Woodland Restoration Project
| Litter depth varied considerably locally over the
project site due to wind drift. However, overall, litter depths were very constant. Mean
litter depth was 5cm in squares 1,2 and 3 and 6 cm in square 4. The proportion of leaf litter attributable to different species was very subjectively analysed by observation during sampling. In square 3, the leaf litter consisted of deciduous leaf litter from oak, sweet chestnut, beech and silver birch, in a proportion of roughly 3:1 to rhododendron leaf litter. In squares, 1,2 and 4, the proportion of deciduous leaf litter to rhododendron leaf litter was in the region of 1:1. It must be noted that this survey was carried out in November, when all the deciduous trees had recently shed their leaves. These estimations may therefore err on the side of over-estimating the proportion of deciduous leaf litter in the litter layer, due to its prominance at this time. |
