Woodlands Survey 1971-2001

In 1971, 103 broadleaved woodlands were surveyed across Britain. Ecological information was recorded at the site level and in more detail from 16 200m2 sample plots located at random within each site. Data was collected on plant species composition in the canopy and ground flora, soil pH and Soil Organic Matter, habitat management and a wide range of other plot and site-level descriptors. All sites and, where possible, sample plots were revisited and recorded again over the growing seasons of 2000, 2002 and 2003 (referred to subsequently as the '2001 survey'), using exactly the same field methods. Analyses were carried out to determine the kinds of ecological change that had occurred in the interval while a series of explanatory variables were assembled from the survey data and external sources in order to estimate the principal drivers of change. These included atmospheric deposition of S and N, climate, change in canopy structure and woodland management. The results have been published in Smart et al (2005) and Corney et al (2004), the latter publication focussing on an assessment of spatial factors controlling woodland composition and structure in the baseline year of 1971. Users of the database should consult these publications for further information on field methods and analytical results:

• Corney, PM, LeDuc, ML, Smart, SM, Kirby, KJ, Bunce, RGH, Marrs, RH (2004) The effect of landscape-scale environmental drivers on the vegetation composition of British woodlands. Biological Conservation 15, 200-215.

• Smart, SM, Kirby, KJ, Black, HJ, Corney, PM, Bunce, RGH, Smithers, R (2005) Measuring Long Term Ecological Change in British woodlands (1971-2001): A re-survey and analysis of change based on the 103 sites in the ITE/NCC 'Bunce 1971' woodland survey. English Nature Research Reports.