Community water content (CWC) was measured across the sitein January 2008. Sponge cores, 2–3 cm diameter and 3 cm depth,were inserted into the moss beds adjacent to each quadrat, andwere retrieved after 24 h. The sponges were placed in airtight tubes,returned to the laboratory within 1 h and weighed to determinefresh weight. The sponges were then left to dessicate in the labora-tory, at a relative humidity of 22%, until a constant dry weight wasreached. This method has been shown to give a good correlationwith true turf water content while avoiding destructive analysis of the vegetation (Robinson and King unpublished data). The CWC was calculated asCommunity water content (CWC) was measured across the sitein January 2008. Sponge cores, 2–3 cm diameter and 3 cm depth,were inserted into the moss beds adjacent to each quadrat, andwere retrieved after 24 h. The sponges were placed in airtight tubes,returned to the laboratory within 1 h and weighed to determinefresh weight. The sponges were then left to dessicate in the labora-tory, at a relative humidity of 22%, until a constant dry weight wasreached. This method has been shown to give a good correlationwith true turf water content while avoiding destructive analysis of the vegetation (Robinson and King unpublished data). The CWC was calculated as