Stella & Rose's Books

Front cover

Contents

• Editor's Preface
• Author's Preface
• 1. A Perspective
• What makes the Forest unique; its international significance
• 2. The Shaping of the Land
• Geology; how the drainage pattern and landforms evolved; present-day erosion
• 3. Settlement Through the Ages
• The evidence and features of settlement and early land use
• 4. The Landscape's Mantle
• Soil and vegetation; pollen analysis and early woodland clearance; surface erosion and the formation of the mires
• 5. The Conqueror's Forest
• Afforestation - and keeping exploitation in check; administration and management from medieval times; conflict of crown and commoners - and the how the Forest survived
• 6. The Forest Today
• Getting the balance right between conflicting interests; conservation, afforestation and recreation
• 7. The Commoner's Rights
• The pastoral economy and its prospects for survival
• 8. Ponies, Cattle and Deer
• Social organisation and ecology of the large herbivores; the effects of grazing and browsing
• 9. The Ancient Woodland
• The ecology of the unenclosed pasture woods; the woodland fauna
• 10. Woodland use and Abuse
• Medieval coppices; exploitation for navy timber; ascendance of beech trees; ornamental planting; 20th century vicissitudes and policy
• 11. The Forest and Forestry
• The Statutory Silvicultural Inclosures; recent effects of grazing; conifers and forest birds
• 12. Heath, Mire and Grassland
• The range of plant communities
• 13. Heathland Exploitation
• The effects of grazing, bracken and turf exploitation, fire and drainage
• 14. The Heathland Fauna
• 15. Predator and Prey
• The connections and interaction between the large herbivores, the small mammals and their predators
• 16. The Way Ahead
• References
• Index