« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Scotland's Native Trees and Shrubs
The benefits of 'going native'
The Scottish Executive encourages the use of native species of known genetic origin or provenance for the following reasons:
- native species of local origin and provenance tend to be in harmony and synchronised with the habits of local wildlife, the environmental conditions and landscape character. (It is a mistake to think that native species will always grow more vigorously than non-native species in a given location.)
(Darwin, 150 years ago, recognised that natural selection can yield local appropriateness. It is important to understand that this local appropriateness does not mean that well adapted native species will grow more vigorously than non-native species in a particular location. They become best adapted to the site only in relative terms - relative to other native species from a different provenance. Well-adapted native species may well be, and indeed are, commonly overpowered by non-native species. Rhododendron, snowberry and Japanese knotweed are good examples of introduced plants that have changed the semi-natural vegetation and demonstrate why it is always important to consider the consequences of introducing non-native species into the Scottish countryside.)
- to contribute to the Government's commitment to biological diversity.
(The UK is a signatory to the 1992 Convention of Biological Diversity and is committed to conserving and, where practicable, enhancing the overall populations and natural ranges of native species and the quality and ranges of wildlife habitats and ecosystems.)
- native species of local provenance give better value for money. Research and experience have demonstrated that well adapted native species including Scot's pine, oak, birch and alder, are more likely to be resistant to local pests and pathogens and survive longer than poorly adapted trees grown from seed sources gathered from different climatic or geographic regions.
Rowan can flourish at nearly 1,000 metres altitude - higher than any other native tree - and in the most inaccessible places. If young trees of local provenance are planted and allowed to grow at a natural rate dictated by their environment, they are likely to remain safe and sound until old age.
« Previous | Contents | Next »