Recent Research

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Please find below the most recent publications from the research in the Oxford Green Estate, in particular from Wytham Woods. We have a variety of long term ongoing project studies as mentioned on this page.

We intend to collate where possible all research, history, factual information and evidence on Wytham Woods to support further studies, and also have a site specific library. Please email OGE@admin.ox.ac.uk for further enquiries.

The following topics have recently been published below: 

Tree studies

Tree Census 2026: Video: 22,000 trees in 9 weeks. 

After nine weeks of fieldwork, researchers have completed the fifth tree census of Wytham Woods’ 18-hectare ForestGEO plot, measuring around 22,000 trees one by one. Its permanent forest plot forms part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), a global network helping researchers understand how forests are changing over time. In this video, Prof Yadvinder Malhi joins members of the census team to mark the final tree measurement and explore what they have observed along the way – from measuring tree growth and biomass to increasing ash mortality linked to ash dieback. With Wytham also experiencing an exceptionally dry summer, the census highlights why long-term observations are so important for understanding how forests respond to disease and a changing climate.

• Genetic diversity and population structure of pedunculate oaks (Quercus robur) in Wytham Woods
• Utilising LANDHYPERNET data products over a deciduous broadleaf forest to validate Sentinel-2 and Landsat surface reflectance products
• Pollen source affects acorn production in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.)
• Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces

Great Tit studies

• Age-specificity in territory quality and spatial structure in a wild bird population

Invertebrates

• The genome sequence of the Black-horned Gem soldier fly, Microchrysa polita (Linnaeus, 1758)

(One of the hundreds of genomes now available for the Woods)

Soil

• Co-located ecological data for exploring top-and subsoil carbon dynamics across grassland-woodland contrasts
• No enhancement of soil carbon persistence by sheep grazing in a long-term calcareous grassland experiment

Disease

• Unravelling a hidden synergy: How pathogen-climate interactions transform habitat hydrology and affect tree growth
• Evaluating the impact of an invasive pathogen on tree population decline: An evidence based modelling approach

Blogs

• Keith Kirby's Woodland blog
• Jonathan Silvertown's ECT blog
• ECT RainDrop Webinar Series: Stories from the first 8 years 
• ECT RainDrop Podcast: Interview with Andy Hector and Clare Lawson