SYNTHETIC CHARACTERS OF THE COMMUNITY 



69 



1. Relief: very slight, 2 deg., sloping eastward. 



2. Soil: leaf cover 2 to 5 cm., then 20 to 30 cm., of mild humus with earthworms 

 (Lumbricidae). Soil profile exposed and sketched in notebook. From each 

 principal root layer 200 to 400 g. of soil is collected in numbered bag. The profile 

 serves as a record of root layering. 



3. Height of the different layers and cover of each layer in the sample are 

 determined and recorded. 



4. Species lists and numerical values in the 100-sq. m. area are arranged as 

 follows (shrub layer absent) : 



Herbaceous Layer 



Species with Low Vitalitt- 



+ Epilobium angustifolium". 

 + Stachys silvaiica°. 



+ Scrophularia nodosa". 

 + Taraxacum officinale'^. 



Seedlings 



1 Quercus pedunculata. 

 1 Prunus avium. 

 Moss Layer (Scanty) 



+ • 1 Brachythecium velutinum. 



2 Fag us silvatica. 

 several Picea excelsa. 



+ • 1 Fissidens taxifolius. 



+ • 1 Eurhynchium schleicheri. + • 1 Tortula subulata. 



The soil is about two-thirds covered with vegetation. Outside the 100-sq. 

 m. area occur also in the Asperula facies covering about 800 to 1,000 sq. m.: 



Tree layer: Fraxinus excelsior (one specimen). 



Shrubs: Rosa arvensis (+ • 2). Crataegus monogyna^ {+ • 1), etc. 



Herbs: Poa chaixii, Polygonatum multiflorum, etc. (all -f • 1), etc. 



Mosses: Catharinea undulata, Brachythecium salebrosum, Mnium stellar e, Poly- 

 trichum formosum. 



Development: The stand represents the climatic climax, much modified by 

 man. Regeneration is by natural reproduction of beech in the more open places 

 (Carex pilosa facies), caused by cutting (or natural death) of old trees. In large 

 openings there is danger of reduction to an herb stage by dense crowding of C. 

 pilosa, which hinders forest reproduction. 



in fruit; 



^A = abundance and constancy (seep. 34); soc. = sociability ;fr. 

 fl. = in flower. 



" See explanation page 46. 



