Newbie question - removing parts of tree

[Kentish Man]

I was walking through a forest t'other day and something that got me wondering was how many small undeveloped branches many of the trees had coming out at intervals up the central trunk. Most of them looked like they were shrivelled and perhaps already dead - the sort of fairly straight dowel rod looking outgrowths, but the crowns of the trees were in full health.

A simple question - are these "branchlets" worth removing (bashing gently with a stout stick to lop them off) in order to help the tree, as you might remove say, yellow withering leaves from small plants to help them grow?

[tracy]

Depends what type of trees. With conifer trees then it is common practise to remove lower stems so you can walk through the woodland.

With trees like Oak, dead wood all over the tree is a good thing for wildlife and best left when safe.

[Kentish Man]

Thanks Tracy. What animals generally benefit from dead wood? Is it bugs and birds only? And do different animals benefit from standing dead wood compared to ground dead wood?

[tracy]

All dead wood is great for bugs to live in, lichens and mosses. Birds then like to eat the bugs.

Standing dead wood is great for lots of types of birds and bats to nest in. There is a short section on dead wood in the biodiversity section of www.coppice.co.uk that you might find useful.

I am currently reading the BTCV book on woodlands, it is fascinating. You might like it, you can read it online....

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/132

[Kentish Man]

That's a great book - I'm working my way through it now with avid interest. I, like many people, just assumed that during the medieval past, Britain was mainly one big wood! I blame the Robin Hood stories I read as a child!

[tracy]

Yes, I am amazed at the history of woodlands! I am reading it very slowly in my tea breaks while coppicing. You will be way ahead of me already!

[RichardKing]

I tend to agree with "The Grumpy Old Forester" in another thread.

High pruning produces better quality timber, like they do on the continent.

Somehow the British have forgotten how or why to do it