The grasses tended to have very thick, matted, tussocky bases which limited the growth of other ground cover plants such mosses.

The section contained small amounts of Bracken, contrasting markedly with the autumn-cut strips on either side of it (1 and 3) which contained quite large areas of Bracken.

Bell Heather was noted growing at the top of Section 2. This was the first time it had been recorded in this section.

European, as well as some Western Gorse, a very characteristic plant of heaths in the West of Britain, was also found in this section.

Western Gorse was generally rare across the project site and was represented by only a few plants.

The grasses in section 4 also had thick matted bases and hence there was very little in the way of mosses.

Sedges and in particular Wood Sedge, were dominant in this strip. Compact Rush was also abundant in the lower half of the section (foreground - left).

Brambles, Marsh Thistles and some European Gorse were notable on this predominantly grassy area.

Foxgloves and Common Figwort (left)  were also relatively common in this section.

This section was dominated by low growing European Gorse and a mixture of sedges, particularly in the lower half of the section.

This section also contained the greatest concentration of Bell Heather found on the project site, together with substantial amounts of Heather. (Both species are visible in the foreground in the picture on the left.)

Tormentil, another heath species was also present.

This half was dominated by a mixture of grasses (mainly Common Bent) together with Heathers, Marsh Thistle, Wood Sage and large numbers of Silver Birch seedlings.

This section had considerable moss ground cover, with an abundance of Polytrichum formosum (left) and Eurhynchium praelongum.

Hypnum jutlandicum, which is a characteristic heath species, also occurred in over a quarter of the quadrats sampled.

Comparison between the sections:

A total of 29 plant species were dominant in one or more of the spring cut sections.

Sections 2 and 4 were quite similar. They were basically grassland habitats with a variety of small herbs and small amounts of bramble and gorse. Section 7 was very dissimilar to the other two spring cut sections.  This section had less than half the grass cover of sections 2 and 4 (with the dominant grass species in all three strips being Yorkshire Fog and Common Bent). Section 7 was instead dominated by heath species such as gorse, heathers and sedges. It was one of the sections most resembling a heathland habitat in 1999 (along with sections 8 and 9).

Section 7 is in the northern half of the Heathland Restoration Project area. This half of the site is much more open, less dominated by woodland and has a much warmer microclimate than sections 1- 4 in the southern half of the project site. However, while there are undoubtedly some environmental differences between section 7 and the other two spring cut sections, it is extremely unlikely that the observed major vegetational differences are entirely due to environmental causes.

Section 7 is not only extremely different to the other spring cut sections, but is also visibly entirely different to the differently managed sections on either side of it which share similar environmental conditions. The observed differences also exactly follow the white boundary markers all the way up the section (see picture above). This clearly shows that the marked differences in vegetation in section 7 are a direct result of the management regime applied to this section alone. The management of section 7 has differed from the other two spring cut sections in only two respects: - the initial control of regenerating gorse and grasses.

The vegetation regenerating on this section after the second clearance of the entire project site was treated once with Garlon, which acts against gorse and once with Kerb granules which specifically control grasses. Clearly, the Garlon application had no lasting controlling effect on the gorse. Indeed, gorse was dominant in this section within the first year (table). The Garlon would presumably need to be applied more often than once, possibly at regular intervals, in order to have a lasting controlling effect.

The greatest effect of the management in this section seems to have been in restricting grass regeneration. Over most of the rest of the project site, grasses were initially very dominant (table), outcompeting other herbaceous species. The restriction of initial grass growth in this section seems to have been vitally important, allowing other species the chance to become established to a point where they were then able to successfully compete with the grasses.

The spring cut sections in more detail:

• Section 7 contained considerable quantities of ground level mosses. Sections 2 and 4 had much less moss cover because the dominant grasses had established dense, tussocky bases, allowing little room for moss establishment.

• Violets were common in the spring cut strips, especially in section 4. The spring cut ensures that the dominant vegetation never grows very tall over the summer so that the violets do not become shaded out.

• Although sections 2 and 4 were quite similar, there were differences. These differences were most likely due to the fact that section 2 is a very small, triangular section which is greatly dominated by adjacent woodland. Section 4 covers a much greater area than section 2 and so was also more diverse. Wood sedge was common in section 4, but almost absent in the other spring cut sections. Section 4 also contained considerable amounts of Bugle, in contrast to sections 2 and 7.

• Section 7 was much more influenced by tree seedlings than the other two sections. Silver Birch occurred in 1 out of every 2 quadrats sampled in section 7, but was not common in sections 2 and 4. Non-native cherry was found in section 7, but not in 2 and 4. This reflects the fact that section 7 is much closer to the wet woodland, which was the original source of cherry seed.

• Spring cutting appears to be beneficial to the establishment of heathers and other heath species on the project site. Section 7 had large quantities of both Heather and Bell Heather and a third of the dominant species in all three sections were species characteristic of heathlands.
  
  Sections 1 - 4 form the southern area of the triangular heathland restoration area and are quite different to the rest of the project site. All four strips are bounded by woodland, with the increasingly tall control strip (section 5) to their north (site description). These four sections therefore have a very different microclimate and environmental conditions to the more northerly sections 6 - 9. The conditions in this southerly area are so different that it was doubted whether this part of the Heathland Restoration Project site would ever regenerate as heathland. It is therefore notable that Heathers have now appeared in both spring cut sections on this southern side of the project area, but not in the autumn cut strips.
  
  The much lower height of the dominant vegetation over the summer growing season results in less competition for light at ground level. This not only prevents smaller established herbs, such as violets being shaded out, but also promotes seedling establishment generally. The fact that a significant proportion of the dominant species on all three sections are actually characteristic heath species is likely to be related to the soil conditions. Presumably the acid, sandy, nutrient-poor soil is gradually favouring the establishment of heathland species over other less well adapted grassland species.

Changes since the previous year:

• The amount of gorse increased in Section 7. There was little change in sections 2 and 4. Western Gorse arrived in section 2.

• The amount of Heather and Bell Heather more than doubled in section 7. Heather was noted in Section 4 for the first time and Bell Heather for the first time in both 2 and 4. 

• Bramble abundance increased in Section 7.

• Moss increased in all the spring cut sections. The amount of Eurhynchium praelongum more than doubled in each section. 

Ecological Survey 1999
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