Annual and spatial variation in coning shown by the Forest Condition Monitoring programme data for Norway spruce, Sitka spruce and Scots pine in Britain

Summary Conifer seed is a valuable forest resource; as well as being reproductive material, it is an important foodstuff for many woodland species. Information on cone and therefore seed production of the main forest species are useful in the fi elds of both forest management and forest ecology. Coning has been recorded since 1989 in plots of Norway spruce, Sitka spruce and Scots pine across Britain as part of the Forestry Commission’s Forest Condition Monitoring programme. An 11-year period of these records was analysed and a summary of annual cone production by species and coning synchrony is presented. Both Norway spruce and Sitka spruce coned sporadically, with a 4-year period between mast crops during which cone density was very low or cone production absent, whereas Scots pine produced a good cone crop in most years throughout Britain. Coning was synchronous within and between Norway and Sitka spruce across the whole of Britain (at distances >600 km) but coning within Scots pine was in synchrony only over distances of up to 200 km. Synchrony of cone production was not evident between the spruce species and Scots pine. These fi ndings have implications when planning and interpreting monitoring used to predict cone crops and in the design of forests for wildlife conservation.