Ancient Oaks in the English landscape: In the English landscape

Description

* The story of how England's iconic tree - the oak - has shaped the landscape over the past 1000 years * Combining history with science, this is the first detailed study into why England has more ancient native oak trees than the rest of Europe combined * New research into the causes of this extraordinary abundance have made possible by a wealth of new data via 'citizen science' - data gathered by volunteers across the country * The author explains how this all began with the Norman conquest of England in 1066, who created Royal Forests and deer parks, which have been preserved in one way or another up to modern day * The book also covers the importance of ancient oaks for conservation and biodiversity, with contributions from three specialists in their fields * Illustrated throughout with spectacular colour photographs, illustrating many of these extraordinary individuals * Distribution maps and graphs also included, illustrating historic and modern oak populations * Glossary of terms

Aljos Farjon is a botanist of world renown for his work on conifers, on which he has published 11 books and more than 100 papers and articles, and has received several international awards. He carried out much of this work whilst on the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and continued with it in retirement as an Honorary Research Associate at Kew. He has been actively involved in conservation, and has led the IUCN Red List assessment of all conifer species twice. Continuing his passion for trees, Aljos has shifted his research interests to the extraordinary wealth of ancient oaks in his adopted country, England.

"A ground-breaking new book on England's oak heritage."-- "Independent" "From chapter One--where (Farjon) considers the life of the oak, from establishment, through the various stages (formative, mature, veteran and senescent)--he draws the reader in with his wonderfully rich and detailed explanations. The pictures used to illustrate the various stages are quite stunning in their detail."-- "Forestry Journal" "From life cycles to biodiversity to conservation, the author celebrates oak trees in all their impressive glory."-- "Horse & Countryside" "The growing movement to protect veteran trees in our cities, countryside, parks and gardens is well served by this fascinating book."-- "Garden News" "The historical and cultural significance of the ancient oak tree is wonderfully detailed in this book with something new to learn in almost every paragraph. A truly remarkable piece of work from Aljos Farjon."--Garden Media Guild Awards "Reference Book of the Year" "England is home to an uncommonly large number of ancient oak trees, with at least 3,300 trees estimated to be more than 400 years old. The new book Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape by botanist Aljos Farjon, gives an up-close look at these trees, which can live for 800 to 1,000 years."-- "Wall Street Journal"