Ecology of a plagioclimax

Heathland

Heathland is a landscape known for its outstanding beauty. The area is full of heather and gorse, and is home to many rare species such as the nightjar, tiger beetles, adders, marsh genipian, sponge dew, heath orchid and heather. Heathland is extremely bio diverse. The heather and gorse provide habitats for lots of rare birds such as the stone chat and butterflies such as the silver studded blue butterfly. The area grows on poor and acidic soils.

100 years ago the land was used by farmers. It was used for grazing animals such as cattle it was also used for fuel wood. However now the land is no longer used productively the heathland is in danger of being lost. This is because woodland will grow; first turning into birch than to pine and finally into oak.

There are 58,000 hectares of heathland in Britain, about 20% of the total world resource. But over 80% of Britain's heathland has been lost since 1800 - 17% in the last 50 years. Today, heathland is found in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Pembrokeshire, west Glamorgan and west Gwynedd. Some local examples would be Chailey and Ashdown Forest.

The reason heathland is in such decline is because of a lack of appropriate site management, habitat loss and fragmentation, recreational and urban disturbance, air pollution and water pollution and drainage. Also an invasive species (phytophthera) led to a lack of bilberry as it was introduced into the heathland where it didn’t belong.

The UK is already covered in woodland whereas heathland is massively declining without proper conservation the area will turn into woodland. Unlike woodland once heathland is gone it can never return. In order to keep the heathland we have to replicate what was done 100 years ago by removing invading birch, bracken and gorse to minimalize shade. There also needs to be controlled fires and animal grazing.

This area is a priority for nature conservation as it is a rare and threatened area. The area is home to many creature so if we allow the heathland to disappear we are also killing hundreds of species especially those that cannot travel or live anywhere else.

HAY MEDOWS

Introduction

The habitat compromises the single National Vegetation Classification community MG3, Anthoxanthum odoratum – Geranium sylvaticicum grassland and is characterised by a dense growth of grasses and herbaceous dicotyledons up to 60 – 80 cm high. They are normally found in isolated fields or groups of fields, where many are still managed as hay meadows. They are a product of traditional, low density farming. During the months of June and July, the area is visited often as people enjoy the bright and varied colours in these meadows. Hay meadows have very few species of plants but still manage to provide food for seed-eating birds and nesting habitats for ground nesting birds. However the silage is generally cut too early and too frequently to produce seed or allow birds to complete nesting there is also a high level of fertiliser used which severely reduces that variety of species and habitats 

Importance

This habitat is important mostly for its high plant diversity. There is currently very little information available on invertebrate communities in upland hay meadows. Few Nationally scarce invertebrate species have been recorded from this habitat; hay cutting in mid-summer produces such a sudden change of environment that only a limited insect fauna is adapted to thrive under this management.

Threats

Threats include fragmentation of habitats causing an increased risk of species extinctions in the small remnant areas. Agricultural improvement through ploughing, drainage, re-seeding, inorganic fertiliser treatment and slurry application. Changing farming practices as a general shift from hay making to silage production, with more frequent and often earlier annual cutting. Increased grazing intensity and duration, particular in spring. Nutrient enrichment as an increase of eutrophication as a result of too frequent application of farmyard manure. Supplementary feeding increased supplementary stock feeding associated with higher grazing levels leading to enhanced nutrient loadings and localised poaching. Neglect as agricultural and other management neglect leading to rank over-growth. Finally pesticides as the declining economy of upland farming threatens the community of traditional land management. Where hay cutting has to be abandoned, in principle there may be alternative management practices which would better assist invertebrate biodiversity

 Management

In order to manage the area, consistent management is important, hay cut followed by aftermath grazing is the best approach.  A nil-inputs regime should be followed to prevent destruction of the flora and any spraying of meadows, ploughing or drainage improvement will make the conservation of these sites less important. Any grazing carried out after the hay cut may be beneficial to dung-feeding invertebrates as long as the livestock has not been recently dosed with broad-spectrum avermectin wormers. Leaving uncut strips within a hay meadow will allow many invertebrate to complete their life cycle as many are killed in the summer as they have no shelter. Water courses and wet areas should also be maintained.

Rare species found in hay meadows

Beetles
Weevils
Click beetles
Flies
Blowflies, dung flies, flesh flies and allies

Hoverflies

Ashdown Forest

 

Ashdown Forest is a sub ancient area heathland, it is an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) it is found in East Sussex near Uckfield. Although Ashdown Forest is seen as a wild and natural place the way it looks has been directly influenced by human activities over the past millennia. The Forest has a strong manufacturing as well as agriculture element to its history. It was used extensively for grazing, fuel production for hearths, smelting, iron working, timber production, and hunting.