Hedges. IV. A Comparison Between the Carabidae of a Hedge and Field Site and those of a Woodland Glade

In 1871 the statutory returns of the Board of Agriculture showed that woodland occupied only 3-700 of the land surface. By 1947 this had risen to 5 8% largely through the activities of the Forestry Commission, and is now rather more than this. Only about half is deciduous woodland and nearly all is managed for timber. Moore (1962) has pointed out with special reference to birds that much of our fauna is of woodland origin, and that many species are now dependent to a large extent on hedges for their continued existence in agricultural areas. During the gradual decline in woodland from the Domesday survey until the end of the nineteenth century the mileage of hedges increased greatly. Moore, Hooper & Davis (1967) give an account of the history of hedges in this country, and draw attention to the recent destruction of hedges, which is widespread, but most marked in the East Midlands and East Anglia. Salisbury (1961) has likened the hedgerow flora to that of the woodland edge. Tischler (1948) studied the invertebrate fauna of the wide Schleswig Holstein hedges and divided the species according to their natural habitats. An oak-hornbeam hedge had a higher proportion of woodland species than an oak-birch hedge with lighter canopy. Thiele (1960, 1964a) described the carabid fauna of similar hedges which measured between 9 and 10 m in width. He also considered the hedge carabids to be primarily woodland species. In this study the carabids of an arable field and a neighbouring hedge are com