Rehabilitation of degraded dry heather [ Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull] moorland by controlled sheep grazing

Pakeman, Robin J.; Hulme, P. D.; Torvell, L.; Fisher, Julia M.

doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(03)00067-3

Cited by 69 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In recent decades, the area covered by these habitats has decreased considerably, mainly due to changes in management (Diemont et al 1996;Webb 1998), grazing pressures (Iason and Hester 1993;Pakeman et al 2003) and probably also due to increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition (de Smidt 1995;Strandberg and Johansson 1999). Given the strong influence of human activities on European heathlands, there is great interest in developing management actions to preserve the characteristic species of these habitats and their structural vegetation (Calvo et al 2007;Fottner et al 2007;Celaya et al 2010;Velle et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental evidence from Cantabrian mountain heathlands suggests new recommendations for management of Vaccinium myrtillus L

Pato

Obeso

Ploquin

et al. 2016

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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Background: Management actions in mountain heathlands oriented to increasing the cover of Vaccinium myrtillus promote mowing of Calluna vulgaris to avoid competition. However, such action ignores the fact that plant-plant interactions range from competition to facilitation under different stress conditions. Aims: To test whether the interactions between these two species are related to competition or facilitation, which would change the perspective for their management in mountain heathlands. Methods: A total of 40 experimental plots located in a montane heathland (northern Spain) were selected. Calluna or Vaccinium plants were either cut at ground level or not cut, and plots were fertilized with nitrogen or not in a three-factorial design. Vegetative and reproductive shoot mass and length of the current year's shoots were estimated in two consecutive years for both species. Herbivory on Vaccinium by browsing ungulates was compared in control plots and plots where Calluna had been cut 2 yrs ago. Results: The two study species co-occurred in 72.4% of the sampled plots, although Calluna was more abundant. Vaccinium growth was greater in plots with Calluna than in plots where Calluna had been cut. Browsing on Vaccinium was also higher in plots were Calluna had been cut, and the effect of fertilization was only significant on the reproductive biomass of Calluna.Conclusions: Contrary to initial proposals, our results suggest that Vaccinium does not always benefit from the cutting of Calluna in heathlands. Thus, the management of Cantabrian mountain heathlands should consider maintaining Calluna in order to facilitate the growth of Vaccinium.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental evidence from Cantabrian mountain heathlands suggests new recommendations for management of Vaccinium myrtillus L

Pato

Obeso

Ploquin

et al. 2016

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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“…Their structure and species composition is characterised by the dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs such as Calluna vulgaris (henceforth referred to as Calluna), Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium myrtillus and other Ericaceous species. Heathlands were a product of both the natural site conditions and traditional management systems, including sod cutting, grazing and prescribed burning Pakeman et al 2003). As a result of changes in land use practices and the introduction of artificial fertilizers, the area of heathlands has declined dramatically since the second half of the 19th century (Aerts and Heil 1993).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of prescribed burning on plant available nutrients in dry heathland ecosystems

et al. 2006

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Heathland management is an important tool with which to modify ecosystem impacts caused by atmospheric nutrient deposition. Since changes in nutrient availability as a result of management measures affect the outcomes of heathland succession and species competition, studies on this issue are important from both a nature conservation and management point of view. This study reports the effects of prescribed burning on nutrient availability in dry heathland soils and the nutrient content of the two competing heathland species Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa, with particular reference to N and P. We hypothesise that winter prescribed burning leads to additional N availability, which enhances the importance of P in the context of nutrient limitation in heathland ecosystems. In the nature reserve ''Lueneburg Heath'' (NW Germany) we examined the availability of nutrients in the humus horizons and in the leachate as well as the relevant C:element ratios in Calluna and Deschampsia before and after a burning experiment. Our results show that prescribed burning resulted in drastically increased NH 4 + availability in the O-horizon. We observed only short-term effects (for NO 3 -, PO 4 3-, Mg) and insignificant effects on the availability of other nutrients (K, Ca). As a consequence of an increased nutrient availability in the humus horizons and a limited nutrient uptake by plants after burning, leaching increased significantly for N, Ca, K, and Mg after burning treatment. No significant changes were found in the foliar C:N ratios for either species after prescribed burning, although Deschampsia showed an increased deficiency for all the other nutrients, particularly for P, as expressed by increased foliar C:P and N:P ratios. By contrast, the nutrient content of Calluna did not change significantly, suggesting that prescribed burning favours the competitive capacity of Calluna as against Deschampsia. We assume that water shortage as a result of changes in the microclimate was mainly responsible for the deterioration of the nutrient content of Deschampsia. This gives Calluna a competitive advantage, enabling it to out-compete Deschampsia on burned heathlands, with respect to the key factor P-limitation.

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“…In many cases the removal or reduction of grazing by sheep has allowed Calluna to re-establish its dominance (Hulme et al 2002, Pakeman et al 2003, Fraser et al 2011, Critchley et al 2013) but this has certainly not been true everywhere (Rawes 1981, Littlewood et al 2006, and success thus requires that Calluna be present in the pre-restoration vegetation. On M. caerulea or N. stricta dominated sites success in the restoration of Callunadominated communities has generally been associated with cattle grazing, ground disturbance by trampling or rotavation, herbicide application and reseeding (Marrs et al 2004, Littlewood et al 2006, Mitchell et al 2008).…”

Section: Changes In Community Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in vegetation diversity and composition following livestock removal along an upland elevational gradient

Davies¹,

Bodart²

2015

iForest

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© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry IntroductionCalluna vulgaris-dominated heathlands are cultural landscapes, derived from previouslyforested ecosystems, which have been subject to human manipulation and management for several millennia. Heathlands are of international conservation importance (Thompson et al. 1995, García et al. 2013) and this is recognized in national and international legislation (Maddock 2011, EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC). They owe their open character to low-intensity traditional livestock grazing and managed burning (Webb 1998, Fernandes et al. 2013. Habitat degradation, associated with poorly-managed livestock grazing is, however, a global issue facing many tropical, semi-arid and temperate ecosystems (Moleele & Perkins 1998, D'Odorico et al. 2012, Fagúndez 2012. Significant potential exists for livestock grazing to induce dramatic changes in ecosystem state from which restoration can be difficult (Suding et al. 2004). Throughout Europe large areas of heathland habitat have become increasingly degraded over the last century (Fagúndez 2012). Calluna-dominated communities have been lost due to changes to managed fire regimes ; nutrient deposition associated with atmospheric pollution (Friedrich et al. 2011, Bobbink & Hettelingh 2011; acid deposition (Bakker & Berendse 1999); and land-use conversion (Hester et al. 1996). In the United Kingdom there are a growing number of agencies and organisations focused on landscape-scale ecosystem restoration in the uplands. Objectives are often focused on tree planting and the restoration of forest ecosystems (see Hobbs 2009 for an overview), but there is also recognition of the desirability of restoring forest ground flora and a diverse mosaic of habitat types that includes woodlands, heathlands and forest edge ecotone communities (Humphrey et al. 2003). Degraded heathlands are often dominated by competitive grass species such as Molinia caerulea (purple moor grass) and Nardus stricta (moor matgrass). Both of these can attain high levels of abundance, lead to communities with relatively low levels of diversity and can pose significant challenges for restoration practice (Grant et al. 1996, Marrs et al. 2004. A number of studies have examined the effects of grazing regimes on heathland communities, often concluding that restoration prescriptions need to be sitespecific. For example, whilst it has proved possible to facilitate heathland recovery by simply reducing grazing pressure (Anderson & Radford 1994, Hulme et al. 1999, Hulme et al. 2002, often it has taken additional interventions to allow Calluna establishment. Successful treatments have included soil disturbance by cattle trampling, rotavation, herbicide application and reseeding (Marrs et al. 2004, Mitchell et al. 2008) and, where nutrient enrichment is an issue, topsoil removal (Verhagen et al. 2001). Such intensive restoration actions may require managers to make difficult trade-offs as they may maximize Calluna cover but can also lead to the loss of other components of the community (L...

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Rehabilitation of degraded dry heather [ Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull] moorland by controlled sheep grazing

Cited by 69 publications

References 25 publications

Experimental evidence from Cantabrian mountain heathlands suggests new recommendations for management of Vaccinium myrtillus L

Experimental evidence from Cantabrian mountain heathlands suggests new recommendations for management of Vaccinium myrtillus L

Effects of prescribed burning on plant available nutrients in dry heathland ecosystems

Changes in vegetation diversity and composition following livestock removal along an upland elevational gradient

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