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Species-rich Meadow Creation, University ofWolverhamptonby Alison WilkesThe University of Wolverhampton has a history of research into habitat creation, includinginto the development of the species-rich meadow creation technique of green hay strewing.This technique involves choosing a suitable species-rich meadow to act as a donor site,cutting and baling the green hay (when the maximum number of species have set seed) andimmediately taking the material to the pre-prepared receiver site and spreading the hay acrossthe field. This method has been found to create a plant community similar to that of the donorsite (e.g. Trueman and Millet 2003, Kiehl et al. 2010) and also innately means that theprovenance of the material is known. It should also mean that the seeds will be fresh and atmaximum viability. Other advantages of hay strewing include: the inclusion of rare species(Kiehl et al. 2010) and the successful establishment of the more difficult species includingorchids (Trueman and Millett 2003). Additionally, the method involves non-specialised farmmachinery and is therefore cheaper than methods such as brush harvesting (Kiehl et al. 2010).If a local source meadow is used, it also means that the created meadow will have acommunity that is appropriate for the region, which is important given the spectrum of seminaturalmeadow communities in the UK (Parker 1995).Potential problems with the method include the range of seed set dates amongst meadowplants, the loss of seed from the hay in transit and the potentially negative effect of harvestinggreen hay on the donor meadow, due to the removal of a high proportion of the seedscompared to the removal of cut, turned and dried hay (Stevenson et al. 1997).Despite the overall success of created and restored species-rich grassland communities, anumber of characteristic grassland species have been found to establish and/or persist poorlyin these re-created communities suggesting that these grasslands tend to lack thecharacteristic species of species-rich NVC communities (Walker et al. 2004). To increase thesimilarity of created species-rich grasslands to ‘target’ semi-natural communities, it isimportant to find ways to increase the success of these poor performing/missing species(Pakeman et al. 2002), both in the initial creation/restoration attempt and to find ways tointroduce them into already established created grasslands.Our current research project is looking at using the phased sowing of seed to introducemissing species, a technique suggested by a number of studies (e.g. Pakeman et al. 2002,Walker et al. 2004) and also the collection of seed of specific species for growing on forpotential introduction into creation sites. More specifically we are studying the introductionof ‘extra’ species into established created meadows and the transfer of a higher number ofspecies into new created meadows by using hay cut and strewed at different dates.We are working with landowners in Herefordshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands andare grateful for their help and also the help and advice from Staffordshire Wildlife Trust andNatural England. We would still like to hear from owners of potential sources of green hayand also of sites for species-rich meadow creation – our focus is on MG5 Cynosuruscristatus-Centaurea nigra hay meadows, although not exclusively.We are also interested in hearing from anyone carrying out meadow creation, to find out whatprojects are being carried out, what techniques are being used and how successful theseundertakings have been.Contact details: a.wilkes@wlv.ac.uk22
ReferencesKiehl, K., Kirmer, A., Donath, T. W., Rasran, L. and Holzel, N. (2010) Species introductionin restoration projects - Evaluation of different techniques for the establishment ofsemi-natural grasslands in Central and Northwestern Europe. Basic and AppliedEcology, 11(4), pp.285-299.Pakeman, R. J., Pywell, R. F. and Wells, T. C. E. (2002) Species spread and persistence:implications for experimental design and habitat re-creation. Applied VegetationScience, 5(1), pp.75-86.Parker, D.M (1995) Habitat creation a critical guide. Peterborough: English Nature.Stevenson, M. J., Ward, L. K. and Pywell, R. F. (1997) Re-creating semi-naturalcommunities: Vacuum harvesting and hand collection of seed on calcareousgrassland. Restoration Ecology, 5(1), pp.66-76.Trueman, I. and Millett, P. (2003) Creating wild-flower meadows by strewing green hay.British Wildlife, 15(1), pp.37-44.Walker, K. J., Stevens, P. A., Stevens, D. P., Mountford, J. O., Manchester, S. J. and Pywell,R. F. (2004) The restoration and re-creation of species-rich lowland grassland onland formerly managed for intensive agriculture in the UK. Biological Conservation,119(1), pp.1-18.23
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