Researcher Chris Panter from the University of East Anglia says that the knock on effect of the deadly Ash disease could see 60 of the country's rarest insect species lost from the UK.

He said: "If this disease removes many Ash trees from the landscape, then it will impact the country's biodiversity.

"As well as 80 common insects, at least 60 of the rarest insect species in the UK have an association with Ash trees - these are mostly rare beetles and flies.

"If Ash suffers a large-scale decline, these Red Data Book and Nationally notable or scarce species will become even scarcer, and in some cases may possibly be lost from the UK.

"Ironically many of the rare species associated with Ash depend on the dead or dying branches of old trees, but if infected trees are ultimately cleared away then even these species will suffer also.

"Ash is also important for many lichens and mosses that grow in its bark, and its seeds are an important food for woodmice," he added.

Chris Panter is one of a team of experts from UEA's School of Environmental Studies who undertook the first complete assessment of the biodiversity of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. The research, published this summer, pooled 1.5 million records collected by scientists and dozens of amateur enthusiasts since 1670.

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