You are in front of a small stand of conifer trees (trees with needle leaves instead of broad leaves). These are the evergreen trees. Find a spot under the trees that makes you believe you’re in a coniferous woodland - go on, jump in! What do you see and how does it feel?

There are a mix of different species in this stand of conifers. Most conifer trees are evergreen (keep their leaves all year round). These woods tend to have lower light levels throughout the year.

The soil under conifers is acidic (pH <5). There are few, if any, earthworms as they cannot cope with such acidic soils. So organic matter falling on the soil simply lies there and decays slowly through the action of fungi and soil arthropods. Because there are no worms to pull organic matter down, the boundary between the organic layer and the mineral soil (where the litter layer meets the A horizon) is sharp, easily seen and teased apart. Older foresters call this a ‘mor’ soil.

Coniferous needles decay more slowly than most broadleaves, creating a soft spongy layer of decaying needles 10-20cm thick. This tends to be heaving with vast numbers of tiny animals, mainly mites and springtails.

Below ground the roots of a conifer tree tend to be quite shallow and spread out in order to maximise water uptake when it rains.

Did you know…

There are only 3 native conifer species in the UK: Scots pine, juniper and yew.