The damage to trees, woods and forests from insect pests and diseases (fungal, bacterial, viral) is significant. All trees species have a number of associated pests and diseases, with the potential to be more or less serious in nature. However, our changing climate combined with the continuing rise in movements of goods and people between countries has increased the risk of spreading non-native pests and diseases. These pathogens can be transported in plants, plant products, packaging, wood, vehicles and luggage.

Many introduced pathogens do little harm in their native environments, where predators, environmental factors and co-evolution with their host plants keep them in check. Outside their native range, they can cause significant damage to trees and plants where limiting factors (at least initially) are not present. A single species of pathogen can damage or kill dozens of different plant species, including trees. In addition to economic losses for the forestry, timber and plant-based sectors, they can threaten woodland biodiversity, ecosystems and native species.

A number of tools and resources are now available in the UK to help manage and minimise the impact of tree pests and diseases. These include the Tree Alert reporting system and a range of guides to the most important/common tree pests and diseases, which are important for early detection and diagnosis. 

Tree Alert – Tree Pest and Disease Reporting

Forest Research has developed the Tree Alert website to gather information about the health of the nation’s trees, woodlands and forests. This information will support important tree health monitoring and surveillance work, contribute to ongoing scientific research in this field and, ultimately, support efforts to protect the nation’s trees. To make a report access Tree Alert here:

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Observatree Field Identification Guides

These guides have been produced by Observatree, a citizen science project focused on monitoring tree health. More information: Observatree website. Posters for priority tree pests and diseases are here.

Hard copies of individual identification guides can be purchased from Summerfield Books, here. These are an invaluable resource for professional foresters and arboriculturists. 

Individual field identification guides can be downloaded here (click on the cover images to open in a new window to download directly from the Observatree website): 

Mountain ash ringspot	Horse chestnut leaf miner	Bronze birch borer	Great spruce bark beetle
Red-necked longhorn beetle	Asian and citrus longhorn beetles	Phytophthora lateralis	Phytophthora austrocedri
Chestnut blight	Sirococcus tsugae	Emerald ash borer	Oak lace bug
Plane lace bug	Plane wilt	Pine processionary moth	Oak processionary moth
Acute oak decline	Chalara ash dieback	Dothistroma needle blight	Oriental chestnut gall wasp
Phytophthora ramorum	Elm zigzag sawfly

 

Forest Health Links

Ash Die-back – Forestry Commission England