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Description
A 1974 BBC news film item, presented by David Wilson, on the spread of Dutch elm disease. Philip Sarre discusses how the distribution of the disease can be explained by using Hagerstrand
A 1974 BBC news film item, presented by David Wilson, on the spread of Dutch elm disease. Philip Sarre discusses how the distribution of the disease can be explained by using Hagerstrand
| Module code and title: | D204, Fundamentals of human geography |
|---|---|
| Item code: | D204; 12 |
| First transmission date: | 03-06-1977 |
| Published: | 1977 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:30 |
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| Producer: | Nigel Houghton |
| Contributors: | Phil Sarre; Brian Greig; David Burdekin |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Dutch elm disease; Hagerstrand diffusion model; Human geography |
| Footage description: | Dutch elm disease has changed the face of the English countryside in less than 10 years. The disease probably entered Britain in the late sixties from Canada and by 1977 had destroyed about 10 million elms in southern England and was similarly attacking elms in the North. In this programme Dr. Philip Sarre examines the spread of the disease. He traces it with the aid of data compiled by the Forestry Commission and shows the diffusion of the disease from the three original centres (London, Bristol and Southampton) in 1971, to almost complete coverage of southern England in 1976. After looking at reality, Dr. Sarre then attempts to simulate the spread of the disease with a Hagerstrand diffusion model. Comparing the reality with the results of the simulation, Dr. Sarre tentatively concludes that the elm bark beetle, the carrier of the disease, has too short a flight pattern to account for the spread of the disease so rapidly over such long distances. One explanation for the speed of spread, to northern England is that timber merchants moved large quantities of cheap diseased elm logs from where they were being cleared in the south. Dr. Sarre discusses the effects of this trade with Michael Bliss, Group Forestry Officer with the West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72376 |
| Production number: | 00525_2327 |
| Videofinder number: | 12 |
| Available to public: | no |
