PROGRESSIVE PLANT INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AN AREA ADJACENT TO ANCIENT WOODLAND AT EDFORD WOOD, SOMERSET, ENGLAND

Edford Wood, near Holcombe in Somerset, England has a rich and varied flora. Topography and species composition indicate that much of the wo odland is of ancient origin. The history of the site is complex, with the woodland long subjected to considerable human disturbance from sur face mining of coal, drainage and the felling of larger trees. Documen tary and other evidence has revealed that part of the wood has develop ed from grassland during die present century. This area of secondary w oodland illustrates processes of succession as woodland plants invade. (C) 1998 Thr Linnean Society of London.