Taxus baccata woodland

Taxus baccata is an evergreen tree which figures as a prominent associate in various woodland types on more base-rich substrates, a bird-sown species capable of establishing in rocky terrain or in grasslands, provided those herbivores to which its foliage is palatable are absent, and persisting under the shade, even dense shade, of other trees, notably Fagus sylvatica, sometimes also Abies alba and Picea abies, which can overtop it. Those situations are included elsewhere, as in G1.6a Fagus woodland on non-acid soils. This G3.9a habitat includes two distinct types of woodland united by the dominance of Taxus baccata: one occurs very locally in the Mediterranean, particularly in Corsica and Sardinia, Apennines, Spain and northern and central Portugal; the other occurs in Ireland and the British Isles, where the woodland type strongly favours those locally hot drought-prone south-facing slopes which provide an echo of conditions on limestones in warmer latitudes. In both situations, the stands are typically isolated and there is often a suggestion (particularly in the Mediterranean) that the dominance of the tree is an accident of succession where, for some reason, Taxus has excluded possible subsequent invaders or remains as a relict senescent phase of some kind of beech forest. For the British, the fact that Taxus provided the wood for the longbow, enabling some epic victories over its foes, has entered national mythology, but some stands may really have been encouraged for supplying this important medieval weapon. Widely through Europe, by virtue of its longevity, Taxus and its woodlands have also been endowed with spiritual value and protected. In the woodland included here, Taxus is the sole dominant, though often accompanied in the Mediterranean stands by Ilex aquifolium and Buxus sempervirens (in the UK the latter is questionably native). Sorbus aria is another typical associate in both regions. Juniperus communis, which is among the junipers associated with other kinds of G3.9 Cupressaceae woodlands, is the seral precursor and protective nurse to Taxus where this kind of habitat establishes in basiphilous grasslands in the UK, its skeletal remains then remaining beneath each maturing Taxus. Otherwise there is often no understorey, apart from occasional Sambucus nigra, favouring the latrines of local rabbit colonies. The extremely dense shade cast by the Taxus canopy can exclude all but the most tolerant herbs and bryophytes, among which sparse and puny individuals of Mercurialis perennis and other representatives of the local basiphilous woodland flora are typical.

Indicators of good quality:

• Dominance of Taxus baccata in the canopy

• Typical flora and fauna composition of the region

• Sufficient structural diversity/ complexity (semi)natural age structure or completeness of layers

• Presence of old trees and a variety of dead wood (lying and standing) and the associated flora, fauna and fungi

• Presence of natural disturbance such as windfall openings with natural regeneration

• Low game density to enable Taxus regeneration

• Absence of non-native tree species and absence of invasive aliens in all layers (fauna, flora)

Synthesis of Red List assessment

Confidence in the assessment

Pressures and threats