This year marks the 170th anniversary of the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted – one of the most influential ecological studies ever undertaken.
First the team use quadrats to cut samples of flora from Park Grass.
Established in 1856 by Sir John Bennet Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert, the experiment was originally designed to answer a practical agricultural question: how do different fertilisers and manures affect the yield of hay from permanent grassland? What began as a study to improve farming has evolved into a globally significant scientific resource, providing an unrivalled record of how ecosystems respond to changes in nutrients, soil chemistry and environmental conditions over nearly two centuries.