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Woolmer Forest is a former medieval royal hunting forest. It lies within the western Weald in the South Downs National Park, straddling the border between east Hampshire and West Sussex. Covering an area of some , it is both a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Historically a largely treeless heathland on sterile sandy soils, the forest was traditionally managed, like other royal forests, as "wood pasture" in which deer would be kept for hunting by the aristocracy for sport and for venison, and where commoners were permitted to graze their livestock. The forest today consists of both dry and humid lowland heath. It contains the largest and most diverse area of lowland heathland habitats outside the New Forest and is considered to be the most important area of heathland in the Weald of southern England; it is the only site in England known to support all twelve known native species of reptiles and amphibians, and it supports a nationally important heathland flora with associated birds and invertebrate fauna.〔 Woolmer village lies within the confines of the forest. ==Geology and ecology== Woolmer Forest straddles two upland watersheds, that of the River Wey and that of the River Rother. In its sandy soil, streams have cut wide valleys into the gently undulating terrain. On upland sites, dry heath predominates, characterised by heather ''Calluna vulgaris'' and bell heather ''Erica cinerea''. The driest sandy patches support some well-adapted (xeric) uncommon plants. Humid heath, which requires less free-draining subsoils, is characterized by cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'' and purple moor-grass ''Molinia caerulea'', which are joined in the wettest valley bottoms by sphagnum moss and carnivorous sundews. These moisture-retaining habitats grade into complex acidic boggy wetlands of hummocks and pools, locally called "mires". Here are the largest populations in England of the trailing bog cranberry ''Vaccinium oxycoccos''. Centuries of forest management have shaped the surrounding belts of woodland, composed notably of beech ''Fagus sylvatica'' and pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur''. Repeated pollarding has shaped the growth patterns of centuries-old trees. The discontinuous canopy favours a diverse understory, dominated by holly ''Ilex aquifolium'', whitebeam ''Sorbus aria'' and rowan ''S. aucuparia'' with birches. The absence of chemicals in the environment is one aspect that has encouraged an unusual diversity of insects and other invertebrates. The landscape of Woolmer Forest has been classified by the South Downs National Park Authority, in its integrated landscape character assessment of the park, as falling within the ''Wealden farmland and heath mosaic'', namely a landscape that has developed on the sandstones of the Folkestone Beds (part of the Lower Greensand formation of the Lower Cretaceous). This geology has given rise to a well-drained, sandy lowland landscape supporting a mosaic of oak-birch woodland, conifer plantations, open sandy heaths, and rough grazed pastures. The park authority claims that Woolmer Forest is the best area of lowland heath outside the New Forest, and that it is the largest area of heathland existing on the Folkestone Beds in southern England.〔(South Downs National Park Authority key documents )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Woolmer Forest」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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