The Bryophyte flora of the anthills at Old Hall Marshes
Large red-topped posts marked out the plots selected and the individual anthills were also marked
with a small piece of red-coloured dowelling. Red-coloured washers and 6 inch nails quickly replaced
the individual markers as the Rabbit population found the dowelling extremely tasty!
The anthills themselves vary in size and, therefore, each anthill was measured. The diameter was
taken on north-south and east-west compass bearings and the height was always taken at the north
point on a horizontal line to the highest point on the anthill. Also the spatial relationship of the
anthills within each plot was measured. Map 3 shows that for Plot G Table 1 shows the range of
dimensions over all the anthills.
Map 3. Layout of anthills at plot G
P = Marker post
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 18 (2001)
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