We’ve a lot to thank the trees for. Other than their vital role in the ecosystem, they’ve played an important part in mythology, agriculture, industry and medicine since humans first walked the Earth.

James Weldon receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Elm trees were once stalwarts of the UK countryside that towered out of hedgerows, lined fields and woodlands.

Ash dieback – a fatal disease of Britain’s native ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) – is one of the worst tree disease epidemics the UK has ever seen. The disease is caused by a fungus that originated in ...