English Lowlands beech forests
English Lowlands beech forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Palearctic |
Biome | temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
Borders | Celtic broadleaf forests |
Geography | |
Area | 45,600[1] km2 (17,600 sq mi) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | critical/endangered[2] |
The English Lowlands beech forests is a terrestrial ecoregion in the United Kingdom, as defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the European Environment Agency (EEA).[3] It covers 45,600 km2 (17,600 sq mi) of Southern England, approximately as far as the border with Devon and South Wales in the west, into the Severn valley in the north-west, into the East Midlands in the north, and up to the border of Norfolk in the north-east.[4] The WWF code for this ecoregion is PA0421.
Ecoregional context
To the north, west and south-west lies the similar
The difference between the English lowlands beech forests and the Celtic broadleaf forests lies in the fact that south-eastern England is comparatively
Characteristics
Historically, much of this lowland and submontane region was covered with high-
The National Vegetation Classification (NVC) plant communities associated with beech forests (together with their occurrence ratios in England as a whole)[6] are:
- W12 Fagus sylvatica – Mercurialis perennis (base-rich soils) – c. 40%
- W14 Fagus sylvatica – Rubus fruticosus (bramble) woodland (mesotrophic soils) – c. 45%
- W15 Fagus sylvatica – Deschampsia flexuosa (acidic soils) – c. 15%
River systems, the most significant of which is the Thames, were historically host to lower-canopy riverine forests dominated by black alder, and this can still be encountered occasionally today. Also included in this ecoregion are the distinctive ecosystems associated with the rivers themselves, as well as their flood-meadows and estuaries. The soils are largely based on limestone, and the climate is temperate with steady amounts of rainfall. Temperatures can fall below freezing in the winter.
Nowadays, much of this ecoregion has been given over to agriculture – with the growing of
The most significant centre of population is
Among fauna found in this ecoregion, the
- European otter
- Red squirrel
- Harvest mouse
- Hazel dormouse
- Greater horseshoe bat
- Corn crake
The
Rare plants include the
History
At the end of the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago, the area's ecosystem was characterised by a largely treeless tundra. Pollen studies have shown that this was replaced by a taiga of birch, and then pine, before their replacement in turn (c. 4500 BC) by most of the species of tree encountered today – including, by 4000 BC, the beech, which seems to have been introduced from mainland Europe. This was used as a source of flour, ground from the triangular nutlets contained in the "mast", or fruit of the beech, after its tannins had been leached out by soaking. Beechmast has also traditionally been fed to pigs.[7]
However, by 4000 BC, as Oliver Rackham has indicated, the dominant tree species was not the beech, but the small-leaved lime, also known as the pry tree.[8] The wildwood was made up of a patchwork of lime-wood areas and hazel-wood areas, interspersed with oak and elm and other species. The pry seems to have become less abundant now because the climate has turned against it, making it difficult for it to grow from seed. Nevertheless, some remnants of ancient lime-wood still remain in south Suffolk.[9]
Clearance of forests began with the introduction of farming (c. 4500 BC), particularly in the higher-lying parts of the country, like the South Downs. At this time, the whole region, apart from upland areas under plough, and marshy areas (e.g. Romney Marsh in Kent and much of Somerset), was heavily forested, with woodland stretching nearly everywhere.
Notable surviving examples include:
- The Forest of Arden (Warwickshire)
- The Chilterns (on the heights running from Oxfordshire through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to Bedfordshire)
- Epping Forest (on the border of northeast Greater London and Essex)
- Kinver Edge (a remnant of the Mercian forest on the border of south Staffordshire and Worcestershire)
- Morfe Forest (south Shropshire)
- Savernake Forest (Wiltshire)
- Selwood Forest (Somerset)
- )
- Wychwood (Oxfordshire)
- Wyre Forest (on the border of Worcestershire and Shropshire)
All of these were once far more extensive than they are today. For example, according to a late 9th century writer, the Weald (from the
The
The
See also
- Ancient woodland
- Biodiversity
- Biodiversity action plan
- Bioregionalism
- Community forests in England
- Conservation biology
- Forestry Commission
- Geology of England
- List of ecoregions
- List of ecoregions in the United Kingdom
- List of forests in the United Kingdom
- National nature reserves in England
- National parks of England and Wales (New Forest and South Downs)
- Protected areas of the United Kingdom
- Royal forest
- Trees of Britain and Ireland
- List of ecoregions in Europe
References
- ^ "English Lowlands beech forests". World Wildlife fund. Accessed 19 April 2020. [1]
- ^ "English Lowlands beech forests". World Wildlife fund. Accessed 19 April 2020. [2]
- ^ "English Lowlands beech forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- ^ European Environment Agency: Digital Map of European Ecological Regions Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
- International Union for the Conservation of Nature(IUCN) Occasional Paper No. 18, Morges, Switzerland, 1975
- ^ UK Biodiversity Action Plan: Lowland beech and yew woodland Archived 2007-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mabey, Richard, "Food for Free: A Guide to the Edible Wild Plants of Britain", Fontana/Collins, Glasgow, 1972, p. 33
- ^ Rackham, Oliver, "The History of the Countryside", J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1986, pp. 68–69
- ^ Rackham, Oliver, "The History of the Countryside", J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1986, p. 106
- ^ Whitelock, Dorothy, "The Beginnings of English Society" (Pelican History of England, vol. 2), Harmondsworth, 1952, p. 14
External links
- Encyclopedia of Earth: Ecoregion
- European Environment Agency: Digital Map of European Ecological Regions
- Forestry Commission England Archived 2016-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Keepers of time: A statement of policy for England's Ancient and Native Woodland (Forestry Commission) Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- UK Biodiversity Action Plan: Homepage
- UK Biodiversity Action Plan: Lowland beech and yew woodland
- Woodland Trust
- World Wide Fund for Nature: Conservation Science – Ecoregions
- "English Lowlands beech forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.