| Eredine Forest In the first third of the 20th century
the land that is now Eredine Forest was a hill farm similar to those that still exist
nearby at Ballimeanoch, Blarghour and elsewhere. The lower slopes were rough grassland
with patches of rush bog and areas of deep peat with heather and cotton grass. There were
also small patches of oak woodland and open parkland with scattered oaks, rowans, birches
and alders. The rocky gorges of the hill burns had a greater variety of trees including
ash, elm and aspen. The hill ground was largely blanketed with deeper, eroding peat and
almost continuous heather/cotton grass bog - as it still is. |
Norway Spruce |
The estate was acquired by the Forestry Commission in the mid-thirties
and the first phase of afforestation, confined to the better, inbye, land, set in train
along the lines then in vogue. The main planting was of Norway spruce with some pines,
larches and Sitka spruce and with a few groups of noble fir, grand fir and Douglas fir and
western hemlock
Unfortunately, the Scots pine was not our native tree, which was despised by the foresters
of those days, but a strain from the continent of Europe, and it has not grown well. Most
of the others have made good growth and now stand over 35m tall. |
Western Hemlock |
| The plantations included a network of open drains but blanket ploughing
was not carried out in those days and the young trees were planted on the level ground and
sometimes weeded where necessary. Under the different forest economics of the time it was
possible to carry out at least one thinning, some of it to produce marketable timber but
with a great deal of waste. Sad to say, the native oaks were then regarded as scrub and an
encumbrance on the ground. |
Stand of Birches |
They were largely clear-felled or ring-barked and left
standing as dead snags. A few survived and can still be seen struggling to remain alive in
the shade of the overtopping spruce. Patches of birch, sallow and alder were also left
alone in the wetter places as "retained scrub". |
| In the second half of the century it became clear that Sitka spruce from the Pacific
coast of North America was the tree that gave the greatest volume of timber in the
shortest time in the west Highlands. It was then planted exclusively and the moors were
ploughed for it up to an altitude of 450m above sea level in places at Eredine. Subsequent
thinning was discontinued so that these new forests are virtually impenetrable. |
Sitka Spruce |
| So far as the Sitka monoculture is concerned the picture is one that you can see
anywhere. It is the older, Norway spruce plantations that are worthy of closer attention.
Purely by accident, and not at all by design, these have come to resemble typical
second-growth boreal forest of northern Europe or North America with their open structure,
varied trunk diameters, numerous windthrown trees and even some young conifers and
broadleaves which were able to take a hold when deer were less numerous than they are
today. The forest floor is a pure moss carpet which makes for pleasant walking in dry
weather if you can avoid the fallen trees and boggy places. There are over thirty species
of mosses and more than a dozen species of liverworts in the carpet, some of them
restricted in distribution to the north Atlantic fringes of Europe and particularly
abundant on the oceanic seaboard of the west and northwest Highlands. In contrast, the
number of flowering plants is restricted. A somewhat similar mossy community on the floor
of our native oak and pinewoods is more heath-like with blaeberry, coarse grasses and some
scattered birch, rowan and hazel but with fewer species of mosses and liverworts. This
difference is caused by the lower year-round light intensity in the spruce plantations.
With the changes that have taken place in modern silviculture nothing like these Norway
plantations is ever again going to be produced in this country. The trees have now reached
marketable size and are being systematically clear-felled. So, enjoy them while you may -
and they do have their attractions, not only to the botanist. |
Noble Fir
Scots Pine
|
| The high moorland between Loch Awe and Loch Fyne, with its mosaic of
conifer planting, rocky and peaty "balds" and numerous lochans of all shapes and
sizes also recalls the landscape of northern lake Finland. A final odd feature of the
old spruce stands is the extent to which they are being invaded by some native and exotic
plants which you would not expect to see. Fir club moss, normally a species of open
moorland and bog is coming in and doing very well even in the dense shade - much better in
fact than it does on the open hill. Pampas grass from southern South America has escaped
from the gardens of Eredine village and is seeding itself both on clear-felled and
replanted (with Sitka) areas and in the moss mat of the remaining plantations. It does not
form large flowering tussocks in the shade of course but can do so in the open and may yet
become another invasive weed. |
Sitka cones |
Norway spruce seeds are one of the staples of the local red squirrels which do not
appear to touch the Sitka cones. What effect complete replacement of Norway by Sitka
spruce may have on their small numbers remains to be seen. |
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