Contents

Cover

Title Page

About the Editors

Editors’ Preface

Author’s Foreword and Acknowledgements

1 Britain and Ireland: Two Western Islands

2 Prehistory: from Glaciation to the Iron Age

3 History: from the Romans to Modern Times

4 Plant Communities

5 Woodlands: Introduction

6 Woods on the Better Soils, and Wet Woods

7 Broad-Leaved Woods on Acid Soils, and Scottish Pinewoods

8 Wood Margins, Scrub and Hedgerows

9 Meadows and Pastures

10 Weeds and Ruderals: Ecological Opportunism

11 Chalk and Limestone Grasslands

12 Lakes and Rivers: Freshwater Aquatic Vegetation

13 Peat, Peatlands and the Hydrosere

14 The Diversity of Peatlands: Fens and Valley Bogs

15 Peatland Landscapes: Ombrogenous Bogs

16 Heaths, Heather-Moors and Acid Grasslands

17 Mountains

18 The Sea Coast: Saltmarshes

19 Sand-dunes and Shingle

20 Sea-cliffs and Rocky Shores

21 Conclusion

Further Reading and References

Copyright

About the Publishers