Scientists rediscover experiment which influenced Darwin

Scientists have rediscovered the details of what may be the world's first ecological experiment.

The research influenced Charles Darwin while he was putting together his theories of natural selection.

In the Origin of Species he briefly referred to an experiment on the growth of grasses, and its details have now been rediscovered.

He never said where or when the experiment took place - only that it showed how a greater diversity of grasses produced more plant material.

Andy Hector, of Imperial College, London, and Rowan Hooper, of the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan, found the original document in the British Library Rare Manuscripts collection.

They discovered that George Sinclair, head gardener to the Duke of Bedford in the early nineteenth century, carried out the experiments in a garden at Woburn Abbey.

The experimental garden he laid out compared the performance of different species and mixtures of grasses and herbs growing on different types of soil.

Dr Hector said: "This work at Woburn Abbey is arguably the first ecological experiment."