Atlantic hazelwood is

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

(''Corylus avellana'') dominated

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Paci ...

that occurs on the hyperoceanic western fringe of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, in particular on the west coasts of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is considered to be a type of

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

scrub. It occurs in exposed, coastal situations where thin soils and strong winds prevent the establishment of trees.

Historical management

Although the Atlantic hazelwoods would historically have been exploited by people, it is thought that the exploitation was limited to seasonal sheltered grazing of livestock and the selective cutting of hazel poles, with

clearcut Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ...

coppicing Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, pro ...

believed to be a very marginal activity.

Epiphyte communities

The long ecological continuity of the Atlantic hazelwoods due to their lack of clearcut coppicing, together with the hyperoceanic climate under which they occur and low levels of

atmospheric pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

, results in luxuriant growth of

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus, fungi species in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship.bryophytes The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited i ...

. Two discrete communities of lichens grow on Atlantic hazel. Young, smooth-barked hazel stems are colonised by crustose lichens of the Graphidion, including the very rare Graphis alboscripta. Old, rough-barked stems are colonised by leafy lichens of the Lobarion; a community that is very rare and declining in Europe. Atlantic hazelwood is also the habitat of the rare fungus hazel gloves (''Hypocreopsis rhododendri'').

References

External links

{{Portal, Trees
Scottish Natural Heritage: Atlantic Hazel.

Atlantic Hazel Action Group
Trees