Much of Britain was once covered by forest. Since the land was first farmed in the New Stone Age (about 4,500 years ago), the woodland has gradually been cleared, and farmland and grassland communities have extended over the face of the country. By the time of King William I's Domesday survey in 1086, the woodland had gone from much of the east and south of the country.

A cultivated field is a much more simple community than a woodland. Yet the ecology of farmland can be quite complex in spite of the increasing use of insecticides (poisons that kill insects) and herbicides (weed killers).

The red corn poppy and the wild oat are still to be found in English cornfields. Several birds, such as the corn bunting, find cropland an attractive habitat.

There may be important ecological links between a field and hedgerow and rough ground communities nearby. Ladybirds sometimes move from the hedges to breed in cereal fields where they eat aphids (pests that feed on the sap of plants). Partridges eat a good deal of grain from the stubble left after harvest, but also require an area of scrub or a hedge bank in which to breed.

Over the centuries so much woodland was cleared that eventually Britain began to grow short of timber. In 1919 the Forestry Commission was formed and given the task of planting new forest. Several hundred thousand hectares (1 hectare =2.47 acres) of land already carry tree crops. Conifers (cone- bearing trees) such as Scots and Corsican pine are widely planted, as they grow quickly. In places the Commission has planted deciduous trees (trees which lose their leaves in the winter, such as oak and beech) to add variety to the landscape.

Plantations containing only one kind of tree tend to provide homes for fewer other plants and animals than natural woodland. Birds such as titmice feed amongst the pine branches. Fungi grow well amongst the needles on the ground of conifer plantations in the autumn. Deer and grey squirrels live in many Commission woodlands and sometimes damage young trees. When these animals become too numerous they are controlled by shooting.

The first task of the Forestry Commission is to provide timber for industry. Today, however, the forester makes every effort to beautify the landscape and to protect wild life. He also provides opportunities for outdoor activities for young people; for example by making picnic areas and camp- sites available and laying out nature trails (walks through the woodland, with items of interest clearly labelled and explained). Sometimes observation towers are built so that visitors can watch deer and other animals. Amongst the larger Commission forests are Thetford Forest in eastern England, Kielder in Northumbria and the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park in Scotland.

Roadside verges, although they are artificial habitats, are frequently important refuges for wild flowers and certain types of wild life. In many areas, the grassy strips along country roads are all that remains of grassland and meadow habitats that have been ploughed up elsewhere. Thus in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, in eastern England, plants such as certain types of orchis, broom-rape and yellow-wort can still be found growing along roadsides although they have disappeared from nearby farmlands.

A kilometre of motorway requires about five hectares of land, of which forty per cent is verge. Although they are not often disturbed by visitors, such areas are much affected by noise and fumes - many plants and animals living near motorways have been found to have poisons from exhaust fumes in their bodies. Voles and mice may live on motorway verge areas in quite large numbers. Because they can be easily seen in the short grass these animals provide food for kestrels which have become quite a familiar sight along Britain's motorways.

Often well over a hundred species of plants can be found growing along a five kilometre length of verge. In summer several species of butterflies may be seen feeding from the flowers along such a stretch.Where the verge is bordered by a hedge and a ditch,it may provide a home for even more plants and animals.

Small birds such as chaffinches and mammals such as hedgehogs, that live in the hedgerows, may be kililed by passing vehicles.  Carrion crows are frequently seen eating creatures that have perished in this way.