Summer Meeting at SouthamptonSource: Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 9, No. 1 (May, 1940), pp. 178-180Published by: British Ecological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1439 .

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178 British Ecological Society

Mr H. G. Veevers then gave an account of the different methods which have been used to count gannet populations in the twenty-two colonies known in the world. The work done in conjunction with Mr James Fisher in the 1939 census showed the total population of the species to be about 170,000. Accounts of the history of individual colonies were employed to illustrate the nature of the factors now operating to determine the size and position of gannet populations. Dr 0. W. Richards, Dr C. B. Williams and Mr J. S. L. Gilmour asked questions at the end of the paper.

Dr J. L. Harley then described the results of his studies on woodland soils under beech forest in the Chilterns. He compared the three major soil types: Escarpment, A type Plateau, and C type Plateau in respect of total nitrogen and carbon, carbon dioxide emission, soluble carbon, fungal and bacterial content, rate of mobilization of nitrogen, and available calcium, In all these respects there is the same relation of the three soil types, highest values being in the escarpment soils, and falling off to the Plateau C soils. The low density of roots in the surface soil of Plateau A type was due to the absence of the restricting factors present in the other soils, shallowness in the one and biological poverty in the other. Heavy my- corrhizal infection was shown to be restricted to the two Plateau soils. Dr Mortimer, Mr Day, and Mr G. E. Blackman raised questions afterwards.

Dr V. J. Chapman then gave an account of the relation of plants to the West Indian shoreline. By lantern slides and specimens he illustrated the beaches and dunes made of " Halimeda sand " with their vegetation. The mangrove vegetation of the shore he related to three soil types, reef, mud, and a fibrous "marine peat" formedf slowly in the absence of silting. The low tidal range prevents any pronounced zonation with rising shore-level: Dr E. W. Jones and Prof. T. G. Osborn spoke in the discussion afterwards.

At the close of the meeting Dr 0. W. Richards thanked Prof. and Mrs Osborn very heartily for all the trouble they had given themselves to make the meeting so enjoyable, and Dr Godwin expressed a similar gratitude of the Society to Dr Clapham who had borne the burden of the local arrangements, and to the cheerful and efficient laboratory staff.

SUMMER MEETING AT SOUTHAMPTON 16-20 AUGUST 1939

FOLLOWING the kind invitation of Prof. Mangham the Summer Meeting of the Society was held in Southampton, and the opening was held in the Department of Botany at 8.45 p.m. on the evening of 16 August. Prof. W. Rae Sherrifs very kindly gave the Society an illus- trated account of the geology and topography of the country round Southampton, and at the end of the evening Mr Diver outlined the programme for the excursion on the morrow.

Thursday, 17 August. Under the competent leadership of Mr C. Diver and Dr E. W. Jones the party visited Studland Heath. They were there shown the extensive dune system of known age overlying Bagshot Sand. These dunes differ from most coastal dunes in the extremely low initial content of lime, which seems to be responsible for the absence of all intermediate seral stages between Ammophiletum and Calluna heath, as well as the very scanty population of fresh-water snails, and the virtual absence of larks and meadow-pipits. Larks are present on. the Bagshot beds nearby. The party was shown many interesting developmental stages both of the dunes themselves and of the wet hollows between them. Captain Diver told us about the distribution of grasshoppers in the area, and these insects and their allies got more attention from the zoologists than any other group of animals, because the group is so well represented in these parts by species which are normally regarded as rare. Various members collaborated in the study of grasshoppers, and became expert in their detection by sound alone. It may be worth mentioning that a number of specimens of the rare wasp Odynerus basilis Sm. were seen, apparently burrowing in the sand. The party had lunch by the shores of Little Sea, and the magnificent weather encouraged almost all the

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British Ecological Society 179

party to enter the lake, ostensibly to make leisurely investigation of the bottom flora with its carpet of Isoetes echinospora. The party then went on to examine the vegetation of Pipley Swamp at the southern end of Little Sea. We were then shown Brand's Bog, a very interesting example of a valley bog, showing a well-marked pool and hummock structure, and a rich Sphagnum flora including S. auriculatum var. sanguinale, S. papillosum, S. tenellum, S. compactum, S. pulchrum and S. cuspidatum. Erica ciliaris was present on the hummocks. The lower slopes of this bog showed an unusual transition to salt marsh vegetation, through a bog vegetation mixed with Schoenus nigricans, then a belt dominated by Schoenus, and finally Juncetum maritimae.

After tea at the ferry the party drove back to Southampton, and in the evening attended a meeting in the Department of Botany. Mr T. N. Retford gave an account of the Hydro- graphy of Poole Harbour, carried out by the University Department of Geography. The 15 square miles of the harbour is a drowned valley, and has a tidal range of only 2 to 6 ft. Mr Retford discussed the problems of silt movement in the harbour, and suggested that it had no direct marine origin. The role of Spartina Townsendii in mud fixation was stressed, the rhizomes of this plant growing at 6 to 18 in. above mean sea-level. It appeared that where channels were now being filled the material was coming from the erosion of unprotected mud flats at low water. Considerable general discussion followed the paper, and then Miss K. Boswell gave an account of the topographical changes in the developing shingle spit system at Warren Point. A series of maps of different dates established that practically all its growth had been made since 1907.

Friday, 18 August. The party assembled at Denny Wood on the Beaulieu Road, and Mr D. W. Young explained some of the major ecological features of the New Forest woodlands. There probably had always been heath on the Plateau Gravels and forest on the clays and better soils, with a spiny shrub zone between the two. The absence of coppice shrubs was due to grazing beneath the trees. Pines, introduced in 1783, were now invading the heaths rapidly, and reduction in the herds of deer since 1850 had caused much extension of the holly, especially in the marginal land. The part first examined of the Denny Enclosure was on Barton Sands, and the soil profile was exposed in deep pits which showed only a very slight tendency of the soil to podsolization. These inspection pits in the Forest proved to be very efficient traps for ground beetles, and there was some competition to be first down the hole to discover what had been caught. The party walked to an area above the Headon Beds, where the soil is less satisfactory, bearing Leucobryum and Polytrichum formosum, with no Euphorbia amygdaloides and no regeneration of ash. The soil profile here had a narrow B layer with humus and iron pan over gravel. At Vinney Ridge the party saw planted exotic species of many kinds with good natural regeneration. At Knightwood there was 15 in. of peat over Barton Sands with some clay: the accumulation in the B layer was irregular and there was strong gleying. This had been planted with Scots pine which was not, however, regenerating. The Bolderswood enclosure on Plateau gravel over Barton Clay carried Pseudostuga Douglasii, Sequoia sempervirens and Sitka spruce up to 120 ft. high after only seventy years' growth, with a great many fine specimens of other exotic conifers. The party returned to Southampton after tea at Lyndhurst.

In the evening, in the Department of Botany, Prof. Mangham gave an outline of what the excursion might expect to see on the following day. He paid special attention to the progress of Spartina Townsendii on this coast, and the growth of the shingle spits. Dr H. Godwin followed with an account of the submerged peat beds revealed in the excavations for the King George V Graving Dock at Southampton. Pollen analyses showed that the beds had begun in the Pre-Boreal period and had continued until marine transgression had inter- vened not earlier than middle or late Atlantic times. Possible links with the work on Poole Harbour and with Dr Jones's borings in Pipley Swamp were suggested.

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180 British Ecological Society

Saturday, 19 August. The party visited Warren Point, at the end of the Beaulieu River, where Miss Boswell demonstrated the movements of the shingle spits and mud banks. The older ridges supported Cirsium tenuiflorus. In a depression behind the shingle ridges was shallow water, said to be fresh enough for cattle to drink. Here was a dense stand of mixed Scirpus maritimus and S. tabernaemontani. Cutting for hay-rick thatching was in progress, and this was said to favour the former species against the latter. We went on from here to Hurst Castle shingle spit. Here the method of detecting grasshoppers by sound, learned on the South Haven excursion, revealed in the marshes a colonv of the grasshopper Metrioptera roeselii. Apparently the species had not previously been found on the South coast, the nearest station being the north Kent coast.

In the evening Prof. and Mrs Mangham entertained members to coffee at their riverside home at Nursling.

Sunday, 20 August. Under the direction of Dr A. R. Clapham and Dr H. Godwin the party was taken over three representative valley bogs of the New Forest. The first was at Matley Bog, where the flood plain of the central stream has a shallow, silty, basic peat, and bears tall alder wood "carr", very like that in the East Anglian fens. By a series of tran- sitional zones on either flank this passes into the tussocky Sphagnetum maintained by drainage flushes from the hillside. In the "splash zone" outside the fen wood there was abundant Ludwiga palustris. The region next seen was part of the broad outflow channel of Denny Bog, on the south side of Beaulieu Road Station. The extensive floating vegetation mat over shallow water, and the thin central line of fen wood were very striking. The last of these sites was at Crane's Moor, north of Burley. Here the influence of the hillside drainage was very great, and a series of terraces showed most interesting pool and hummock structure. In the bottom of the valley, relict Phragmites piercing the Sphagneta indicated the former deep channel of the stream, and eutrophic influences were more widely indicated by the prevalence of Schoenus nigricans.

These New Forest bogs include the rare localities for the large grasshopper Mecostethus grossus, several specimens of which were captured.

A communal farewell took place on the Ringwood Road about 3 p.m., and the President expressed the gratitude of all the party to Prof. Mangham and to the organizers and guides who had made this Summer Excursion one of the most pleasurable in the history of the Societv.

A full adldress list of the Society's members is printed in the Journal, of Ecology, Volume 28, No. 1, February 1940.

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