Geescroft Wilderness

  • Experiment Code: R/GE/9
  • Experiment Site: Rothamsted
  • Objectives: To study the establishment of plants after abandonment of arable cropping and subsequently the accumulation of organic carbon above and below ground.
  • Description: The Geescroft Wildernesses site at Rothamsted was 'fenced off' in the 1880's and left to revert naturally to woodland. The site had previously been arable for centuries. It is an acidic site (in contrast to the calcareous Broadbalk Wilderness). Although not an experiment in the usual sense, it is of great value, especially for looking at long-term changes in soil and regeneration of woodland vegetation. Geescroft Wilderness is an ECN (Environmental Change Network) site and is surveyed every 3 years.
  • Date Start: 1883
  • Date End: Ongoing

Funding

  • The e-RA database, including the published datasets generated from it, is part of the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments - National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (RLTE-NBRI) , which also includes the Long-Term Experiments, the Sample Archive and Rothamsted's environmental monitoring activities including the weather stations and its role in the UK Environmental Change Network.
  • The RLTE-NBRI is supported by the Lawes Agricultural Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Grants BBS/E/C/00005189 (2012-2017); BBS/E/C/000J0300 (2017-2022); BBS/E/RH/23NB0007 (2023-2028)).

Experimental Design

Description

  • This acidic site, Geescroft Wilderness, is now a deciduous wood dominated by oak (Quercus robur), with an understory of holly (Ilex aquafolium). Because the soil is so acidic, there are few ground cover species, and there is a permanent litter layer (in contrast to the Broadbalk Wilderness, where each year's litter decomposes).

Design

  • Period: 1847 - Now

Crops

Crop Years Grown
Regeneration to Woodland1886 -

Factors

Factors are the interventions or treatments which vary across the experiment.

Liming Exposure

Description: Small amounts of chalk were applied in the 1840s-1880s, and the soil is now acidic (pH fell from 7.1 in 1883 to 4.4 in 1999).

Application: Whole Plot

Levels
Level Name Amount Years Frequency Crop Method Chemical Form Notes

Measurements

Variable Unit Collection
Frequency
Material Description Crop
Soil Organic Carbon t/ha infrequent Soil Sample data for 1883, 1904, 1965, 1999 (comprising 8, 2, 4, 8 separate samples respectively). Other physical samples available in sample archive (1963, 1964, 1969, 1990, 1991, 1992)
Plant Biomass t/ha infrequent Sample data = organic carbon from 1883, 1904, 1965, 1999 for trees/shrubs, litter and roots.

Site: Geescroft Wilderness - Rothamsted

  • Experiment Site: Rothamsted
  • Description: The Geescroft Wilderness at Rothamsted was left to revert naturally to woodland in 1886. The site had previously been arable for centuries, most recently with field beans 1847-1878, bare fallow 1879-1883 and clover 1883-1885. It is an area of 1.3 ha.
  • Management: Small amounts of chalk were applied in the 1840s-1880s, and the soil is now acidic (pH fell from 7.1 in 1883 to 4.4 in 1999).
  • Visit Permitted?: Yes
  • Visiting Arrangments: By arrangement with Dr Andy Gregory, LTE Manager
  • Elevation: 133 Metres
  • Geolocation:    51.802193, -0.36036

Soil

  • Type: Chromic Luvisol
    Batcombe soil series, silty clay loam surface overlying clay-with-flints, overlying chalk at a depth of several meters.

Soil Properties

Variable Value Reference Year Is Estimated Is Baseline
Soil pH 4.4 () 1999 NO NO
Soil pH 7.1 () 1183 NO NO
Clay content 22.5% (Percent) NO NO
Clay content 55% (Percent) NO NO

Datasets available

Title (hover for a longer description) Year of Publication Identifier Version

Soil data

Geescroft wilderness accumulation of organic carbon 2015 10.23637/KeyRefOAGEWoc
01
.

Key References

2016

  • J. Storkey , A.J. Macdonald , J.R. Bell , I.M. Clark , A.S. Gregory , N.J. Hawkins , P.R. Hirsch , L.C. Todman and Whitmore, A.P. (2016) "The Unique Contribution of Rothamsted to Ecological Research at Large Temporal Scales.", Advances in Ecological Research (eds: A.J. Dumbrell , R.L. Kordas and G. Woodward - Academic Press), Vol 55, Chapter 1, pp. 3-42
    DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2016.08.002

2008

  • Jenkinson, D.S. , Poulton, P.R. and Bryant, C. (2008) "The turnover of organic carbon in subsoils. Part 1. Natural and bomb radiocarbon in soil profiles from the Rothamsted long-term field experiments", European Journal of Soil Science, 59, 391-399
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2008.01025.x

2003

  • Poulton, P.R. , Pye, E. , Hargreaves, P.R. and Jenkinson, D.S. (2003) "Accumulation of carbon and nitrogen by old arable land reverting to woodland", Global Change Biology, 9, 942-955
    DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00633.x

2002

  • Blake, L. and Goulding, K.W.T. (2002) "Effects of atmospheric deposition, soil pH and acidification on heavy metal contents in soils and vegetation of semi-natural ecosystems at Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK", Plant and Soil, 240, 235-251
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1015731530498
  • Pye, E. (2002) "Investigation of woodland regeneration within two Wilderness areas. PhD thesis", University of Hertfordshire.

2001

  • Harmer, R. , Peterken, G. , Kerr, G. and Poulton, P. (2001) "Vegetation changes during 100 years of development of two secondary woodlands on abandoned arable land", Biological Conservation, 101, 291-304
    DOI: 10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00072-6

1999

  • Blake, L. , Goulding, K.W.T. , Johnston, A.E. and Mott, C.J.B. (1999) "Changes in soil chemistry accompanying acidification over more than 100 years under woodland and grass at Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK", European Journal of Soil Science, 50, 401-412
    DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2389.1999.00253.x

1996

  • Poulton, P.R. (1996) "Geescroft Wilderness, 1883-1995", NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Evaluation of soil organic matter models using existing long-term datasets, NATO ASI Series I: Global Environmental Change, (Powlson D. S. , Smith P. and Smith J.U. (eds) - Springer-Verlag, Berlin), Vol 38, 385-389
  • Kerr, G. , Harmer, R. and Moss, S.R. (1996) "Natural colonisation: a study of Broadbalk Wilderness", Aspects of Applied Biology, 25-32

1971

1965

1915

  • Brenchley, W.E. and Adam, H. (1915) "Recolonisation of cultivated land allowed to revert to natural conditions", Journal of Ecology, 3, 193-210
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/2255489

1895

  • Lawes, J.B. (1895) "Upon some properties of soils, which have grown a cereal crop and a leguminous crop for many years in succession. ", Agricultural Students' Gazette, New Series, 7, 65-72 (Series 1/91)

For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk