Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

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2.9 Fen conservation Widespread loss and damage to fens through drainage, nutrient-enrichment and abandonment which has occurred throughout the 20 th century has resulted in many fen types, and their constituent species, becoming much less common than they were even 40 or 50 years ago. Many of the best fen sites are now legally protected under domestic legislation as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in Northern Ireland. Some of these fens are also protected under international legislation. Annex 1 of the European Habitats Directive requires member states to conserve habitats identified as being of European conservation importance, through notification of a proportion of sites supporting these habitats as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and to maintain the entire habitat resource in ‘Favourable Conservation Status’. A list of SAC fens can be found on www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1461. 36 Fen habitats listed under Annex 1 of the European Habitats Directive because of their significant conservation importance: H6410 Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-silt-laden soils (Molinion caeruleae) H7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs H7150 Depressions on peat substrates of the Rhynchosporion H7120 Calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus and species of the Caricion davallianae H7220 Petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion) H7230 Alkaline fens H7240 Alpine pioneer formations of Caricion bicoloris-atrofuscae Named after the city in Iran where it was adopted in 1971, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands. Many fens across the globe are identified under the Convention. In the UK, 168 fen sites are protected under the Ramsar Convention. Further details of Ramsar listed fens can be found on www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2392. Species that have experienced the greatest declines in lowland Britain are those of low nutrient or oligotrophic situations. Plants such as bog sedge (Carex limosa), great sundew (Drosera anglica) and Grass-of-Parnassus are now entirely restricted to a few protected sites. As a result of these species declines, the fen plants listed below are now included on the UK BAP Priority Species list, which includes some of the rarest or most rapidly declining species.
Vascular plants Flat-sedge Blysmus compressus Narrow small-reed Calamagrostis stricta Early marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. ochroleuca Crested buckler-fern Dryopteris cristata Fen orchid Liparis loeselii Pale wood-rush Luzula pallidula Marsh club-moss Lycopodiella inundata Tubular water-dropwort Oenanthe fistulosa Fly orchid Ophrys insectifera Lesser butterfly-orchid Platanthera bifolia Marsh saxifrage Saxifraga hirculus Fen ragwort Senecio paludosus Greater water-parsnip Sium latifolium Marsh stitchwort Stellaria palustris Fen violet Viola persicifolia Lower plants Waved Fork-moss Dicranum bergeri Marsh Flapwort Jamesoniella undulifolia Fen Notchwort Leiocolea rutheana Veilwort Pallavicinia lyellii Dwarf Stonewort Nitella tenuissima 37
Page 1 and 2: The Fen Management Handbook Edited
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgements Production of the
Page 5 and 6: 1. Introduction and Basic Principle
Page 7 and 8: Estimates of the original coverage
Page 9 and 10: Guiding principles for fen manageme
Page 11 and 12: Section 12: Fens from an Economic P
Page 13 and 14: 2.1 Diversity and conservation sign
Page 15 and 16: Part of Cropple How Mire in Cumbria
Page 17 and 18: The moss flora of base-rich springs
Page 19 and 20: Bog bean growing in a transitional
Page 21 and 22: Mesotrophic openwater transition fe
Page 23 and 24: Water shrews (Neomys fodiens), also
Page 25 and 26: 2.4.1 Vegetated margins of open wat
Page 27 and 28: 2.4.3 Grazed or cut fen in floodpla
Page 29 and 30: 2.6 Amphibians Amphibians are depen
Page 31 and 32: The mud snail Omphiscola glabra (12
Page 33: Old trees and dead wood Continuous
Page 37 and 38: 3. Understanding Fen Hydrology Quan
Page 39 and 40: Groundwater discharge to fens is us
Page 41 and 42: Water Table 3.4.1.4 Spring fed fen
Page 43 and 44: 3.5 Factors determining fen type 3.
Page 45 and 46: - Flooding - frequency and magnitud
Page 47 and 48: 3.7 Further information and advice
Page 49 and 50: Groundwater inflow. Groundwater lev
Page 51 and 52: It is likely that groundwater disch
Page 53 and 54: Case Study 3.3 Hydro(geo)logical im
Page 55 and 56: 4. Understanding Fen Nutrients Nutr
Page 57 and 58: nutrients. For example, at high con
Page 59 and 60: 4.2.1 Groundwater and surface water
Page 61 and 62: 4.2.3 Point and diffuse sources of
Page 63 and 64: Area of acute nutrient enrichment o
Page 65 and 66: 4.4 Classifying water chemistry usi
Page 67 and 68: 4.6 Identifying nutrient enrichment
Page 69 and 70: Negative indicator species for diff
Page 71 and 72: Many of the floristic changes which
Page 73 and 74: Case Study 4.1 Understanding Fen Nu
Page 75 and 76: 5.1 Why do fens need management? In
Page 77 and 78: 5.2 Checklist of key stages in deci
Page 79 and 80: 5.3.3 Scale Although fens are linke
Page 81 and 82: 5.4 Site survey to establish what i
Page 83 and 84: variability and how these relate to
Page 85 and 86:
- The fauna which inhabit the fen c
Page 87 and 88:
- Prioritise objectives to achieve
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inundation are less likely to be sp
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5.13 References Barsoum, N., Anders
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Case Study 5.2 Fen Management and R
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- 14km of livestock fencing install
Page 97 and 98:
Case Study 5.3 Fen Management and R
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6. Fen Management and Restoration -
Page 101 and 102:
Both the benefits and potentially l
Page 103 and 104:
Cattle forced by flooding to the ed
Page 105 and 106:
At low/medium stocking density, cat
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Goats have narrow muzzles and a fle
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Fens usually feature a range of dif
Page 111 and 112:
Excessive poaching where cattle hav
Page 113 and 114:
extensive areas of wetlands which w
Page 115 and 116:
‘Soft track’ machines, such as
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The design of the pipeline allows f
Page 119 and 120:
Protocol for burning standing reedb
Page 121 and 122:
Long rotation scrub clearance may b
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‘Bird-eye’ and incineration A t
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6.7 Restoring fen meadow Many forme
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Current Management The current mana
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Case Study 6.2 Fen Vegetation Manag
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species diversity of wetland passer
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The temptation to burn large areas
Page 135 and 136:
Outcomes In the eight years that th
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Anglesey sites is now underway supp
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Close grazed short sward of sedges
Page 141 and 142:
Turf cutting Turf cutting has been
Page 143 and 144:
7.1 A framework to assist decision
Page 145 and 146:
Surface water level change e.g. - a
Page 147 and 148:
and the surface to acidify, resulti
Page 149 and 150:
Smaller excavations are preferable
Page 151 and 152:
Morton Lochs, which extend to appro
Page 153 and 154:
Although shallow excavations are pr
Page 155 and 156:
At Leighton Moss in Lancashire, are
Page 157 and 158:
Excavating spoil within the area to
Page 159 and 160:
uilt dams can only be formed in dit
Page 161 and 162:
Case Study 7.1 Fen Water Management
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
8. Managing Fen Nutrient Enrichment
Page 171 and 172:
Summary table of key techniques for
Page 173 and 174:
8.2 Managing the source of nutrient
Page 175 and 176:
Marginal interceptor ditch at Cors
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8.3.4 Bund creation In some cases i
Page 179 and 180:
emoval or soil stripping, both of w
Page 181 and 182:
8.5 Monitoring nutrient reduction D
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Recent photo of stripped surface sh
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9.1 Scope for fen creation The Grea
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9.3 What type of fen? New fens can
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9.5 Restraints on fen creation Plan
Page 191 and 192:
9.6 Check list of issues to conside
Page 193 and 194:
9.7 Site assessment Planning and de
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LIDAR maps can provide a general un
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generally more acidic than silts an
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Site visits and careful assessment
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9.8.4 Plastic membranes On sites wi
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Use of seed bombs ‘Seed bombs’
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Experience has shown that the most
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9.10.2 Creation of niches for plant
Page 209 and 210:
Meade, R. & Wheeler, B.D. 2007. Rai
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- On-going measurement of the effec
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with appropriate training. Providin
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10.3 Biological monitoring techniqu
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Undesirable species for key NVC com
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10.3.3 Vegetation Mapping An initia
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It is good practise to record with
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10.4 Biological monitoring techniqu
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for Ornithology, the Bat Conservati
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Box 2: Construction, installation a
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10.8 Monitoring surface water flows
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- Phytometric tests measure how wel
Page 233 and 234:
Storage of data and information on
Page 235 and 236:
period, simply because it is design
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Another consideration is the likely
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11.1 An historical perspective Poll
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Inviting volunteer involvement in f
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11.3.3 Stakeholders ‘Stakeholders
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have been designated under access a
Page 247 and 248:
11.6.4 Boardwalks Boardwalks are no
Page 249 and 250:
11.6.5 Water borne access Waterways
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- Explore opportunities to stimulat
Page 253 and 254:
Case Study 11.1 Fens and people - S
Page 255 and 256:
Case Study 11.2 Fens and People - H
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12. Fens from an Economic Perspecti
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12.1.3 Biomass energy and Biofuels
Page 261 and 262:
12.2 Environmental regulation 12.2.
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the peat carbon store is depleted t
Page 265 and 266:
Another mechanism for funding wetla
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Whitlaw Mosses in Scotland (see det
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12.8 References Dickie, I., Hughes,
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Nitrogen fixation conversion of gas
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Appendix III - List of species refe
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Table 1 - Mammal species associated
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280 Bittern Botaurus stellaris All
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Grasshopper Warbler 282 Locustella
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Table 4 - Fish species associated w
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Table 5 - Legally protected inverte
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288 Community Topogenous fens S24 P
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290 Community S8 Scirpus lacustris
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292 Community M11 Carex demissa - S
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294 Community M23 Juncus effusus /
Page 293 and 294:
Appendix V - Legal and regulatory c
Page 295 and 296:
298 Type of Works Guidance for UK C
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Appendix VI - Fen management for br
Page 299 and 300:
However, three of the four species
Page 301 and 302:
Sensitive periods Harvest mice bree
Page 303 and 304:
species like bittern, and then drop
Page 305 and 306:
Sensitive periods Species breed wit
Page 307 and 308:
Great Crested Newt Great crested ne
Page 309 and 310:
Appendix VIII - Fen management for
Page 311 and 312:
Mollusca (snails, slugs and mussels
Page 313 and 314:
Other than for rare or exceptional
Page 315 and 316:
There is usually some degree of sub
Page 317 and 318:
Management requirements for protect
Page 319 and 320:
Appendix IX - Further reading Secti
Page 321 and 322:
Koerselman, W., Bakker, S.A. & Blom
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Section 5: Fen Management and Resto
Page 325 and 326:
Patzelt, A, Wild, U. and Jörg Pfad
Page 327 and 328:
Index A access 103, 110, 190, 226,
Page 329:
cutting 114 disposal 117 management
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Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

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