Ancient trees provide habitat for a huge array of other organisms. The special features of ancient trees which make them unique as wildlife habitat are the exceptionally species-rich communities associated with: 

• the process of wood-decay, which provides habitat for fungi and invertebrates;
• the bare surfaces of the trunk and boughs, which are colonised by lichens, mosses and liverworts, and
• the associations of soil fungi and tree roots which facilitate the uptake of water and nutrients and protect roots from stresses such as pathogens and drought.

The larger the concentration of old trees in an area and the longer they have been present on site the richer the variety of species you will find among them.

Many of our rarest species associated with ancient trees only occur where there has been a continuous cover of old trees back through time on the site.

The older the tree the better the quality of wildlife associated with it over its lifespan but it is vital to have a good age structure of young to ancient trees on any site to maintain this wealth of wildlife.

There are literally thousands of species which depend on these features, and - because of the general scarcity of ancient trees in the countryside - a very high proportion of these species feature in lists of Red Data and Nationally Scarce species, ie our rarest and most threatened species. This is true right across Europe, not just in Britain. Indeed, in Britain we have a special responsibility as we not only have more ancient trees than most other European countries but also larger and more widespread populations of some of the special species.

The types of species are predominantly small and rather obscure -fungi, beetles, flies, lichens, and mosses, but also include cavity nesting and roosting species such as woodpeckers, owls and bats which are some of our most charismatic species of day and night.

Click into the next section Further Information for more detail about Fungi, inverts etc.