A survey of gorse weevil activities in Ashley Forest.

The gorse seed weevil (Apion ulicis) attacked 74% of seed pods sampled from six gorse infested sites in Ashley Forest, and destroyed a high percentage of seed within each pod. Statistical tests showed that the weevil did not discriminate its attack along a gorse branch. Two fungi and a 'nematode' worm were also found to attack seeds within the gorse seed pods. Combined together, the different agents destroyed a very high percentage of seeds within 94% of the sampled pods, there being no significant difference in overall attack between the six sites sampled. The amount of gorse and seed that could develop and reach the soil when the seed pod dehisced has been significantly and greatly reduced. Of the seeds that escaped attack, only 68% proved viable when a germination test was conducted. The growth of gorse seedlings (Ulex europaeus) was compared with that of Pinus radiata. Initially gorse was slower, but it then increased height growth substantially, overtopping the pine seedlings within one hundred and thirty days of soil emergence