Victoria Stokes, BSc, MSc, PhD, MICFor

Research Scientist, Centre for Forest Resources and Management

Victoria completed a BSc in Botany and Marine Botany at University of Wales (1997) and an MSc in Ecology (1998) at the University of Wales, Bangor. She then completed a PhD on the annual carbon and water balance of mature oak and sycamore tree canopies at the University of Essex in 2002. She came to Forest Research in 2002 as an Environmental Physiologist initially working on Short Rotation Coppice, and since 2003 has worked as a Research Scientist in the Centre for Forest Resources and Management.  Victoria is a member of the Alternative Management Approaches and the Regeneration and Sustainable Silviculture research teams.

Current role

Research Scientist, Centre for Forest Resources and Management

Responsibilities include:

• Establishing and managing field experiment sites and monitoring equipment
• Managing and coordinating research projects
• Collating assessment data
• Data analysis and report writing
• Knowledge transfer; maintenance of programme web pages and involvement with field meetings and workshops.

Current programmes

Continuous cover silviculture

Integrated forest vegetation management

Affiliations and achievements

• Member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters
• Member of the British Ecological Society
• Member of the Continuous Cover Forestry Group
• Member of the Association of Applied Biologists

Research areas

• Continuous Cover Forestry
• Climate change and forest adaptation
• Creation of new native woodlands by direct seeding
• Ecophysiology of advance regeneration
• Environmental physiology and plant competition
• Herbicide reduction and vegetation management
• Management of natural regeneration
• Underplanting
• Biodegradable mulch materials

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Main recent publications

Kerr, G., Stokes, V., Peace, A. and Wylder, B. (2011). Prediction of conifer natural regeneration in a ‘data-poor’ environment. Scottish Forestry, 65 (3). In Press.

Sparks, T., Britt, C., Cherrill, A., Marrs, R., Mortimer, S., Pywell, R., Rotherham, I., Stokes, V.J. and Westbury, D. eds. (2011). Vegetation management [held at] Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, 27-28 April2011. Aspects of Applied Biology 108. Association of Applied Biologists, Wellesbourne, Warwick. 272pp.

Stokes, V.J. and Willoughby, I. (2011). The impact of bracken control on establishment of Corsican pine (Pinus nigra sub sp. laricio (Maire)) and pine weevil (Hylobius abietis (L.)) damage. In: Vegetation 2011, management [held at] Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, 27-28 April 2011, T Sparks, C Britt, A Cherrill, R Marrs, S Mortimer, R Pywell, I Rotherham, V J Stokes and D Westbury, eds. Aspects of Applied  Biology 108. Association of Applied Biologists, Wellesbourne, Warwick. 217-224.

Stokes, V. and Willoughby, I. (2011). A comparison of cover crops, direct seeding and herbicides in the establishment of ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior (L.) in lowland Britain. Quarterly Journal of Forestry, 105 (1): 19-27.

Kerr, G., Morgan, G., Blyth, J. and Stokes, V.J. (2010). Transformation from even-aged plantations to an irregular forest: the world’s longest running trial area at Glentress, Scotland. Forestry 83 (3) 329-344.

Petrokofsky, G., Brown, N.D., Hemery, G.E., Woodward, S., Wilson, E., Weatherall, A., Stokes, V., Smithers, R.J., Sangster, M., Russell, K., Pullin, A.S., Price, C., Morecroft, M., Malins, M., Lawrence, A., Kirby, K.J., Godbold, D., Charman, E., Boshier, D., Bosbeer, S. and Arnold, J.E.M. (2010). A participatory process for identifying and prioritizing policy-relevant research questions in natural resource management: a case study from the UK forestry sector. Forestry 83 (4): 357-367.

Stokes, V., Morecroft, M. and Morison, J. (2010). Comparison of leaf water use efficiency of oak and sycamore in the canopy over two growing seasons. Trees, Structure and Function. 24 (2): 297-306. DOI: 10.1007/s00468-009-0399-8.

Stokes, V.J. and Kerr, G. (2010). The evidence supporting the use of CCF in adapting forests to the risks of climate change. Forestry and Timber News 42, December 2010, 14,17.

Stokes, V. and Kerr, G. (2009). The evidence supporting the use of CCF in adapting Scotland's forests to the risks of climate change ^(PDF-891K). Internal report to Forestry Commission Scotland. 53 pp. 

Stokes, V., Kerr, G., and Ireland, D. (2009). Seedling height and the impact of harvesting operations on advance regeneration of conifer species in upland Britain. Forestry. 82 (2): 185-198. DOI:10.1093/forestry/cpn053.

Willoughby, I., Stokes, V. and Kerr, G. (2009). The influence of shelter on the establishment, growth and development of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.). Forestry. 82 (2): 199-210. DOI:10.1093/forestry/cpn054.

Kerr, G., Gosling, P., Morgan, G., Stokes, V., Cunningham, V. and Parratt, M. (2008). Seed production and seedling survival in a 50 year-old stand of Corsican pine (Pinus nigra subsp. laricio) in southern Britain. Forestry, 81 (4): 525-541. DOI:10.1093/forestry/cpn026.

Morecroft M.D., Stokes, V.J, Taylor, M.E, Morison J.I.L. (2007). Effects of climate and management history on the distribution and growth of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in a southern British woodland in comparison to native competitors. Forestry, Accepted Oct 2007.

Willoughby, I., Stokes, V., Poole, J., White, J.E.J. and Hodge, S.J. (2007). The potential of 44 native and non-native species for woodland creation on a range of contrasting sites in lowland Britain. Forestry 80 (5), 531-533. DOI:10.1093/forestry/cpm034.

Stokes, V.J. and Willoughby, I. (2007). Tolerance of trees to foliar acting herbicides. Aspects of Applied Biology 82, 91-101.

Stokes, V.J., Morecroft, M.D. and Morison, J.I.L. (2006). Boundary layer conductance for contrasting leaf shapes in a deciduous broadleaved forest canopy, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 139: 40-54. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2006.05.011.

Stokes, V. and Kerr, G. (2006). Relationships between growth and leaf-scale physiological parameters in five Wildstar™ cherry clones (Prunus avium L.), European Journal of Forest Research, Vol 125, No.4: 369-375.  DOI: 10.1007/s10342-006-0127-5.

Willoughby, I., Jinks, R.L. and Stokes, V. (2006).  The tolerance of newly emerged broadleaved tree seedlings to the herbicides clopyralid, cycloxydim and metazachlor. Forestry, 79 (4): 599-608.

Stokes, V. (2004). Assessing water use in plants: an introduction and guide to methods of measurement ^(PDF-2109K). Scottish Forestry, Vol 58, No. 2: 13-19.

Morecroft, M.D., Stokes, V.J. and Morison, J.I.L. (2003). Seasonal changes in the photosynthetic capacity of canopy oak (Quercus robur) leaves: the impact of slow development on annual carbon uptake, Int J Biometeorol, 47: 221-226.

Stokes, V. J. (2002). The impact of microenvironment, leaf development and phenology on annual carbon gain and water loss of two deciduous tree species, PhD Thesis, University of Essex, 370 pp.

Morecroft, M., Oliver, H., Stokes, V. and Morison, J., (2000). Sensing and mis-sensing the eclipse, Weather, Vol. 55, No. 5: 355-357.