Thirty years ago Robin Lang did a pilot survey of the 20 woodlands in Plumpton parish that were larger than 0.5 ha. In fact, he was only able to do 19 of these because one was changing ownership at the time and he was not allowed access. It was a pilot survey on behalf of the Sussex Trust for Nature Conservation (now Sussex Wildlife Trust), with funding from the Nature Conservancy Council (now English Nature) and East Sussex County Council (Lang, 1986) to record biological information on woods and to assess the method by which future surveys would be done.
Jacqui Hutson thought it would be interesting to resurvey these woods to see if there had been any detectable changes. So, in 2014, the Wildlife Group set out to do just that. While Robin Lang did all his surveys in June 1986, shortage of time meant that we had to spread our surveys out a bit more, doing some in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Like Lang, we were only able to visit 19 of the 20 woods (the one we were not able to visit was different from the one that Lang did not survey). The season we did ours differed from Lang’s too – we wanted to make sure we covered the springtime flowers (some of which disappear by June) so we surveyed in the months of April and May.
A total of 247 species were recorded, of which 112 are true woodland species. In total, 61 plants that are Ancient Woodland Indicators (AWIs) were recorded.Species common to all woodlands are Ash, Elder, Bluebell and Holly; trees and shrubs occurring in at least 14 woods are Hazel, Hawthorn and Pedunculate Oak. It is notable that all but three of the woods surveyed are present on the 1841 Tithe Map. While the two surveys are not strictly comparable because of slight differences in methodology, there is some evidence that the woodlands have become shadier over the last 30 years. This is a result of lack of management and fits with the national trend.
A total of 48 native trees and shrubs were recorded in the two surveys, with the most common species being oak, ash, hornbeam, field maple, blackthorn and hawthorn. The least common were buckthorn, wild service tree and aspen. Native species were far more abundant than any of the 24 species of introduced trees and shrubs. Of the native trees hornbeam is abundant in the northern part of the parish but absent in woods south of the greensand ridge. It favours heavy clay and was selected for coppice in the past because it is a high-calorific firewood and makes great charcoal.
Every wood has bluebells, bramble and elder and most have wood anemones too. Some woods have wild daffodils The surveys recorded a total of 118 native herbaceous plants that would fall into the category of woodland or woodland-edge plants. We recorded 11 aliens: garden escapes or deliberate plantings such as cultivated daffodils and snowdrops, bamboos and periwinkles. In addition, the surveys recorded a total of 50 herbaceous species that would not be considered as part of a woodland community – weedy species such as plantains, and annuals that grow in disturbed, open ground, mostly along the paths that thread through some of our woods.
The 2014-16 survey results have now been written up by Jacqui Hutson as a 74 page report, Woodlands in Plumpton Parish. The report includes many full colour photographs of the woodlands and the plants recorded.
A limited number of printed copies are available for purchase at Plumpton village shop.
Jacqui Hutson thought it would be interesting to resurvey these woods to see if there had been any detectable changes. So, in 2014, the Wildlife Group set out to do just that. While Robin Lang did all his surveys in June 1986, shortage of time meant that we had to spread our surveys out a bit more, doing some in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Like Lang, we were only able to visit 19 of the 20 woods (the one we were not able to visit was different from the one that Lang did not survey). The season we did ours differed from Lang’s too – we wanted to make sure we covered the springtime flowers (some of which disappear by June) so we surveyed in the months of April and May.
A total of 247 species were recorded, of which 112 are true woodland species. In total, 61 plants that are Ancient Woodland Indicators (AWIs) were recorded.Species common to all woodlands are Ash, Elder, Bluebell and Holly; trees and shrubs occurring in at least 14 woods are Hazel, Hawthorn and Pedunculate Oak. It is notable that all but three of the woods surveyed are present on the 1841 Tithe Map. While the two surveys are not strictly comparable because of slight differences in methodology, there is some evidence that the woodlands have become shadier over the last 30 years. This is a result of lack of management and fits with the national trend.
A total of 48 native trees and shrubs were recorded in the two surveys, with the most common species being oak, ash, hornbeam, field maple, blackthorn and hawthorn. The least common were buckthorn, wild service tree and aspen. Native species were far more abundant than any of the 24 species of introduced trees and shrubs. Of the native trees hornbeam is abundant in the northern part of the parish but absent in woods south of the greensand ridge. It favours heavy clay and was selected for coppice in the past because it is a high-calorific firewood and makes great charcoal.
Every wood has bluebells, bramble and elder and most have wood anemones too. Some woods have wild daffodils The surveys recorded a total of 118 native herbaceous plants that would fall into the category of woodland or woodland-edge plants. We recorded 11 aliens: garden escapes or deliberate plantings such as cultivated daffodils and snowdrops, bamboos and periwinkles. In addition, the surveys recorded a total of 50 herbaceous species that would not be considered as part of a woodland community – weedy species such as plantains, and annuals that grow in disturbed, open ground, mostly along the paths that thread through some of our woods.
The 2014-16 survey results have now been written up by Jacqui Hutson as a 74 page report, Woodlands in Plumpton Parish. The report includes many full colour photographs of the woodlands and the plants recorded.
A limited number of printed copies are available for purchase at Plumpton village shop.