Reducing the impact of climate change and other environmental stresses on native UK oak tree health

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With a background in GIS and surveying, I have a strong interest in the application of novel survey techniques and remote sensing to tree health assessments and forest management. Oak trees are an iconic and essential component of the UK's treescape. Yet, in recent years, oak populations have vastly decreased. Given an increasing number of threats, there is concern for their health and future. Much is a stake, as the UK's two native oak species, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, form the largest component of native broadleaf woodland and have the potential to store more carbon than other tree species, due to being long-lived. I'm investigating how threats such as climate change and pests and diseases, are impacting the UK's current and future oak populations. An understanding of which factors drive oak health, will help me to suggest interventions to alleviate stresses and provide stakeholders with data to evaluate forest management techniques. My PhD is partnered with the Action Oak initiative. Research Questions The primary focus of my PhD is to characterise the distribution and drivers of changes in health of the UK's native oak population and identify regions where oaks are particularly at risk. The generalised research questions are: RQ1) Where are native oak species distributed in the UK and which factors control their spatial location? Model the current native oak population of the UK using various model types e.g., a Species Distribution Model. Modelling will integrate and synthesize disparate existing inventory and mapping data. Assess the baseline of current distribution and abundance of native UK oaks. RQ2) What are the drivers of native oak health and how do they interact with one other? Conduct a fine scale study of regionally spread sites to identify and assess local drivers of oak health, in comparison to other data sets such as land use maps and climate data. Model health at national scales e.g., from extrapolating National Forest Inventory (NFI) plot data. Review existing literature to determine the nationwide factors impacting oak health. RQ3) Given increasing environmental stresses and climate change, is the distribution and health of native oaks likely to change in the future? Utilise models at multiple scales to identify regions of the UK where native oaks are either susceptible or alternatively doing well in response to future climate scenarios. Quantify the current and future extent of carbon sequestration by native UK oaks using novel remote sensing techniques. Techniques I'm going to be synthesising a range of skills and data sources including large-scale datasets, GIS, programming, modelling and field validation work. I will also develop models to identify regions of the UK where oaks are potentially susceptible or alternatively doing relatively well, in response to current and future predictions of climatic conditions. Existing datasets that will be utilised for modelling the distribution of native oak include the National Forest Inventory, Ancient Tree Inventory and UKCEH Countryside Survey. Characterising the oak population will entail quantifying current and predicted levels of carbon sequestration, due to the link with climate change. To do this, I will explore remote sensing techniques and utilise low-cost UAV platforms equipped with LiDAR technology to estimate carbon sequestration in current and future oak populations.