A decade of grey squirrel bark-stripping damage to beech in Lady Park Wood, UK

Abstract

The scale and distribution of American grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) bark-stripping damage to beech (Fagus sylvatica) stems was monitored in a mixed broadleaved woodland retained as a Research Natural Area through the use of permanent transects. During an initial outbreak of de-barking damage in 1983 almost one-third of beech individuals ≤4 cm d.b.h. in stands of 40 years' growth were badly damaged and by 1993 this level of damage had risen dramatically to over 50 per cent. One-third of badly damaged individuals in 1983, including a number of potential canopy dominants, died during the decade, but some that survived grew very vigorously. Throughout squirrels preferentially debarked intermediate sized (10-25 cm d.b.h.) stems in particular parts of the stands aged 40-50 years, apparently tending to select stems that were growing rapidly. Other species and stand areas of >100 years' growth remained largely unscathed. Within the 10-year period squirrels had critically affected the successional development of the wood.