Reading the pastoral landscape: palynological and historical evidence for the impacts of long-term grazing on Wether Hill, Ingram, Northumberland

Davies, Althea; Dixon, Piers

doi:10.1080/01433768.2007.10594588

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…These findings show that over the long run, human-induced biodiversity change was significant for these sites. While the analytical methods applied here are novel, the results support previous documentary and palaeoecological evidence for some deterioration in the quality or diversity of the UK uplands around 200-300 years ago, particularly post-1850 [17], [41], [42], [46]. That increases in grazing rates can lead to decreases in biodiversity in the uplands is well-recognised in contemporary ecological studies [28], [34], [44], [45].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

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What drives long-run biodiversity change? New insights from combining economics, palaeoecology and environmental history

Hanley

Tinch

Angelopoulos

et al. 2009

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

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This paper presents a new approach to understanding the effects of economic factors on biodiversity change over the long run. We illustrate this approach by studying the determinants of biodiversity change in upland Scotland from 1600-2000. The measure of biodiversity used is a proxy for plant species diversity, constructed using statistical analysis of paleoecological (pollen) data. We assemble a new data set of historical land use and prices over 11 sites during this 400 year period; this data set also includes information on changes in agricultural technology, climate and land ownership. A panel model is then estimated, which controls for both supply and demand shifts over time. A main result is that prices, which act in our model as a proxy for livestock numbers, do indeed impact on biodiversity, with higher prices leading to lower biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…Paleoecological analysis has been combined with both archaeological techniques [17], [39] and historical sources [21], [46], [47] to understand the environmental impacts of human land use.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

What drives long-run biodiversity change? New insights from combining economics, palaeoecology and environmental history

Hanley

Tinch

Angelopoulos

et al. 2009

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

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“…In common with previous studies, changing grazing and burning regimes are likely to be the main mechanisms for heather and grass expansion in this study, possibly interacting with drainage and the deposition of atmospheric pollution (Chambers et al 2007a;Davies and Dixon 2007;Stevenson and Rhodes 2000;Yeloff et al 2006). However, interpretation of grazing proxies is by no means straightforward since pollen indicators (Behre 1981) and CFS values show similar trends at some sites and times, but contrasting relationships at others.…”

Section: Late Holocene Moorland Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 52%

“…These features indicate an increase in the range of variability, extent and pace of turnover. The shifts occurred across a range of communities, from 'degraded' grassmoor on eroding and uneroded blanket peat (Bar Brook, Withens Moor; Chambers et al 1999Chambers et al , 2007aChambers et al , 2013Hicks 1971;Yeloff et al 2006), to fen peats (Cranberry Bed), drier moors (Davies and Dixon 2007;Tipping 2000), and 'high conservation value' heather moorland (Emlin Dike; Stevenson and Thompson 1993).…”

Section: Moorland Regime Shift and Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intensified management since ca. AD 1800 (Berglund et al 2008;Davies and Dixon 2007;Hanley et al 2008) and within the last century (Jiang et al 2013) has contributed to biodiversity loss in many ecosystems. No overall diversity trend emerges in this study, possibly due to comparatively low pollen counts and/or the characteristic low diversity of moorland vegetation.…”

Section: Moorland Regime Shift and Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Holocene regime shifts in moorland ecosystems: high resolution data from the Pennines, UK

Davies

2015

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Abstract:Identifying critical shifts in ecosystems caused by human impacts has become a priority for understanding resilience to change and setting realistic management goals. Previous work suggests that many British blanket peats have suffered a loss of functional integrity over recent centuries, but it is unclear whether all moorland habitats are equally vulnerable. This study examines the relative sensitivity of four contrasting moorland communities to historic land-use changes and assesses whether these management pressures are pushing some moorlands beyond their Holocene range of variability. Late Holocene dynamics in the Peak District, northern England, were investigated using high-resolution pollen, fungal spore and charcoal data, and multivariate analyses. All sites show high Calluna values during the nineteenth century and converge on local Poaceae-dominance during the twentieth century. This involved a shift from gradual or cyclical variability and moderate changes in pollen abundance during preceding centuries, to rapid transitions between mono-dominant pollen assemblages and a functional shift to taxa with competitive traits; these are interpreted as a regime shift. Evidence for the recent recovery of dwarf-shrubs and Sphagnum is strong at one site, with slight evidence from two others, but disturbance could push the system back to grass-dominance. The deep blanket peat site may have crossed a threshold, leading to a persistent grass-dominated state. Studying regime shifts on decadal to centennial scales can help bridge the gap between ecology and palaeoecology by providing a robust basis for assessing vulnerability, setting restoration priorities and managing novel peatland states.Response to Reviewers: Revisions made to this submission:Updated Bennett reference -with current School name (the pollen catalogue gives the older Archaeology and Palaeoecology departmental name)Attached all figures in EPS format.Checked image resolution in Online resource 1: sufficient for viewing at >100% size. I have uploaded an amended file without 'track changes' which were inadvertently left in revision r2. Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems CorporationAccepted minor text amendments Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation ABSTRACTIdentifying critical shifts in ecosystems caused by human impacts has become a priority for understanding resilience to change and setting realistic management goals. Previous work suggests that many British blanket peats have suffered a loss of functional integrity over recent centuries, but it is unclear whether all moorland habitats are equally vulnerable. This study examines the relative sensitivity of four contrasting moorland communities to historic land-use changes and assesses whether these management pressures are pushing some moorlands beyond their Holocene range of variability. Late Holocene dynamics in the Peak District, northern England, were investigated using high-resolution pollen, fungal spore ...

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Areas of Outstanding Nineteenth Century Beauty: Historic landscape characterisation analysis of protected areas in England

et al. 2022

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Reading the pastoral landscape: palynological and historical evidence for the impacts of long-term grazing on Wether Hill, Ingram, Northumberland

Cited by 15 publications

References 19 publications

What drives long-run biodiversity change? New insights from combining economics, palaeoecology and environmental history

What drives long-run biodiversity change? New insights from combining economics, palaeoecology and environmental history

Late Holocene regime shifts in moorland ecosystems: high resolution data from the Pennines, UK

Areas of Outstanding Nineteenth Century Beauty: Historic landscape characterisation analysis of protected areas in England

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