Botanical diversity in arable field margins.

Abstract

The plant communities of Britain's arable field margins have evolved over the past 5,000 years. There is considerable variation within the arable flora, chiefly related to soil type and climate. Farming practices have however undergone radical changes since 1945, and many species associated with arable cultivation have become extremely rare. Most of the sites where species-rich communities survive are on calcareous soils in the south and east of England. In addition to overall reductions in range and abundance of these species, they are in most cases now confined to the extreme edges and corners of fields, and the removal of field margins in recent years has contributed to the decline of the arable flora.