pinewood areas are by Forestry Commission Scotland. The extended to 1.5 million hectares, although protected as National Nature Reserves combined area of these sites is estimated would not have grown everywhere (NNRs), including Abernethy, , at 18,000 hectares, but the bulk of that within that area. From that maximum, the is contained in a relatively small number pinewoods were reduced in their extent of locations, where the larger pinewood partly due to climatic changes, as cooler and wetter conditions led to a lowering of the treeline in the mountains and an Many of the smaller sites expansion of peat bogs in some areas. contain fewer than 100 Human activities over many centuries were a direct cause of much forest loss, and by mature trees the 18th century the size and distribution of the pinewood remnants were comparable to what they are today. areas are found. Some of the better known and larger sites include Beinn Eighe; Glen Conservation status Affric; ; the Black Wood The native pinewoods of the Caledonian Above: Pinewood interior view, with of Rannoch; and those in the Forest are listed as a priority for heather in flower and the bright green National Park, such as Rothiemurchus, conservation in the European Union’s of blaeberry plants on the forest floor, Glenmore, Abernethy, Glenfeshie, Mar of 1992, which, amongst the pines. Main photo: Scots Lodge and . Many of the smaller together with the Birds Directive, forms pines at Inchvuilt Wood in Glen Strathfarrar sites contain fewer than 100 mature trees, the cornerstone of the Union’s nature showing the spreading shape of trees that and some are remote and difficult to access. conservation policy. As a result the UK has have grown widely spaced from each other. grey willow (Salix cinerea), eared willow (Salix resembling a broadleaved such as aurita), juniper (Juniperus communis), holly in their overall shape. In other sites, the (Ilex aquifolium), hazel (Corylus avellana) and pines are straight-trunked and taller, with few oak (Quercus petraea). The birches are the lateral branches, indicating that they grew up most numerous, often forming large stands of close together. In more marginal sites, where their own amongst the pines, while the other the ground conditions are wetter, the pines species usually occur as scattered individuals can be stunted and sometimes gnarled, or small groups, with, for example, alders forming a type of bog woodland. growing in a linear pattern along the edge of The pinewoods occur at various elevations, watercourses such as rivers and lochs. ranging from near sea level in some of the In the UK’s national vegetation western woods such as Shieldaig and the classification system, the pinewoods are Islands to almost 650 metres at featured as a specific community, which Creag Fiaclach in the Cairngorms National is defined asPinus sylvestris-Hylocomium Park. The latter site provides possibly the best splendens woodland, with the identification example of a treeline woodland in Scotland code of W18. Glittering wood- today, with the pines being stunted and (Hylocomium splendens) is the commonest wind-shaped, and accompanied by juniper moss species in the pinewoods, covering Scots pine and junipers growing at and montane willows (Salix spp.). large areas of the forest floor in many the natural treeline at Creag Fiaclach, The inability of Scots pine to regenerate woodlands, and it is this abundance which . under its own canopy means that the In this view over Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin in , the mosaic of Scots pines and birches that occurs in the pinewoods can be seen. has led to its inclusion in the definition of the pinewood areas are, in effect, mobile over pinewood community. extended periods of time. Young trees will In many of the pinewood areas, particularly run-off, so that they can support the more germinate and grow in clearings or at the the Loch Maree Islands, Glen Affric, Glen elaphus) and domestic sheep (Ovis aries), As their name suggests, the native those to the west of the , where demanding hardwood trees. By contrast, edge of the existing pinewoods, so that Tanar, Glenmore, and Invereshie and and too few trees, with the consequence that pinewoods are characterised by the Scots the valleys are oriented in a roughly east- the pinewoods generally occur on more acid over a period of several centuries, as the old Inshriach. Other pinewoods are protected all the naturally germinating seedlings are pine, which is the largest and longest-lived west direction, the pinewoods are mainly soils, which are relatively poor in nutrients. trees mature and die, the areas covered by as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), eaten as soon as they grow above the level tree in the woodlands. Reaching a height situated on the north-facing slopes (ie on the The pinewoods vary in their characteristics pines will move around and change within a including the Black Wood of Rannoch, Glen of the ground vegetation such as heather of over 35 metres, and living in some cases south side of the glens). The south-facing across the Highlands, due to the rainfall landscape. Strathfarrar, Coulin, Rhidorroch, Amat, Loch for over 500 years (some pines in Norway slopes contained a greater component of gradient from the wetter conditions in Arkaig and the Liatrie Wood in Glen . and Sweden are even older, at more than broadleaved trees, characterised by oak and Key species and ecological Some of the pinewoods are also protected Scots pine is a keystone 700 years old), the Scots pine is a keystone hazel, as well as wych elm (Ulmus glabra) relationships within Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), species in the forest, creating the structural and bird cherry (Prunus padus) at lower Under the canopy of the The native pinewoods are ecological species in the forest a European level designation under the framework of the habitat, and upon which elevations. Most of those have been lost, trees, the pinewoods have communities comprised not just of trees, but European Union’s Natura 2000 network many other species depend. due to human exploitation, but the clear of a wide range of organisms, from fungi and that was developed as an output from the Although Scots pine predominates in the difference in north- and south-facing aspects a distinctive field layer invertebrates to flowering plants, birds and Habitats Directive. (Calluna vulgaris). In the final decades of pinewoods, other trees also occur in them, can still be seen in the glens, from Loch mammals, all of which interact with, and are However, despite their official protected the 20th century, measures to address including silver birch (Betula pendula), downy Arkaig north to Strathfarrar. The increased dependent on, other parts of the ecosystem. status, many of the pinewood areas are not this problem, either with deer fencing or birch (Betula pubescens), rowan (Sorbus exposure to the sun of the south-facing the west to the much drier eastern areas. The pines themselves provide a living habitat in good ecological condition, and often through greatly increased culls of the deer, aucuparia), alder (Alnus glutinosa), aspen slopes means they are generally drier and Those in the west have a greater diversity for many species, such as the that consist almost entirely of old trees, of 200 were instigated at a number of the main (Populus tremula), goat willow (Salix caprea), have lost fewer nutrients to leaching and of bryophytes and lichens associated with grow on their trunks and the birds that nest years or more in age, with no recruitment sites, including Beinn Eighe, Glen Affric, them, while juniper, which is adapted to drier in their canopies. of young pines having occurred for two Abernethy and Glenmore, amongst others, conditions, is generally more abundant in Fundamental to the stability and centuries. This is due to an imbalance and a new cohort of younger pines have Caledonian Pinewood Remnants the east. Silver birch is more common in the resilience of the pinewood ecosystem between excessive numbers of large become established in them. This still leaves (including Buffer Zones) eastern pinewoods, while further west downy is the mycorrhizal relationship between herbivores, particularly red deer (Cervus a legacy of a missing generation of trees birch becomes more predominant in higher between 40 years and 200 years old, and rainfall areas. this will result, in due course, in an absence Under the canopy of the trees, the of veteran or ancient pines in virtually all pinewoods have a distinctive field layer the pinewoods for many decades, until the characterised by heather, wavy hair-grass younger trees reach maturity. (Deschampsia flexuosa) and shade-loving,

INVERNESS acid-tolerant plants such as blaeberry Habitat description (Vaccinium myrtillus) and cowberry (Vaccinium The native pinewoods of Scotland form part vitis-idaea), as well as various . Several

of the boreal forest, the conifer-dominated pinewood sub-communities have been forest that occurs at latitudes between identified, where a number of other species 45ºN and 70ºN all around the northern are prominent, including bell heather (Erica hemisphere. Although Scots pine (Pinus cinerea), cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix) and sylvestris) is the most widely-distributed sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum capillifolium conifer in the world, with a range that and Sphagnum quinquefarium). FORT WILLIAM extends from western Scotland to eastern The visual character of the pinewoods Siberia, and from north of the Arctic Circle varies both from site to site, and within in Norway to the Mediterranean, the native individual sites, depending in part on the pinewoods of Scotland are unique and growing conditions experienced by the pines distinctive from the Scots pine woodlands N when they were young. In some areas, where Creeping ladies tresses orchids flowering One-flowered wintergreens (Moneses that occur elsewhere in Europe and northern the pines germinated at a wide spacing, amongst bell heather (Erica cinerea) in a uniflora) in flower, Balblair Woods, Asia, because of the absence of any other SCALE 1:750,000 approx. the mature trees are broad and spreading, native pinewood in Glen Affric National . Photo by Laurie Campbell. conifer tree in them. often with multiple parallel major branches, . runners as well as by seed. Several different past 20 years, and it is at risk of dying out in wintergreens are found in the pinewoods, of Scotland for a second time. which one-flowered wintergreen (Moneses The native pinewoods support a good uniflora) is the most significant, because of diversity of mammals, ranging from wood its comparative rarity. mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and voles to A large variety of insects and other the badger (Meles meles) and fox (Vulpes invertebrates live in the pinewoods, many vulpes). They are particularly important as of them occupying special ecological the stronghold for the (Sciurus niches such as dead wood or in the bark vulgaris), which has been displaced from crevices of trees. Amongst the most many parts of the UK by the non-native grey obvious are the wood ants, which make squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Other key distinctive nests on the forest floor. The species in the pinewoods include the pine Scottish wood ant (Formica aquilonia) and marten (Martes martes) and the Scottish the hairy wood ant (Formica lugubris) are wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), which is now widely distributed, while the slavemaker very rare and endangered in Scotland. The Wood ant (Formica lugubris) on the bark of ant (Formica sanguinea), which enslaves largest surviving mammal is the red deer, a Scots pine. the young of other ant species, is much which has adapted to live in the treeless scarcer. The narrow-headed wood ant glens, but is by nature a forest-dwelling (Formica exsecta) is highly localised, only species for most of the year. Extirpated the trees and fungi. This mutualistic or occurring in some of the pinewoods in the species that are missing from the pinewoods symbiotic partnership benefits the trees, Strathspey area. Wood ants are important include (Sus scrofa), which receive nutrients that the fungi access predators in the pinewoods, controlling the (Lynx lynx) and the (Canis lupus). in the soil, passed to them by the fungal numbers of herbivorous insects, and thereby From their low point in the 20th century, hyphae – thread-like filaments that sheath providing some protection to the trees the pinewoods are recovering again in terms the trees’ roots. It also benefits the fungi, as from defoliation. They also have a symbiotic of both their health and range, because they receive sugars and carbohydrates that relationship with aphids, which they ‘milk’ for of concerted conservation action in recent the trees produce through photosynthesis the honeydew that is an aphid waste product decades. Although much still needs to be done to bring new life to some of the woodlands, and to secure some of the forest’s The native pinewoods support a good diversity of mammals, endangered species, the future prospects for ranging from wood mice and voles to the badger and fox Scotland’s native pinewoods are better now than they have been for many centuries.

– fungi cannot access the sun’s energy and in return they guard the aphids from A list of sources for this profile can be found directly themselves. Of particular note in predators and parasites. on our website. the pinewoods are the rare tooth fungi that Wood ants themselves are prey for other grow in mycorrhizal association with the species, and the wood ant spider (Dipoena pines. They are distinguished by having torva) specialises in catching them, hunting teeth instead of gills on the underside of on the trunks of pines where the ants ascend their caps, and are listed as priorities for to feed from aphids in the canopy. Other conservation under the UK BAP. A large notable insects in the pinewoods include two number of other commoner fungi also rare hoverflies(Callicera rufa and Blera fallax), form mycorrhizal relationships with Scots which breed in wet rot-holes in standing pine pine, and the individual species involved trees and pine stumps respectively. change over time as the trees grow to Invertebrates are food for many of maturity. Some fungi, such as the chanterelle the insectivorous birds that live in the (Cantharellus cibarius), are mycorrhizal native pinewoods, such as the crested tit partners for birches as well as pine. (Lophophanes cristatus). This is one of the The native pinewoods are noted for forest’s characteristic species, and it nests in a number of special plant species, some hollows in standing dead Scots pines. Other of which are quite rare. These include important birds in the pinewoods include twinflower(Linnea borealis), which is the (Loxia scotica), which common in boreal forests elsewhere in is the only bird endemic to Scotland, and Europe and North America but scarce and the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), which is very localised in Scotland, most likely due the largest member of the grouse family. It to its relative inability to recolonise sites was hunted to extinction in Scotland in 1875 Red squirrel in a Scots pine, where it will feed from where it has been lost. Creeping ladies but then successfully reintroduced from on the seeds from thousands of cones in a tresses (Goodyera repens) is a perennial Scandinavia in 1837. However, capercaillie year, , Cairngorms National orchid that spreads by above-ground numbers have decreased dramatically in the Park. Photo by Laurie Campbell.

© Trees for Life, The Park, Findhorn Bay, Forres, IV36 3TZ, Scotland Tel. 01309 691292 Email. [email protected] Web. treesforlife.org.uk Trees for Life is a Scottish Charity, number SC021303. Text by Alan Watson Featherstone. Photographs by Alan Watson Featherstone, except as indicated. Designed by Big Sky Print, Findhorn. Printed on Antalis Claro paper, from certified mixed responsible sources, by Standard Life.