Long-Term Changes in the Woodlands of Rockingham Forest and Other Areas

Abstract

The extent, distribution, composition and management of British woodlands have changed considerably during the last thirty years. In response to changing demands and social conditions, there has been a significant shift from coppice to high forest, from broadleaved trees to conifers, and from native species to exotics. Afforestation has greatly increased the woodland of some regions, but clearance has exceeded afforestation in others. These changes have been stimulated by the national forestry policy administered through the Forestry Commission. The directions and rates of change are known in broad terms from the census of woodlands, 1947-9, and the sample census of 1965-7. Peterken & Harding (1974) quantified the changes which took place between 1946 and 1972 in the woodlands of Rockingham Forest in the east midlands of England. These were considerable, despite the fact that the total amount of woodlands remained almost unchanged. Clearance and afforestation had altered the distribution of woodlands and the relative importance of medieval and post-medieval woodland. Conifers and introduced broadleaf stands had increased, whilst native broadleaf stands were much reduced. The coppice system was almost extinguished, leaving many woods effectively unmanaged. The area of plantation high forest increased as land was afforested (i.e. changed from nonwoodland to woodland) and derelict coppices were reforested. These changes clearly reflected national trends, and are likely to have had a significant impact on the native woodland flora and fauna. Recent changes in management and composition are, of course, only the latest of a sequence of extremely complex events. The original natural forest has largely been cleared and the surviving fragments have been altered by exploitation and management. Most changes have been stimulated by changes in the relative value of land under crops and under trees; when the price of farm crops was relatively high woodland was cleared, but during periods of agricultural depression clearance ceased and some land returned to its former wooded condition. Management systems, which were established in or before the Middle Ages, have survived in modified form into recent times, but have largely been replaced now by modern forestry techniques. The present paper has four objectives: