Acer campestre (Field Maple)
In Toll Wood:
Field Maples are our only native maple. Not to be confused with the sycamore leaf, which is much larger and 'spikier' in outline. There are only a few in Toll Wood, so there is scope for adding trees as part of our succession-planting in suitable plots for this fast-growing species. Leave them to grow as nature dictates or they respond well to pollarding. These trees are important in the variety of invertebrates they are able to support, on a par with hornbeams that are well represented in Toll Wood.
An important woodland, hedgrow and parkland tree. Field maples are insect pollinated, supporting a wide range of invertebrates throughout its lifetime, including a number of moths such as the small yellow wave and mocha. The nectar attracts birds too, with attracted insects as a side-dish. The seeds are an important food source for small mammals. The leaves are particularly inviting to several 'chewing' insects and sap feeders - all of which are foodstuffs to birds, ladybirds, and hoverflies. Autumn leaves provide a good display of gold and provide deep rich leaf litter to enrich the woodland floor, under which its mycorrhizal fungi extend widely. The tree also supports a range of mosses and lichens. The decaying, veteran trees are important to many more species that exploit the toughness and persistence of this toughest and densest of woods.
Biodiversity value: MEDIUM/HIGH
They are particularly important for leaf-litter, lichens, fungi, mycorrhizal networks and invertebrates. As such, it is important to about 38 invertebrate "chewer" species and 13 sap-feeders.
