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Short, Ian

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I'm a broadleaf silviculture researcher in Ireland.
I'm a broadleaf silviculture researcher in Ireland. My interests are the management of broadleaf forests from establishment through to final harvest. Work includes investigations on establishment spacing, mixture configuration, thinning and remedial silvicultural systems for poorly performing pole-stage stands. This includes underplanting and coppice-with-standards. I also have an interest in temperate agroforestry and transformation of Sitka spruce plantations to continuous cover forestry.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 36
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Increasing Tree Cover on Irish Dairy and Drystock Farms
    (Dawn Media, 2022) Irwin, Rachel; Short, Ian; Ní Dhubháin, Áine
    What are the main barriers and perceptions that impede agroforestry uptake?
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Why Dairy Farming And Silvopastoral Agroforestry Could Be The Perfect Match
    (Irish Farm Business, 2020) Irish Agroforestry Forum; Short, Ian; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
    Could we be missing a trick here? Could silvopasture be a design solution to the environmental challenges facing farming? Can it be the ideal mechanism to combine agriculture, forestry and ecology with very positive outcomes for farmers? Well -designed silvopasture can help increase profits and productivity, animal, and soil health, diversify the farm business, buffer against increasingly variable weather, drought and flood risks while benefiting the environment, the water cycle and the carbon cycle.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Comparison of three inventory protocols for use in privately-owned plantations under transformation to Continuous Cover Forestry
    (Society of Irish Foresters, 2019) Spazzi, Jonathan; O Tuama, Padraig; Wilson, Edward R.; Short, Ian
    Interest is growing in Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) as a management approach among private forest owners in Ireland. Developments in forest policy are directed at promoting CCF as a means of enhancing forest resilience, sustaining forest production and delivering diverse ecosystem services. In 2019 the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) introduced a new pilot funding measure to support the adoption of CCF management in suitable private forests. Currently the area of forest under CCF management is relatively small (estimated at around 1% of the total forest area) and several barriers to wider adoption have been identified. These include the lack of a simple template for the transformation of planted forests to CCF and a monitoring protocol with known inventory costs and outputs. In this study three inventory protocols were compared in terms of their ease of use, the types of data outputs and cost effectiveness in a forest stand at an early stage of transformation to CCF. These protocols were compared to a complete enumeration approach. The inventory protocols being tested were developed by the UK Forestry Commission (FCIN45), a group of French and Belgian researchers (VISUAL) and the Irregular Silviculture Network (ISN). Results indicate that by using modern technology and careful design, a cost-effective inventory protocol can be implemented to collect information of sufficient accuracy to inform management decisions. Advantages and limitations of each protocol are discussed. The ultimate outcome would be the development and adoption of a common inventory and monitoring approach to enable private owners to critically compare stand management and performance. This is essential to support and guide forest managers and forest owners during the transformation process.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Increasing tree cover on Irish dairy and drystock farms: The main attitudes, influential bodies and barriers that affect agroforestry uptake
    (Elsevier, 2023-08) Irwin, Rachel; Short, Ian; Mohammadrezaei, Mohammad; Ní Dhubháin, Áine
    Agroforestry has been cited as a means to increase sustainability and biodiversity at a farm level while allowing farming to continue on the same parcel of land. However, even with profitable financial incentives currently in place to promote agroforestry uptake, uptake remains low in Ireland. This highlights that farmer decision-making regarding the adoption of agri-environmental measures do not follow the assumed economic rationality. To better understand the factors that influence farmer decision-making with respect to tree planting on farms, this study used an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to identify the main attitudes, influencers and intentions of Irish dairy and drystock farmers to planting trees on their land. The barriers to these farmers adopting agroforestry were also investigated. An online cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to a nationally representative sample of the farmers in Ireland. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to assess the direct and indirect effects of TPB constructs on intention towards adopting agroforestry. According to the SEM analysis, the TPB constructs explained 74% of the variance in intention to plant trees. The results demonstrate that these farmers are mainly driven by their attitude and moral norms which in turn are shaped through the views of their influential people such as advisors and local farmers. The current method of increasing agroforestry uptake is mainly top-down driven and focused on the economic incentives currently in place. New methods to increase agroforestry should focus on encouraging people of influential status within the farming community to promote agroforestry, and through promoting co-design and co-creative systems.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    An outline of achievements in selected areas of forest research in Ireland 1960–2021
    (Teagasc, 2022-03-01) Farrelly, Niall; Nemesio Gorriz, Miguel; Short, Ian; Ní Dhubháin, Á.; Tobin, B.; O’Hanlon, R.; Earl, R.; McCullagh, A.; O’Donoghue, C.; Ryan, M.
    In this paper, we provide an overview of achievements in forest research in Ireland carried out by various agencies over the past 60 yr. Many of the outcomes of the research have ensured that policy and practice are well-founded, and many of the research results form the basis of current forest standards and practice. Forest research has, and will continue to have, a significant role in national policy development and international reporting commitments. The achievement of future goals and targets is increasingly dependent on the maintenance of the goods and services that forests provide; these can be enhanced through the establishment of new forests and by appropriate management of the resource (e.g. The EU Green Deal and EU Forest Strategy). We outline the current state of knowledge which can be used to inform afforestation goals and the importance of tree improvement, forest management and forest protection to improve competitiveness and sustainability. Research into forestry and carbon provides a focus on the opportunities and challenges of climate change to Irish forestry. Future efforts will involve longer-term monitoring of environmental change commensurate with the forest rotation to reduce the uncertainties associated with climate change. Research into forestry economics, attitudinal surveys and behavioural studies may help inform the achievement of future policy goals. Reducing the impacts of biotic attack through efficient surveying, disease monitoring and assessing future risk is likely to be the focus of future research effort.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Transformation of Sitka spruce stands to continuous cover forestry (CCF): Synergies and trade-off
    (Dawn Media, 2023) Short, Ian; Jones, Grace; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
    Sitka spruce is commonly planted in Ireland because it has fast growth and is suitable for the available markets. At the end of the forest rotation, a plantation forest is often harvested during a single operation (clearfelled) and then replanted. Over the last two decades there has been increasing interest in alternative forest management practices that do not require all of the trees to be felled at the same time. To research alternatives to clearfelling, the DAFM-funded ContinuFOR project trials different thinning options to transform an even-aged Sitka spruce plantation to continuous cover forestry (CCF).
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Tending and thinning of broadleaves: A simple guide to selecting quality trees.
    (Select Media Ltd, 2011-11) Short, Ian; COFORD
    This article describes a simple procedure that can be used to ensure that the correct trees are selected in broadleaf woodland before tending / thinning is carried out, and follows best practice based on the latest Teagasc Forestry research.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Ash dieback in Ireland – A review of European management options and case studies in remedial silviculture
    (Society of Irish Foresters, 2018) Short, Ian; Hawe, Jerry; Woodland Trust NI; COFORD; Teagasc
    Ash dieback, caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is developing rapidly across the island of Ireland. Ireland’s ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) woodlands, particularly first rotation plantations, are quite unique and are at particular risk of very rapid decline. Urgent action is required in order to minimise the economic, ecological and social impact of the disease. However, for this to happen forest owners require guidance regarding potential positive management interventions. This article outlines the wider, mainly European, experience of remedial silviculture. It presents three case studies on existing remedial silviculture trials in Ireland. In the absence of silvicultural research data specific to the evolving situation with ash dieback, this article explores the potential benefits of positive practical actions which may minimise the impact of the disease. Despite the seriousness of the situation, such silvicultural activity may even result in a positive economic outcome. It is hoped that by beginning to document potential mitigatory management options, this paper may bring some reassurance to owners and managers of ashdominated woodlands.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Irish dairy and drystock farmers’ attitudes and perceptions to planting trees and adopting agroforestry practices on their land
    (Elsevier BV, 2022-12) Irwin, Rachel; Dhubháin, Áine Ní; Short, Ian; Teagasc Walsh Scholarship Programme; 2020026
    Due to the intensification of agriculture and transition to monoculture plantations, vast areas of native woodland have been lost from the Irish landscape. As these trees gradually vanished from agricultural land, the use of traditional, ancient agroforestry practices dwindled. Currently, forestry cover in Ireland is 25% lower than the European average, with the rate of afforestation remaining critically low. Agroforestry has been cited as a means to increase forestry cover in Ireland while continuing to produce viable high quality agricultural products on the same parcel of land. However, even with a range of afforestation schemes available, farmers exhibit an evident reluctance to adopt agroforestry. This research aimed to examine the main attitudes and perceptions of Irish dairy and drystock farmers to planting trees on their land and adopting agroforestry practices. The majority of farmers included within the dataset exhibited a positive attitude towards trees on their farms, with the main negative behavioural beliefs relating to impacts on pasture. Family and Teagasc (The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) are the highest cited influential bodies while the majority of farmers exhibit high perceived behavioural control. Intention rates to plant trees are high, albeit mainly on marginal areas of the farm. Agroforestry knowledge is low in Ireland with the word itself eliciting negative responses amongst the farming community. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the main attitudes, influential bodies and barriers that affect agroforestry uptake in Ireland.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The potential for using a free-growth system in the rehabilitation of poorly performing pole-stage broadleaf stands
    (Society of Irish Foresters, 2013-12) Short, Ian; COFORD
    This paper is a literature review of the free-growth system, which may have potential for the rehabilitation of some poorly-performing pole-stage broadleaf stands. It involves releasing of a selected number of good quality stems from crown competition as a basis for the final crop. Generally, only stems with crowns adjacent to the potential final crop trees are removed. The aim is to increase diameter growth of the selected stems and thereby shorten the rotation length needed to achieve a given diameter. The treatment may result in a greater incidence of epicormic shoots, particularly in oak (Quercus spp.). To maintain stem quality, epicormics may need to be removed, which may make the free-growth system uneconomic. There is, however, some evidence to believe that this may not be the case. In addition, the free-growth system may also be applicable in species less prone to epicormics, such as ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.). The free-growth system may prove to be a useful system for the rehabilitation of poorly performing pole-stage broadleaf stands and, with the advent of Chalara ash dieback (caused by Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus V. Queloz et al.) in Ireland, may gain greater use for its ability to reduce rotation lengths.