In 1944 Lady Park Wood (45 hectares of woodland in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, UK) was set aside indefinitely by the Forestry Commission so that ecologists could study how woodland develops naturally. Since then, in a unique long-term study, individual trees and shrubs have been recorded at intervals, accumulating a detailed record of more than 20,000 individual beech, sessile oak, ash, wych elm, small-leaved lime, large-leaved lime, birch, hazel, yew and other species. In the seven decades since the study started, the wood has changed; trees grew, died and regenerated, and drought, disease and other events shaped its destiny. Each tree and shrub species reacted in its own way to changes in the wood as a whole and to changes in the fortunes of its neighbours. Meanwhile, the wild fauna, flora and fungi also responded, leaving the wood richer in some groups but poorer in others. In this landmark book, beautifully illustrated throughout, George Peterken and Edward Mountford, summarise the ongoing results of the Lady Park Wood study, highlighting its unique place in nature conservation and its significance to ecology in general. It also builds on experience at Lady Park Wood and elsewhere to discuss in particular: the role and maintenance of long-term ecological studies; the concept and form of natural woodland; the role of minimum-intervention policies in woodland nature conservation; near-to-nature forestry; and the desirability and practicalities of re-wilding woodlands.
Industry Reviews
The whole work is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs, several of which feature groups of students or members of professional bodies being taught, which is an added dimension to the importance of conserving such sites. George Peterken is undoubtedly the most experienced and respected native woodland ecologist in the UK today, and along with Edward Mountford in the last three chapters (pp. 239-262) they consider natural woodland in theory and practice, provide first an overview of the concept of natural woodland then "near-to-nature" forestry, and finally a discussion of the topical matter of rewilding, remoteness and wilderness that include much to consider and debate. The authors are very aware that this is just one site, and that even within it development could have progressed in different ways. Anyone responsible for the long-term management of deciduous woodland should make sure they see this study, which is surely destined to become regarded as a classic in woodland ecology, not just to see wha t was found out here, but how to record the responses of trees over time. Biodiversity and Conservation, December 2018
