Woodland Survey Handbook: Collecting Data for Conservation in British Woodland

Description

Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Preface 1. Introduction 2. Background to nature conservation surveys 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Why do we need nature conservation surveys? 2.3 Curating your data 2.4 Standardisation, survey accuracy and the value of ‘unplanned surveys’ 3. Landscape-scale assessment: putting sites into their wider context 3.1 The overall woodland resource 3.1.1 Past woodland cover 3.2 Woods in their spatial and temporal contexts 3.3 Landscape character assessments 3.4 Other historical accounts and papers 3.5 Conservation designations, agri-environment schemes and surveys 3.6 Ancient woodland inventories 3.7 Species distributions 3.8 Pressures and threats 3.9 Collation and analysis of landscape-level surveys 4. Site assessment surveys 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Why focus on recording vascular plant species and structure? 4.3 Accessing past surveys 5. A basic walkabout survey 5.1 Things to consider before you start 5.2 Outputs of a walkabout survey 5.3 Planning and mapping a route 5.3.1 Precision on the map and in the field 5.4 Recording plants on walkabouts 5.4.1 Recording species abundance 5.4.2 Sources of variation in the species recorded 5.4.3 Interpreting the species list 5.5 Describing woodland structure 5.6 Subsidiary habitats within woodland 5.7 Surrounding land 5.8 Vegetation maps from walkabout surveys 5.9 Management 5.10 Initial write-up 6. Going beyond the walkabout: more detailed surveys 6.1 Quadrat recording in woodland for flora/vegetation 6.1.1 Size of quadrat 6.1.2 Quadrat distribution 6.2 Woodland classification 6.2.1 Classification systems for British woods 6.2.2 The National Vegetation Classification 6.2.3 Other woodland classifications and their interrelationships 6.3 Recording woodland structure 6.4 Dead-wood surveys 6.5 Veteran tree and parkland surveys 6.6 Grazing and browsing 6.7 Woodland archaeology and soil surface features 6.8 Soils 6.9 Biomass and energy flows 7. Surveys for species groups other than vascular plants 7.1 Mammals 7.2 Woodland birds 7.3 Reptiles and amphibians 7.4 Bryophytes 7.5 Lichens 7.6 Invertebrates 7.7 Fungi 8. Long-term surveillance to detect change 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Landscape-scale change 8.3 Condition monitoring on designated sites 8.4 Use of permanent plots and transects to assess change in woodland stand structure and composition 8.4.1 Semi-permanent plots 8.4.2 Other types of permanent/semi-permanent record 8.4.3 Making ‘permanent plot studies’ permanent in practice Conclusion Appendix 1: Example of a completed walkabout record card Appendix 2: Stand Group key Appendix 3: National Vegetation Classification: English key Appendix 4: Annex I: Woodland types recognised in the UK References Index Back Cover