28.03.2013 Views

Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

7.5.2 Drain filling using brushwood faggots<br />

Brushwood faggots are another alternative method of blocking up drains, made by<br />

bundling birch twigs using twine (either jute or plastic), and staking in place within the<br />

drainage channel to prevent movement. Water flowing over and through the packed<br />

material will deposit fines and organic matter that aids consolidation and provides<br />

a firm substrate safe for livestock to cross, and ripe for colonisation by vegetation.<br />

However, at a trial site in Blackensford in 1999, the use of faggots to prevent<br />

headward erosion was unsuccessful. Faggots have the best chance of success if used<br />

in conjunction with other material such as bank spoil to infill a channel, and where the<br />

water table remains above the faggots throughout the year to prevent rapid decay.<br />

Faggots can also be used to good effect in conjunction with clay plugs.<br />

162<br />

Gabion baskets were installed in the New Forest during the early 1990s in<br />

an attempt to control erosion. The wire cages were filled with oversize gravel<br />

to provide a robust material over and through which the head of water could<br />

descend from the level of the mire down into the drainage channel. The success<br />

of this technique has varied. The wire of the baskets is vulnerable to the acid<br />

waters of the mire, which is thought to remove the protective zinc coating and<br />

hasten rusting. Apart from the reduced structural integrity, exposed and broken<br />

wire is unsightly and a potential hazard for livestock and people. The water exiting<br />

the mire did not always flow over or through the gabion, and in several instances<br />

the peat has continued to erode upstream of the gabion. Consequently use of<br />

gabions has been discontinued and is not recommended.<br />

7.6 References<br />

Broads Authority “Broadland Turf Pond Surveys 2005 and Analysis of Data 1983-2005<br />

Brooks, S. & Stoneman, R. Conserving bogs: the management handbook. The<br />

Stationery Office, Edinburgh.<br />

Boeye, D., van Straaten, D. & Verheyen, R.F. 1995. A recent transformation from poor to<br />

rich fen caused by artificial groundwater recharge. Journal of Hydrology 169, 111-<br />

129.<br />

Conway, V. 1942. Biological Flora of the British Isles. Cladium mariscus. Journal of<br />

Ecology 30, 211-216.<br />

Excell, A. 2003. Restoration update – Redgrave and Lopham <strong>Fen</strong> NNR. Conservation<br />

Land <strong>Management</strong> 1 (2), 8-12.<br />

Grootjans, A. & Van Diggelen, R. 1995. Assessing the restoration prospects of degraded<br />

fens. In: Restoration of Temperate Wetlands (eds. B.D. Wheeler, S.C. Shaw, W.J.<br />

Fojt & R.A. Robertson), pp. 73-90. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.<br />

Hawke, C.J. & José, P.V. 1996. Reedbed <strong>Management</strong> for Commercial and Wildlife<br />

Interests. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy.<br />

Meade, R., Mawby, F. & Hammond, G. 2007. Swarth Moor: restoring the fen and raised<br />

bog to favourable condition. Contract FST 19/04/049 Report to <strong>Natural</strong> England<br />

by Roger Meade Associates, Frank Mawby Associates and Penny Anderson<br />

Associates.<br />

Meade, R. & Wheeler, B.D. 2007. Raised bogs from gravel pits? In: Minerals extraction<br />

and wetland creation, Proceedings of a workshop held in Doncaster 26-27<br />

September, 2005 (eds. R. Meade & N. Humphries). pp. 41-49. <strong>Natural</strong> England.<br />

Roworth, P. & Meade, R. (1998). Pumping Shirley Pool. Enact 6 (2), 12-13.<br />

White, G. and Gilbert, J., eds., 2003. Habitat creation handbook for the minerals<br />

industry. Sandy: RSPB.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!