Godwin Plots
This is the plot which is never cut
This plot is cut every three years
This plot is cut annually
The Godwin Plots are one of the world's longest running science experiments. They can be found at Wicken Fen nature reserve, Cambridgeshire, England.
Five experimental areas of vegetation were established in the 1920s by Prof. Sir Harry Godwin. The first plot is never cut. The second is cut every four years, the next every three years and so on. The cutting is undertaken in November/December every year. This management has, over many years, produced different vegetation patterns. Godwin used the experiment to demonstrate that management alone can change plant communities - an idea which is almost universally accepted today, but was quite radical in the early 20th century.
References
- L.E. Friday, P.J. Grubb & D.E. Coombe The Godwin Plots at Wicken Fen: a 55-year record of the effects of mowing on fen vegetation in Nature in Cambridgeshire No 41 (1999).