Bill Mason, DSc, BA, BSc, MICFor

 

Head of Forest Management Division

Email: bill.mason@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Tel: +44 (0)131 445 2176
Tel direct: +44 (0)131 445 6953
Fax: +44 (0)131 445 5124

Address:
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY
UK

Bill Mason studied French and Spanish at Cambridge and Forestry at Bangor before undertaking postgraduate studies in tree physiology at Imperial College, London. He joined the Forestry Commission in 1977 and was a forest manager in East England and South Scotland before transferring into Forest Research in 1982. He was awarded a DSc by the University of Bangor in 2007.

During the 1980’s he was the project leader responsible for research on forest nursery production systems – much of the work is summarised in Forestry Commission Bulletin 111 ‘Forest Nursery Practice’. In 1992, after a secondment to the Scottish Office, he became Head of Silviculture (North) with oversight of all research programmes relating to the management of forests in northern and western Britain for multi-purpose benefits. He was personally responsible for the research programme on Alternative Silvicultural Systems for conifer forests with a particular emphasis on Continuous Cover Forestry.

In 2004 he was appointed Head of the new Forest Management Division with responsibility for leading the research programmes on silviculture, conifer tree improvement, timber quality and technical development throughout Britain.

Current role

Head of Forest Management Division

Current programmes

Continuous cover silviculture
Project leader
Advice on the development of suitable stand management techniques for the transformation of conifer plantations to diverse and varied forests. Also carrying out research on mixed species stands in conifer forests.

Management of upland native woodlands
Project leader
Focusing on analysis of structural development in pinewoods and studies on growth and silviculture of aspen.

Sustainability impact assessment of the forestry-wood chain (EFORWOOD)
Programme leader
Assessing the long term sustainability of the European forestry wood chain.

Core long-term experiments
Programme leader
Oversight of management of long-term silvicultural experiments.

Affiliations and achievements

• Committee member of the Continuous Cover Forestry Group
• Forest Research Country Liaison Officer for Scotland
• Member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters

Research areas

• Silvicultural systems for conifer forests
• Mixed species stands and species choice
• Long-term field experiments

Main recent publications

Mason, W.L., Connolly, T., Pommerening, A., and Edwards, C. (2008). Spatial structure of semi-natural and plantation stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in northern Scotland. Forestry, in press.

Mason, W.L. (2007). Silviculture of Scottish forests at a time of change. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 24, 41-57.

Mason, W.L. (2007). Changes in the management of British forests between 1945 and 2000 and possible future trends. Ibis, 149, (Suppl. 2), 41–52.

Mason, W.L., Dedrick, S., Dittrich, F., Droste, C., Kennedy, S., Ni Dhubhain, A., Soalleiro, R.R., Skovsgaard, J-P., Slodicak, M., Spiecker, H., Stahr, J. Stefanik, I., and von Teuffel, K.  (2007).  Forest Production. In: EFI Discussion Paper 13, European Forest Institute, Joensuu, Finland, pp 33-36.

Edwards, C., and Mason, W.L. (2006) .Stand structure and dynamics of four native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) woodlands in northern Scotland. Forestry, 79, 261-277.

Mason, W.L. (2006). Managing mixed stands of conifers and broadleaves in upland forests in Britain. Forestry Commission Information Note 63, Forestry Commission, Edinburgh.

Mason, W.L. (2006). Transformation of conifer plantations to mixed forests: initial guidance from an experiment in Wykeham forest, North Yorkshire. Quarterly Journal of Forestry, 1-12.

Gabriel, K., Blair, I., and Mason, W.L. (2005). Growing broadleaved trees on the North York Moors: results after nearly 50 years. Quarterly Journal of Forestry, 99, 21-30.

Mason, W.L., Kerr, G., Pommerening, A., Edwards, C., Hale, S.E., Ireland, D., and Moore, R. (2005). Continuous Cover Forestry in British conifer forests. Forest Research Annual Report 2003-2004, 38-53.

Jones, H.E., McNamara, N., and Mason, W.L. (2005). Functioning of mixed-species stands: evidence from a long-term forest experiment. In: Ecological Studies 176. Forest Diversity and Function: Temperate and Boreal Systems. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Pp 111-130.

Mason, W.L. (2004). Multiple-use silviculture in temperate plantation forestry. Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences, pp  859-864. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

Mason, W.L., Edwards, C., and Hale, S.E. (2004). Survival and early seedling growth of conifers with different shade tolerance in a Sitka spruce spacing trial and relationship to understorey light climate. Silva Fennica, 38, 357-370.

Mason, W.L., Hampson, A., and Edwards, C. (2004). Managing the Pinewoods of Scotland. Forestry Commission, Edinburgh, 234p.

Mason, W.L. and Humphrey, J.W. (2004). Silvicultural strategies for developing old growth structures in conifer plantations with reference to oceanic climates. Berichte Freiburger Forstliche Forschung 47, 30.

Thompson, R., Edwards, C., and Mason, W.L. (2003). Silviculture of upland native woodlands. Forest Research Annual Report 2001-2002, pp. 50-65.

Mason, W.L. (2003). Continuous Cover Forestry: developing close-to-nature forest management in conifer plantations in upland Britain. Scottish Forestry, 57, 141-149.

Kerr, G., Boswell, R., and Mason, W.L. (2003). A sampling system to monitor the transformation from even-aged stands to continuous cover. Forestry, 76, 425-436.

Mason, W.L., Easton, E., and Ennos, R. (2002). Variation in aspen in Scotland; genetics and silviculture. In: The Biodiversity and Management of aspen woodlands. (P. Cosgrove and A.Amphlett, eds.) Cairngorms Local Biodiversity Action Plan 2002, Grantown-on-Spey, Morayshire. Pp 45-55.

Mason, W.L., Menzies, M.I., and Biggin, P. (2002). A comparison of hedging and repeated cutting cycles for propagating clones of Sitka spruce. Forestry, 75,  149-162.

Kerr, G., Mason, W.L., Boswell, R., and Pommerening, A. (2002). Monitoring the transformation of even-aged stands to Continuous Cover Management. Forestry Commission Information Note 45, Forestry Commission, Edinburgh.

Mason, W.L. (2002). Are irregular stands more windfirm? Forestry, 75, 347-355.