A comparison of four methods used to survey hedgerows: The Cardiff Hedgerow Survey 1998

One of the aims of the Cardiff Hedgerow Survey 1998 was to compare the resu lts from four different survey techniques on the same hedgerows. A stratifi ed sample of 211 hedgerows was surveyed using standard 30-m lengths, 10-m p lots, the Hedgerow Evaluation and Grading System (HEGS), and features of im portance as defined in the UK Government's Hedgerows Regulations 1997. All methods identify variation between hedgerows which can be used to diffe rentiate between hedgerow types (e.g. parish/community boundaries, new hedg erows), or compare hedgerows in different areas (e.g. communities). The num ber of species in 10-m lengths, 30-m lengths and the whole hedgerow were hi ghly correlated; surveys of sections can thus indicate overall species rich ness, though 30-m lengths gave better results than 10-m lengths. In general a good relationship between HEGS and the 'importance' as defined by the He dgerows Regulations was found, but it was not predictive for middle-ranking hedgerows, and the HEGS method cannot be used in proxy for the Hedgerows R egulations or vice versa. General surveys can be carried out using these tw o methods together to maximise both ecological and contextual information c ollected during surveys. (C) 2000 Academic Press.