Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

The design of the pipeline allows for cut fen vegetation to be blown
over distances of more than 1000 m. However, in practice, blowing
performance tends to decrease after 700 m owing to a reduction of air
pressure leading to blockages in the pipe. When blockages or holes
occur within the pipe, they have to be cleared and repaired manually
before the operation can continue. Moving the machine and setting up
on new sites is time consuming and expensive, which makes small sites
less suitable.
6.4 Burning
Burning can rapidly remove large amounts of material, and is used in commercially
managed reedbeds destined for thatching to favour dominance of reeds, to burn
unwanted or poor quality reed, and to encourage shoots to grow straight, all of
which helps produce a higher quality product. In the Broads, the general principle
is that burning should only be used in fen restoration where the proposed habitat
modification is so great that there is likely to be little continuity of the original
vegetation communities and associated fauna. In some uplands, muirburn or
burning on a larger scale to regenerate heather for grazing livestock and game may
have benefits for spring flushes found amongst the heather by keeping them clear
of encroaching dwarf shrub heath. Some farmers traditionally burned grass litter on
fens to stimulate new growth and provide an ‘early bite’ for cattle. In North America,
burning is a commonly occurring natural phenomenon and widely prescribed for fen
management, but in the UK burning of fen vegetation can have seriously detrimental
effects on plant communities, the viability of invertebrate populations or breeding
success of birds.
Burning can be highly detrimental for many species of conservation
concern if undertaken inappropriately, and is therefore generally NOT
recommended for conservation management of fens.
Burning should only be considered where it has been used historically
to successfully manage habitats and species, and should only be
undertaken with extreme caution under strict conditions.
Burning on fens at
the Leckford Estate
in Hampshire has
successfully rejuvenated
rank fen vegetation with
greater tussock sedge,
but can have disastrous
consequences if not
carefully supervised or
undertaken on inappropriate
sites (Simon Duffield).
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