Ash trees are fighting back against a disease that has ravaged the British countryside, new scientific evidence shows.
When ash dieback arrived in 2012, it was predicted up to 85% of ash trees could be lost. It spread to every corner of the British Isles, causing widespread damage to woodlands.
But now scientists have discovered that ash woodlands are naturally evolving greater resistance to the fungal infection.
The discovery offers fresh hope that the much-loved trees will remain part of the British landscape – but a hope “borne out of the death of a lot of trees”, said Prof Richard Buggs, of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Queen Mary University of London.
