Woodland regeneration as a starting point
Born in Aberdeenshire, Watt studied at Aberdeen before working at Cambridge with Arthur Tansley. His early investigations addressed failures of tree regeneration, including the establishment of oak seedlings beneath woodland.
He joined Cambridge as a lecturer in forestry in 1929 and subsequently worked in botany. Relationships between seedlings, their surroundings and land use remained part of his concern with how communities persisted and changed.
References: [1]
Repeated observations in Breckland
Watt studied grasslands, bracken and exposed sandy areas in Breckland, recording soils, rabbit grazing and vegetation. Repeated visits turned descriptions of spatial patterns into records of change through time.
Wind-eroded patches at Lakenheath supplied examples of disturbance, colonization and stabilization. War and airfield construction also damaged study areas, so the surviving record includes disruptions as well as repeated observations.
Relating patches to community pattern
In 1947 Watt published Pattern and Process in the Plant Community. He examined how adjoining patches could represent related developmental phases, allowing a broader vegetation pattern to remain relatively stable while its components changed.
This approach required attention to rates of change and relations among patches rather than only lists of species. A later commentary drawing on Watt’s letters connected the argument with his Breckland observations.
References: [2]
Preserving a long-term field record
Watt’s archive contains notebooks reused over many years, maps, photographs, plant materials and correspondence. He continued revisiting and interpreting his study sites after retirement.
The records connect particular places and dates with proposed explanations involving grazing, disturbance and vegetation change. Watt also participated in nature-conservation work concerning Breckland.
References: [1]