The Holly seedlings in Area 3 were obviously of differing ages, with some
being much better developed than others. The high density of seedlings in this region may
also be a consequence of the fact that this region has three seasons-worth of developing
seedlings, rather than one, as in other areas. It should be noted that Holly seedlings
are not included amongst the indeterminate category of seedlings, because they were
immediately recognizable from the earliest cotyledon stage. There is therefore no
possiblity that the greater number of seedlings in Square 3 is simply due to the fact that
they were further advanced and therefore recognizable in comparison to other regions.
There were very few seedlings of any of the major categories in Square 4 (Figure 8). However, this is more related to the fact that there were
very few seedlings of any category in this region (Figure
7). As already stated this is likely to be because this area has had the least
time to regenerate after raking and removal of the leaf litter. |