Prof. Lynne Boddy
Images of how mycorrhiza spread and react to other fungi as they battle for carbon exchange was an eye-opener! As was the realisation that we don’t know enough about how effective mycorrhizal injections are and whether we are introducing the correct mycorrhiza. The decompaction and mulching that usually accompanies such treatment is clearly valuable. What is it the garden centres are selling and gardenening programmes now promote as an additive to our soil?!

Prof. Richard Bardgett
The ecology and relationship between growth and altitude confirmed personal observations and inspired the need to identify and record the few fragments of natural tree-line we have left in the UK. These trees may prove more important than we can imagine?

Dr Lee Klinger
The amount of calcium found in tree bark and its importance as a historic fertiliser was amazing! An inspiring lecture with very impressive pro-active tree health care studies. The relationship between moss, acidity and tree health could be researched on some of our own ancient tree sites.

Prof. Alan Gange (Royal Holloway)
Climate change in relation to fungal activity raised an interesting question. If mychorizzal fungi has remained unaffected following a rise in temperature, does the same apply for lower temperatures? Does this indicate why trees at altitude survive and with less active saprotrophs help explain why some of our oldest trees are found in these locations in good health? Topic for further research?

Prof. Jan Čermák
Evidence of root damage following compaction by vehicles surely needs wider publication and justifies adequate exclusion zones around trees on development sites?

Sadly, I left before seeing Dr Nick Haycock but I hope this sees arboriculturalists feeding back to the researchers to help identify and stimulate further research opportunities. Congratulations to Neville and TEP

I will continue to press my bosses to make money available to continue attending your seminars.

In starting these seminars TEP have done something VERY important for arboricultural science/knowledge and I stand and applaud you for the magnitude of what your doing and for the people you’re bringing together. It was clear that the givers took as much away as they delivered from this, from each other and from the audience, it was a privilege to witness. I hope this will be the beginning of a network that gets all these different disciplines communicating, I think there is much to gain from this and will hope to attend as many of these seminars as possible as and when finances allow.

I would like to extend my gratitude to all the speakers too.

Many many thanks, a fantastic day all round, bar the wimps needing the heating!

- Richard Bardgett on soil carbon and soil microbes and how they interact with above and below ground environments.
- Alan Gange on analysis of 60 years of records of fruiting appearances of fungi and the changes that have taken place in response to climate.
- Lee Klinger on SOD in California and his compelling approach to the environmental factors involved.

These were speakers that made you think immediately about the implications of their work to your own, while speakers who spent most of their time on research methods or a rehearsal of previously published information were of less interest.

I don’t know what the brief is for speakers at the seminars but the solid amount of new and relevant information that is presented implies that they should concentrate on recent research findings as this, by and large, is what you get.