Developing an integrated land management strategy for the restoration of moorland vegetation on Molinia caerulea-dominated vegetation for conservation purposes in upland Britain

Milligan, A. L.; Putwain, P. D.; Cox, E.S.; Ghorbani, Jamshid; Duc, M.G. Le; Marrs, Rob H.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2003.12.002

Cited by 47 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Recent research has shown that the latter can be best achieved by grazing in late summer or by selective herbicide application (glyphosate; Milligan et al 2003, Marrs et al 2004. Further, the results of this study also cast doubt on the possible role of controlled burnings in reducing M. caerulea cover in heathlands.…”

Section: Fire and Invasive Spread Of Tussock Grasscontrasting

confidence: 40%

Fire Increases Invasive Spread of Molinia Caerulea Mainly Through Changes in Demographic Parameters

Jacquemyn

Brys

Neubert

2005

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. We investigated the effects of fire on population growth rate and invasive spread of the perennial tussock grass Molinia caerulea. During the last decades, this species has invaded heathland communities in Western Europe, replacing typical heathland species such as Calluna vulgaris and Erica tetralix. M. caerulea is considered a major threat to heathland conservation. In 1996, a large and unintended fire destroyed almost one-third of the Kalmthoutse Heide, a large heathland area in northern Belgium. To study the impact of this fire on the population dynamics and invasive spread of M. caerulea, permanent monitoring plots were established both in burned and unburned heathland. The fate of each M. caerulea individual in these plots was monitored over four years (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000). Patterns of seed dispersal were inferred from a seed germination experiment using soil cores sampled one month after seed rain at different distances from seed-producing plants. Based on these measures, we calculated projected rates of spread for M. caerulea in burned and unburned heathland. Elasticity and sensitivity analyses were used to determine vital rates that contributed most to population growth rate, and invasion speed. Invasion speed was, on average, three times larger in burned compared to unburned plots. Dispersal distances on the other hand, were not significantly different between burned and unburned plots indicating that differences in invasive spread were mainly due to differences in demography. Elasticities for fecundity and growth of seedlings and juveniles were higher for burned than for unburned plots, whereas elasticities for survival were higher in unburned plots. Finally, a life table response experiment (LTRE) analysis revealed that the effect of fire was mainly contributed by increases in sexual reproduction (seed production and germination) and growth of seedlings and juveniles. Our results clearly showed increased invasive spread of M. caerulea after fire, and call for active management guidelines to prevent further encroachment of the species and to reduce the probability of large, accidental fires in the future. Mowing of resprouted plants before flowering is the obvious management tactic to halt massive invasive spread of the species after fire.

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Section: Fire and Invasive Spread Of Tussock Grasscontrasting

confidence: 40%

Fire Increases Invasive Spread of Molinia Caerulea Mainly Through Changes in Demographic Parameters

Jacquemyn

Brys

Neubert

2005

Ecological Applications

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“…1/ ( ) . Bivariate standard deviational (SD) ellipse analysis, implemented in EXCEL (Microsoft 2003), using a standard algorithm (Ricklefs & Nealen 1998;Milligan et al . 2004), was used to illustrate the position of NVC forest community types and forest specialist groupings along CCA biplot axes.…”

Section:  mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

et al. 2006

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Summary1 Simulation models of forest stand dynamics have increased understanding of over-storey vegetation functioning, and have facilitated the development of tools capable of assessing possible successional trajectories. However, few models incorporate the response of the field layer vegetation despite it being another key component of forest ecosystems. 2 Our main objective was to assess the degree to which field-layer vegetation composition in forests is determined by variables operating at different scales, from regional (e.g. climate, location) to local factors (e.g. basal area of canopy trees, management). 3 We used data gathered during a nationwide forest survey to assess the relative effects of a broad spectrum of environmental variables on species composition. Variation partitioning was used to examine the relative contribution of subsets of environmental variables such as site spatial variation, boundary type and presence of herbivores. 4 Ordination confirmed hypotheses that field layer vegetation is primarily structured by two composite geo-climatic gradients. However, variation partitioning demonstrated that site-and plot-scale management factors also strongly influence the floristic composition of forest patches. 5 Disturbance variables (site boundary type/regional presence of deer) accounted for considerable species variation, exceeding that due to either site spatial variation or forest structure. 6 This is the first time variation attributable to such a comprehensive range of environmental variables has been quantified for forests surveyed at a national scale. We thus provide a context within which regional studies, or analyses considering a more limited range of factors, can be viewed, and a framework from which robust models of floristic response to gradual and episodic natural and anthropogenic disturbances may be developed. 7 The methodology we present, including a novel technique for the identification and removal of outliers in large data sets, provides a unique and standardized means of assessing the relative importance of diverse environmental drivers across a range of habitat types at the landscape scale, and is readily applicable elsewhere.

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“…A reduction in sheep numbers is often recommended [3,7,34]. Additional recommendations include sheep exclusion from severely damaged areas until vegetation has recovered [8,54], cutting thrice-yearly of undamaged, but arguably undergrazed, Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench-dominant areas to promote recovery by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull [47] and mixed grazing of cattle or goats with sheep [10,33]. However, cutting would not be a practical option on a site such as that studied with deep peats and steep slopes prohibiting tractor access, and grazing cattle would need to be restricted to periods when water levels are low to minimise poaching by heavier animals.…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2009

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Athenry, Co. Galway, 2 Applied Ecology Unit, Centre for Environmental Science, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland (phone: +353-91-492294; fax: +353-91-494598) Abstract. Irish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance but are under threat from several factors, including heavy grazing pressure. Sheep preferentially graze patches of acid grassland with short dense swards, sometimes referred to as 'grazing lawns', and have been implicated in damage to uplands. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of resource selection by grazers to further inform the design and implementation of conservation strategies. Grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition were mapped and GPS collars were used to track Scottish Blackface sheep on a hill farm in Ireland. Weighted compositional analysis (multivariate analysis of variance) was used to test for random use of different categories of grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition. Grazing lawn frequency was spatially uneven and habitat condition ranged from undamaged to very severely damaged areas. Typically, selection of differing categories of habitat condition was not significant (P>0.05), although the highest selection rank was consistently for the 'moderate-undamaged' category. Sheep most selected 1 ha grid squares containing numerous/extensive grazing lawns (P<0.05) day, night and yearround. As a simple, efficient indicator of hill use by sheep, which would be a valuable input in models predicting grazing impact on hill vegetation, the mapping of grazing lawn frequency is suggested. Keywords: agriculture; ecology; environment; resource management; resource selection IntroductionIrish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance due to the limited global distribution of the habitats, plant communities and fauna they support [9,56]. Many of these habitats and associated species are protected under the EC Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Birds (79/409/EEC) Directives [21], and are included in biodiversity action plans [16,37] and agri-environment scheme measures [14,49]. Despite this, the quality of remaining upland and peatland continues to be under threat from heavy grazing pressure, burning, afforestation, peat extraction, undergrazing and/or land abandonment [22,48,56,57].Damage in this study refers to habitat conditions which fail to meet biological conservation objectives. While habitats are affected by natural phenomena such as topography [24] and wind-driven rain [11], management practices including grazing [55] play a key role in habitat condition and can be altered. Therefore, the focus of this study is on grazer behaviour as grazing is the predominant management practice on

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Developing an integrated land management strategy for the restoration of moorland vegetation on Molinia caerulea-dominated vegetation for conservation purposes in upland Britain

Cited by 47 publications

References 36 publications

Fire Increases Invasive Spread of Molinia Caerulea Mainly Through Changes in Demographic Parameters

Fire Increases Invasive Spread of Molinia Caerulea Mainly Through Changes in Demographic Parameters

Relationships between the species composition of forest field‐layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

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