Post on 14-May-2023
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
What’s the starting point: What have you got?
How do you
know?
Acid Neutral Calc.
What are your options ?
1 SURVEY!
2 EVALUATE !
What are you starting with?
c. Rank/ Degraded
b. Amenity
d. Something stunning
a. Bare earth
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
• KEY CONCEPTS FOR GRASSLAND MANAGERS
• What grows and lives there?
• SURVEY • How important is it?
• EVALUATION • Why is it like that?
• FIND OUT ABOUT PAST MANAGEMENT
• How should it be managed? • What do you want it to look like? • RESEARCH MANAGEMENT
REQUIREMENTS
Survey levels • Level 1
– A simple survey, rapid, broad-brush picture of habitats across the landscape
• Level 2 – Details added to a Phase 1, or a detailed methodology
such as NVC; often called Phase 2
• Level 3 – Repeated surveys over time, or other complex
methodologies 5/15
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
•Size (in terms of viability) •Diversity •naturalness (rank/degraded) •rarity (in Scotland/in Britain? SPP/communities) •fragility (susceptibility to change/damage-external/internal) •typically (good/bad example of site type) •recorded history (mown? Grazed? Stock used?) •position in ecological unit (surrounding countryside and inferences for site) •potential value (how good can it get?) •intrinsic appeal (esoteric value)
3 Why is it like that?
2 EVALUATE ! what does your information mean?
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
3 Why is it like that?
Mown every week
Over/under grazed
Research management options
Decide what it should be
What’s the past management ?
Everything Right!
With what?
Decide what to do
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
Now decide what to do:
Are you going to: • MOW, GRAZE (with what?) ENHANCE • Set objectives: These should be detailed i.e. what, where, when, why, how
These should be SMART: – Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Timed
• And include how you are going to monitor
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
ECOLOGICAL FACTORS
e.g. flora, fauna, communities
CONSTRAINTS
Physical features Available stock
Publicity
RESOURCES
Livestock Machinery
Skills
Conservation objectives Management
options
Monitoring
Grassland management
decision
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
a. Bare earth
Sowing new grasslands •Lots of preparation required •Weeds can be a major problem •Soil nutrients must be low, i.e. agricultural topsoil may be unsuitable, may have to strip back to subsoil •Lots of aftercare may be needed - mowing and removal of cuttings • May be expensive (General purpose meadow mix, sown @ 40kg/ha and @£300 / 10 kg = £1200/ha) •You can get what you want •Local provenance, special mixes, cornfield mix added for early colour, non-natives (for some urban sites)
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
Sowing into existing grasslands • Needs scarified sward • Rather hit and miss • Potential high failure rate (up to 70% failure) •Can be time consuming • Can be targeted (use slot seeders) • Cheaper than plant plugs?) Putting plant plugs into an existing sward •Time consuming •Greater success rate than sowing into existing sward •Expensive £18 for tray of 40 plugs, poss. Up to 40 trays/ha •Can be targeted more effectively within the sward •Can be more cost effective
b. Amenity
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
• What plants are there and what strategies can we
see • Competitors • Stress tolerators • Ruderals
• Can we predict what the site is likely to settle into? • Use NVC predicatively
• Alter timings of cut • (assuming site is only mildly rank)
• What are the first steps we need to take? • Flail cut if particularly rough • Cut and remove arisings several times to knock back rank
growth • Graze with appropriate breeds e.g. Highland Cattle
• What’s missing and can we get it there? • Plant plugs, slot seeding, green hay
c. Rank/ Degraded
What makes it special? • Keep doing whatever it is that makes it special.
• 1) Grasslands are complex ecosystems • 2) Grasslands are dynamic successional habitats
– If left alone they will change through the process of succession to scrub and ultimately woodland
• They are plagio-climax habitats • In the UK virtually all our grasslands are semi-natural
habitats • Always remove arisings
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
d. Something stunning
MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED MEADOWS
• Selection should be made according to the current and/or desired condition of the grassland
Mowing: • Meadows • Amenity areas • Can be annual, seasonal or irregular • Is catastrophic • Differing regimes will bring about changes
in vegetation, structure and sward density regardless of the community type.
MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED MEADOWS
Grazing: • Pastures • Aftermath grazing on meadows • Selective • Timing will be influenced by climate,
season, food availability on this and other sites
• Impact on the grassland will vary according to;
• stocking density, species, breed length of time that the stock are on the site
MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED MEADOWS Dealing With Problems: • Specialist machinery • Weedwiping (selective control dependant on height
variation) • Hand pulling (ragwort, creeping thistle)
– HA4SS full-size Lazy Dog Frame with…HA4SS full-size Lazy Dog Frame with NO1b and NO8 noses. £121.46
• Crushing (bracken) • Cutting (thistles, bracken) • Spraying
– Equipment for distribution to volunteers i.e Toolkit – Ultrasonic Goggle Orange Frame Clear Supravision Lens £7.20 – Microgard 2000 Standard Coverall 103 white £5.37 – Marigold G25G Green Nitrile Glove £2.05 – Freeflow2 FFP3V Cupped Respirators (box of 5) £20.57 – Essentials Green Safety Wellington c/w midsole £6.28 – Titan Heavy Duty knapsack pressure sprayer 16L £44.85 – PA1 and PA6 (including exam fees) £370.00 – 25 Litre Water container (250 ml in 10l, 500m2) £4.99 – Roundup Pro Biactive 5l £63.00 – IBC Tanks: 500 Ltr Horizontal Water Tank inc, delivery £294.00 – Roundup Pro Biactive 5l £63.00 – Steminjectionsystems: Contractor Pack inc. delivery £406.32 – TOTAL £1287.63
Reseeding on wet soils
MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED MEADOWS
Re-seeding and drainage
Reduction of water table for
Cattle pasture
Lower Fertiliser
input
Poaching/ Poor drainage
Increased water levels
Lack of Grazing/ Mowing Mowing as
Fen-meadow Increase of
soil moisture and lack of management
(grazing/mowing
M24 Purple
moorgrass Meadow
thistle Fen-Meadow
M22 Blunt-
flowered rush Marsh
Marigold Fen-meadow
MG8 Crested
dog’s-tail Marsh
marigold Water
Meadow
MG7 Perr.
Rye-grass ley
MG6 Perr.
Rye-grass Crested
Dog’s -tail Pasture
MG10 Yorkshire fog
Soft-rush Rush-pasture
MG13 Creeping bent
Marsh Foxtail
Inundation Grassland
M23 Soft-rush
Sharp flowered rush
Marsh bedstraw
Fen-meadow
M27 Meadowsweet
Wild Angelica
Mire
Mire
Typical wet Grassland
Mire
The Effect of grassland water management on grassland communities West Sedgemoor (RSPB)
MANAGEMENT OF ESTABLISHED MEADOWS Some zonations & successions between mesotrophic grasslands mediated by treatments (draft)
Arrhenatheretum elatiorus
MG1
Centaurea- Cynosuretum
MG5 Lolio-Cynosuretum
MG6 /MG7
Potentilla- festucum MG12
Festuca rubra- Agrost. stolon.-
Potentilla anserina Inundation grassland
MG11
Agrostis stolon. Alopecurus genic.
Inundation grassland MG13
Cynosurus-cristatus- Caltha palustris Flood-pasture
MG8
Holco-Juncetum Rush-pasture
MG10
Holcus lanatus Des. ces.
Coarse grassland MG9 Alopecurus pratensis
Sanguisorba officinalis Flood-meadow
MG4
Anthoxantum odoratum Geranium sylvaticum
Meadow MG3
Resumtion of winter grazing on damper sites
Abandonment of winter grazing on drier sites
Abandonment of winter grazing in sub-montane
climate
Resumption of winter grazing in sub-montane
climate
Resumption of winter grazing
Abandonment of winter grazing
Resumption of winter & summer grazing
Abandonment of winter & summer grazing
Resumption of summer grazing
Abandonment of summer grazing
Poaching &/or poor re-seed on
wet soils
Mow & fertilise + drain wet soils
Under-graze, neglect of drainage
Drain & fertilise
Flush or flood unimp. pasture
Fertilise & drain
Draining
Poaching & poor drainage
Embankment & re-seeding
Burning, embankment & re-
seeding ?Grazing Remove
grazing
Drain, plough, re-seed fertilise
& summer graze
Fertilise, plough re-seed summer graze
Mown & ungrazed
Mown, winter grazed & unimproved hay-meadows
Perm pasture with winter & summer grazing
Ill-drained winter & summer grazed
MEADOW CREATION THROUGH CHANGED MANAGEMENT
Grassland managers need to remember that: • they are managing complex and dynamic semi-natural
ecosystems, in which many things are interconnected and often interdependent and that as yet we do not understand all of these relationships.
• Grasslands are successional habitats and will change if they are left alone
• Quite a lot of change will occur within grassland communities, irrespective of management (as a result of droughts, heavy winters, competition between species etc.).
• Scrub and diversity of structure is often an important element of a grassland system.
• Grassland management for nature conservation is largely about the manipulation of the following:
– Succession – Plant community composition – Plant community structure – Levels of stress and disturbance
• Stability and continuity of management is particularly important (many of the most valuable grasslands have had long term stability and continuity of management).