Oak decline is a complex disorder caused by multiple stressors. Although declines have been observed across Europe since 1700, there is still a lot of uncertainty around the cause, and therefore the appropriate management techniques. Using literature from across European oak ecosystems, this review and perspective discusses the key stressors associated with oak declines in Quercus robur L. and Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebl. in Europe and the newly described acute oak decline breaking out in the United Kingdom (and beyond), with a view to identifying important evidence gaps and management implications. The key factors implicated in oak decline include drought, pests and pathogens. These factors can interact in positive feedback loops to increase stress and decline within oaks. Extreme frost, waterlogging, soil properties, land management, nitrogen pollution, heavy metal pollution, genetic predisposition and mycorrhizal changes could also be involved in decline, but more research is required to understand these. In acute oak decline, necrotic lesions are caused by a bacterial complex of up to three species, and it has been observed that the presence of the wood borer Agrilus biguttatus Fabricius 1776 can amplify the symptoms. Practical implication: The amount that each stressor contributes towards these declines and the ‘tipping points’ are largely unknown and are likely to differ between decline events, sites and even individual trees. This makes management advice provision exceedingly difficult. Historic records show oaks in decline can recover; therefore, allowing trees time and space to recover should be a priority for management practitioners. Future research recommendations for effective management of declining oaks are discussed.

Feed-associated Salmonella serovars continue to be reported in poultry flocks. A study was conducted to investigate Salmonella contamination in major commercial feed mills that produce rations for broiler chickens within Great Britain. Dust and large moist gauze swab samples (12,791) were collected from 22 feed mills on 31 visits. Salmonella was isolated from 20 mills, with 15 mills (75%) having fewer than 5% Salmonella-positive samples. Fifty-one Salmonella serovars were isolated, with a large proportion of isolates being Salmonella (S.) Kedougou (29.4%) or S. 13,23:i:- (21.4%). European Union-regulated Salmonella serovars (Enteritidis, Infantis, Typhimurium and its monophasic variants) were isolated from 12 mills, mostly from non-processing areas, accounting for 40 isolates (4.4% of all Salmonella-positive samples). Fifteen Salmonella serovars were only isolated once. In terms of individual sampling locations within the mill, the waste handling locations were significantly more likely to be Salmonella-positive than some other mill locations. When sampling locations were grouped, samples collected from finished product areas were significantly less likely to be Salmonella-positive for Salmonella than some other mill areas. In conclusion, this study found that most mills producing broiler rations showed low-level Salmonella contamination.

Woodlands are under threat from a variety of global change stressors, and understanding the main effects and interactions between these is critical for their protection. Here, we analyse vegetation change over 50 years within approximately 100 broadleaved woodland sites across Great Britain from 1971 to 2022 and quantify the interactions between management history, deer herbivory and ash dieback. We find an overall trajectory towards a less diverse, more shade-adapted ground flora which has recently been locally disrupted by ash dieback. Plots with evidence of ash dieback have higher forb cover and ground flora richness relative to plots without dieback. However, this effect of ash dieback was shown mainly where there was high grazing risk; the grazing reduces the vigour of generalist understorey shrubs which can also lead to lower tree regeneration. Our results reveal how woodland dynamics have been shaped initially by a response to a reduction in interventionist management and then by disturbance driven by high herbivory risk and a novel tree disease.

Wild deer populations are increasing across the northern hemisphere, posing challenges to the environment and people. Deer impacts can be managed using lethal and non‐lethal practices, but research suggests lethal control receives mixed support. Differences in perspectives towards management practices may hinder collaborative, landscape‐scale strategies required to achieve resilient ecosystems and tree cover targets. Thus, understanding human‐deer relationships is crucial for sustainable deer management. To investigate perceptions towards deer and their management in England and Wales, we designed a questionnaire measuring the level of support for different actions to manage deer impacts and beliefs regarding the aesthetic and existence, environmental, economic and cultural‐symbolic value of deer. Targeting actors within and outside the land management, the questionnaire was distributed to subscribers of five national organisations, three focussing on wildlife management and two on woodland management. We collected data from 3936 people and, using cluster analysis, characterised groups of respondents based on their beliefs towards deer. We assessed variations between groups by socio‐demographic characteristics and support for lethal and non‐lethal management practices. Lethal control was the most supported and most used deer management practice, followed by tree guards and deer fencing. Our cluster analysis grouped respondents into 4 clusters. The cluster composed predominantly of deer stalkers (47%) held the most positive perceptions of deer and registered the highest support for lethal control and the highest opposition to deer fencing. Conversely, the cluster with the highest proportion of farmers (27%) and lowest proportion of stalkers (16%) expressed more neutral and negative opinions towards deer. There was no evidence of column clusters, indicating that beliefs did not cluster according to value dimensions (e.g. economic, environmental), suggesting that deer were valued similarly across all value dimensions. Differing opinions on deer and land management goals make it difficult for neighbours to collaborate on managing deer. Lethal control received strong support, which could ease concerns about recommending its use by nature organisations and decision‐makers who depend on public backing. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Background: The damage to trees caused by grey squirrels in Britain undermines the UK Government's ambitious afforestation targets for expanding woodland area to sequester carbon. The motivations of grey squirrel bark stripping are poorly understood, hindering the development of non‐lethal management options that target bark stripping. Aim: We provide a broad synthesis of the literature on the bark‐stripping behaviour of squirrel species with the specific goal of identifying methods to understand and mitigate the bark‐stripping behaviour of grey squirrels in Britain. Methods: We searched for articles that described or investigated the bark‐stripping behaviour of squirrel species. Literature searches were conducted in English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese using relevant platforms for literature‐search databases. Information extracted from the articles included coding variables defined by study meta‐data, study design and contextual variables for bark‐stripping behaviour. Results: We identified 188 relevant articles on sciurid bark‐stripping behaviour in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Most studies were observational (65%), identifying important tree and stand characteristics associated with tree susceptibility to damage. Experimental studies (15%) largely aimed to identify methods to prevent damage caused by squirrels, with none finding an effective, practical and humane solution for preventing or reducing damage. Evidence for the causes of bark‐stripping behaviours remains sparse, particularly for species that cause significant economic damage. Conclusion: Future research should prioritise experimental designs and interdisciplinary collaborations aiming to establish causal understanding. For the grey squirrel, we propose multiple hypotheses that warrant further investigation, including nutritional deficiencies, self‐medication, scent‐marking and agonistic behaviours.