Dr Dave Reay: 'Ash dieback and British Carbon Stocks'

A new study from the School of Geosciences has reported that Ash dieback could destroy enough trees to fill Wembley Stadium sixteen times over, and cause a 5 million tonne disturbance to the British vegetation carbon pool.

Using data from Ash dieback research in continental Europe, the study assumed 90% of Britain's 126 million ash trees would become infected and 60% of these infected trees would die, most within a decade.

The research is published in Atmospheric Environment:

Reay, DS (2013) 'Ash dieback and British carbon stocks.' Atmospheric Environment. 74: 110-111.

Widespread coverage

The story has been covered by BBC Radio Scotland, STV, The Scotsman and The Daily Mail.

Further information can be found on the Edinburgh University website: