A PhD project by Sandra Pratt in association with The University of Hull.

A project on the colonisation and successional development of vegetation on the oil bings of West Lothian; from the initial entrapment of seeds on a sterile substrate to the structure of the resulting plant communities. Experimentation, investigation, enquiry and analysis of new data collected from the study of vegetation on oil-shale bings in West Lothian are being used to determine the processes driving vegetation dynamics and the development of plant communities. Shale bings are of great ecological and scientific importance as examples of primary succession. They also provide a refuge for locally rare species, both plant and animal, in an agricultural landscape and are therefore important to conservation and increased local biodiversity. One result of this area of research has been the raising of the profile of post-industrial sites as important ecological habitats.

The ecology and diversity of the bing sites make them ideal for describing and monitoring the processes and mechanisms of vegetation dynamics over a wide range of conditions. The patterns of vegetation succession on the bings are comparable with those recorded on other primary succession sites; volcanoes, coal spoil, sand dunes, quarries, glacier moraines, china clay pits; and can determine if trends are the same in natural and man-made sites. Analysis of the vegetation provides an insight into the best-suited ecosystem structures for management plans on similar spoil sites in other countries.

Harvie,B.A., Legg,C.J. and Russell,G. (2003) Seedbanks and shale bings; four successful weed species. Aspects of Applied Biology 69, Seedbanks: Determination, Dynamics & Management, pp21-28.

Abstract and thesis

This thesis quantifies aspects of shade tolerance in tree seedlings of species native to the Caledonian pinewood ecosystem of Glen Affric (Highland Region, Inverness-shire). Growth, allocation and morphological responses of 15 species to irradiance under simulated forest canopy light were investigated in a nursery-based shade house experiment. The same responses of four of the 15 species (Ilex aquifolium, Alnus glutinosa, Sorbus aucuparia and Betula pubescens) to different developmental stages of Pinus sylvestris woodland were investigated in the field.

Abstract.
Thesis.

This thesis characterises species richness and community structure over a habitat-patch size gradient of a typical bog-pool complex, investigating the effect of pool size on aquatic invertebrate communities.

Abstract and thesis.

This project investigated the change in macro-invertebrate communities in the litter and soil of Mexican cloud forest in several chronosequences following forest clearance. Even after 100 years, these communities, which include important decomposers, differed significantly from those in undisturbed forest.

Abstract and thesis.

This project looked at the role of edge structure of forest gaps on ecosystem function. Forest edges in montane pine-oak forests in Mexico were classified as 'hard' (abrupt transitions from forest to grassland) or 'soft' (gradual transitions through a shrub and tall herb zone). The effects of edge type on small mammal distribution and acorn predation, dispersal and germination were examined.

Abstract