Ash dieback is now 'unstoppable', ecologists warn

External sourceJun 10, 2014in Conservation & Ecology

Experts say Britain's ash trees are 'doomed' and their demise threatens hundreds of insects, mosses, lichens and birds

Ash dieback is now unstoppable and could wipe out 45 native species and endanger the habitats of nearly 1,000 others, ecologists have warned.

Britain's ash trees are now 'doomed,' tree experts claim, and their demise threatens hundreds of insects, mosses, lichens and birds.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, Dr Ruth Mitchell, warned that the loss of ash coverage will have a huge impact on the ecology of the UK's forests.

"It really will matter if we start to lose one of our dominant tree species," said Dr Mitchell of the James Hutton institute in Aberdeen.

"It will have knock on implications for the specific lichens, mosses and birds who use ash trees for nesting.

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