Abstract
Changes in the ground flora in sweet chestnut (Castaneasativa) woodland were studied over 11 years usingpermanent quadrats in two coppiced plots and one plot in a ride widened by treeremoval. Light and temperature were also recorded. The temperature range wasgreater in the ride than in the coppice plots. Light reaching the woodland floorin summer fell to less than 1% of incident radiation at later stages of thecoppice cycle. Species richness peaked in the second and third year aftercoppicing and then declined in both the coppice plots and the ride. A similarpattern was seen in total percentage frequency of cover. The dominant species,Anemone nemorosa, showed little response to the coppicecycle in terms of frequency, but showed a fourfold increase in floweringintensity in the second and third year following coppicing. Other speciesgenerally declined in frequency through the coppice cycle, and flowering waslargely suppressed in the later stages. The results are discussed in relation toalternative methods of woodland management.
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Mason, C.F., MacDonald, S.M. Responses of ground flora to coppice management in an English woodland – a study using permanent quadrats. Biodiversity and Conservation 11, 1773–1789 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020395014155
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020395014155