The Ecology of Woodwalton Fen

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Abstract
Woodwalton is the principal East Anglian fen hitherto undescribed. It lies in an area which has been intensively drained in the last 100 years. The vegetation is abnormal and much modified Dy man, but can be broadly classified in three seres: the first of Calamagrostis epigeios societies leading to Salix atrocinerea scrub and possibly Quercus petraea wood; the second, the Molinia sere, leading to Betula pubescens wood; and the third, "mixed sedge", intermediate. The Molinia sere is peculiar in the presence of basiphilous and acidophilous spp. e.g. Cladium mariscus and Calluna. Peat stratigraphy reveals that the locality has passed through alternate phases of fen and bog growth probably ending in historical times as raised bog with mesotrophic flushes. In the last century peat has been cut leaving an exposed surface here of acid peat, there of basic. On the former, remnants of the bog flora have been able to survive, while the latter has been colonized by a secondary fen flora. A simultaneous artificial lowering of the water table has led to rapid bush colonization. Studies of the water table have shown that lateral movement of water in the compacted acid peat layers is slow and the buffering action of the peat lessens the injurious effect of the present basic water on the acidophilous relict spp.

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