Surveying the Distribution and Abundance of Plants in Different Coppices

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Surveying the Distribution and Abundance of Plants in Different Coppices

Aim:        To survey the distribution and abundance of plant species in old and new coppice woodland and determine the factors that cause these patterns.

Introduction:        Coppicing woodlands is a method by which trees such as hazel and ash are cut back to almost ground level, leaving just the stumps or ‘stools’, from which many new shoots will grow from. The wood cut from these trees was once used for a wide variety of things, including thatching spars and firewood. As the trees were cut back, this allowed a lot more light to reach the woodland floor, allowing a greater diversity of both plant and animal life-forms to exist.

After eight years, once the trees have many shoots which have grown back to replace those cut off, these are then cut off too between November and March, allowing even more shoots to grow in their place, and again allowing more light to the floor. This cycle continues, however, most coppices are now neglected and have consequently over-grown.

Variables:        Light- different amounts of light could cause a different variety of plants to grow in the separate coppices, as they will all photosynthesise at different rates. Also, a different light intensity could create different numbers of plants in the coppices, as well as causing them to be spread out over a wider area, creating more competition and causing some species to receive less light than they need for photosynthesis and won’t survive.

Temperature- Different temperatures may provide optimum conditions for different plant species, and so they will have greater abundance and will be more concentrated than other plant species.

Soil Temperature- different temperatures in the two coppices could encourage different species of plants to grow and thrive, and cause others to die out.

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Soil Moisture- if there isn’t enough moisture in the soil, only certain plant species will survive as they have adapted to photosynthesise in those conditions. Also, lower soil moisture will prevent large numbers of a plant species from thriving in that area.

Soil pH- Whether the soil is alkaline or acidic and the extent to which they are can greatly affect the plant species which are able to grow there. If the soil is too acidic, many plants will not be able to survive, only those which have adapted to cope thriving due to the lack of inter-specific ...

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