EFFECTS OF AFFORESTATION ON UPLAND PLANT-COMMUNITIES AND IMPLICATIONSFOR VEGETATION MANAGEMENT

The British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) was used to descr ibe the vegetation of Kielder Forest, an upland forest in NE England. Eighteen NVC units were recognised in the forest, of which nine accoun ted for the majority of the unplanted area. Under the crop, only five communities were recognised; 17% of stands had no ground vegetation wh ilst a further 40% had too little ground vegetation to allow for a sat isfactory fit to any recognisable unit. Comparison with vegetation sur veys carried out in southern Scotland showed acid grasslands to be muc h more prevalent there while wet and dry heath were less frequent than in Kielder. A sequence of vegetation changes was identified in the ea rly development stages of second rotation crops. With increasing crop age the vegetation passes from an ephemeral association of species in the restocks which do not fit any recognised vegetation unit, through a flora similar to the pre-afforested vegetation of the area, to a veg etation with closer affinities to native Oak-Birch woodland. This deve lopment is halted at canopy closure when the ground vegetation is shad ed out. Plantation stands fitting closest to native oak-birch woodland are characterised more by the species they lack than by the species w hich are common to both. Variation in the floristic composition of sta nds within forests are related to both natural variability, as related to soil and altitude, and to forestry induced changes, including chan ges in landuse, drainage and ploughing and shading by the trees. The n atural and management induced changes in the vegetation communities re cognised in the forests are summarised and the identity of forest vari ants of native woodland associations are proposed in which groups of s pecies are consistently over- or under-represented. The value of veget ation classification in conservation management planning is considered through the development of a series of management units based on the broad vegetation types and physiographic features of Kielder Forest be fore broadening the discussion to consider a wide range of possible ma nagement objectives and factors which may influence their successful i mplementation.