Problems and possibilities on the border between historical ecology and environmental history and archaeology, Zurich, August – September, 2011
New Insights
into the
Ancient Woodland Paradigm
Ian D. Rotherham,
Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
i.d.rotherham@shu.ac.uk ; www.ukeconet.co.uk
September 2011
© Ian D. Rotherham
Issues of misunderstanding and lack
of communication highlighted ….
Especially between – ECOLOGISTS, ARCHAEOLOGISTS,
PLANNERS , FORESTERS & OTHER MANAGERS, and
HISTORIANS
A NATURAL / CULTURAL PARADIGM in dealing with
wooded landscapes
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Rotherham, I.D. (2007d) The implications of perceptions and cultural
knowledge loss for the management of wooded landscapes: a UK case-study.
Forest Ecology and Management, 249, 100-115.
Rotherham, I.D. & Ardron, P.A. (2006) The Archaeology of Woodland
Landscapes: Issues for Managers based on the Case-study of Sheffield,
England and four thousand years of human impact. Arboricultural Journal, 29
(4), 229-243.
The problem of ‘ancient woods’
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Across Europe but especially in Great Britain considerable demand to identify 'ancient woods'
To apply planning protection and conservation
management
Complicated by a lack of awareness of the natureculture complexity of woodland origins
Lack of over-arching cross-disciplinary
approaches to wooded landscapes
Contemporary conservation
management
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Treats these areas as 'natural' when in
fact they have been modified by human
use for millennia
The systems developed for the Woodland
Heritage Manual (Rotherham et al., 2008)
provide a framework
For coherent application of ecological,
historical, and archaeological evidence
to ancient woods and other wooded
landscapes
'Shadow Woods' research project
& Ancient Woodland Indicators research
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Further development
To identify and assess overlooked
ancient wooded landscapes
In-depth research on 'Woodland
Indicators' - provides a testable toolkit
for evidencing ancient woodland status
for planning authorities and others
The 2008 publication of the
Woodland Heritage Manual (Rotherham et al., 2008)
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Provided for the first time, a coherent guidance and approach to the
assessment of ancient wooded landscapes
Methodology marries field ecology, archaeology, pedology,
cartographic analysis, and historical and archival research
A wider application & relevance
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Ideas from the Woodland Heritage Manual
are tested in Poland with multi-disciplinary
work led by Tomasz Samojlik and
colleagues
Again taking a multi-disciplinary approach
to examine the degree to which forest
landscapes have been altered from the
natural condition by human impacts
The study develops ideas first proposed by
McIntyre & Hobbs (1999).
Since the publication, and in parallel to
the woodland heritage project…….
1) Developing a critical analysis of the
application of woodland botanical
indicators
2) Re-assessment of the placement of
‘ancient woods’ within an historical
timeline in England
The ideas of Frans Vera on
woodland and parkland origins…..
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Our current work sits alongside research into the historical ecology of medieval
deer parks and their relationships to the great European savannah as proposed
Vera
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Attempts to place it within a cultural ecological and historical timeline – to link the
conjectural Vera primeval landscape to the known medieval
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Joining practitioner observation to history and historical ecology and informed by
archaeology
The approach is based largely on
work in the UK
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But being tested and applied in other
European countries
Research on indicators with the Woodland
Trust and British Ecological Society
To inform and test the designation of
‘ancient woodland’ status in the UK
planning control process
Fresh insights into Historical Factors
(Rotherham & Wright, 2008),
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These methodological approaches help bring coherence
to wooded landscapes studies
The work begins to place medieval ancient woods into a
wider context of wooded landscapes
And beyond this, into the landscape of Vera’s claimed
primeval savannah.
Some Key Steps in the
Process….
Evidencing Ancient Woodlands and
the Use of Indicators
Ancient Woodland Inventories
Robust Methodologies
Indicators and Their Use
The Importance of Ancient and
Veteran Trees in Woodland
See Table1. Evidence-based Ancient
Woodland Status Grid
Tested by means of Intelligent
Interrogation
More detail in……..
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Rotherham, I.D. (Ed.) (2007) The History, Ecology and Archaeology of Medieval Parks
and Parklands. Wildtrack Publishing, Sheffield.
Rotherham, I.D. (2007d) The implications of perceptions and cultural knowledge loss
for the management of wooded landscapes: a UK case-study. Forest Ecology and
Management, 249, 100-115.
Rotherham, I.D. (2008) The Importance of Cultural Severance in Landscape Ecology
Research. In: Dupont, A. & Jacobs, H. (Eds.) (2008) Landscape Ecology Research
Trends. Nova Science Publishers Inc., New York, 71-87.
Rotherham, I.D. (2011a) A Landscape History Approach to the Assessment of Ancient
Woodlands. In: Wallace, E.B. (Ed.) Woodlands: Ecology, Management and
Conservation. Nova Science Publishers Inc., USA, 161-184.
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Rotherham, I.D. (2011b) The implications of cultural severance in managing
vegetation for conservation. Aspects of Applied Biology, 108, 95-104.
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Rotherham, I.D. (2011c) Animals, Man & Treescapes – perceptions of the past in the
present. Landscape Archaeology & Ecology, 9, (in press).
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Rotherham, I.D. & Ardron, P.A. (2006) The Archaeology of Woodland Landscapes:
Issues for Managers based on the Case-study of Sheffield, England and four thousand
years of human impact. Arboricultural Journal, 29 (4), 229-243.
Rotherham, I.D., Jones, M., Smith, L. & Handley, C. (Eds.) (2008)
The Woodland Heritage Manual: A Guide to
Investigating Wooded Landscapes. Wildtrack Publishing, Sheffield
http://www.ukeconet.co.uk/