ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the results of a five-year survey of the hedgerows of Shapwick and examines evidence from the study of woodland and trees. Hedgerows are similar to a woodland habitat which presumably means they can have the overriding ecological characteristic of 'ancient' woodland: species richness. Hedgerows are a common, largely man-made feature of the British countryside which has been subject to considerable research into their origins, history, landscape function and ecology. Experimental studies of hedgerows over many years have shown that in numerous respects they can be considered to represent miniature woodlands. They share many features of similarity with woodlands, both in terms of their ecology and history, and in some cases were derived directly from woodlands in the past. There are a number of possible human activities which could have caused the observed differences in frequencies of shrubs and climbers in the Shapwick hedgerows.
