WHY ARE VETERAN TREES IMPORTANT?
Through their structural complexity, veteran trees provide a diversity of habitats including large crowns and cavities, that cannot be found on younger trees, even if they are of the same species.
WHAT IF VETERAN TREES DISAPPEARED?
These habitats are home to rare species of fungi, invertebrates, lichens, and even birds and bats. As such, veteran trees play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems where they grow.
Without veteran trees, the variety of habitats in an ecosystem would be much lower, and support a lower diversity of species.