Pulsatilla vulgaris (L.) Mill. - Plantlife

microsites for seed germination and seedling establishment
• Transfer of seed between sites by herbivores and/or mowing
machinery
• Transfer of pollen between populations by insects
Chemical • Soils with pH ca. 7.5 (formerly 5)
• Infertile soils with high calcium carbonate content
5 Management implications
Pulsatilla vulgaris is a long-lived polycarpic perennial herb which mainly reproduces
vegetatively, and rarely from seed. It is a poor competitor and therefore unable to persist in
ungrazed, closed swards or amongst scrub where the general height of the vegetation exceeds
15 cm and there is a build-up of litter from coarse grasses, especially Bromopsis erectus and
Brachypodium pinnatum. Its survival is therefore dependent on grazing, although short-term
fluctuations in grazing intensity or short-term neglect are unlikely to be critical in the longerterm.
For example, one of the largest populations in England survived 100 years of sheep
grazing, 13 years of very heavy sheep grazing, 22 years of no grazing including a severe fire
during the flowering season (Wells, 1968).
Management should aim to produce a sward of ca.5(-10) cm during the flowering period with
up to 30% bare ground although there is much flexibility in how this can be achieved (Rich,
1997). The preferred management is sheep grazing from August to April (< 5 sheep ha -1 ),
although low intensity grazing, including by cattle or horses, during the flowering season
appears to have no ill-effect. All its current sites are also subject to moderate to high levels
of rabbit grazing throughout the year and, although this can cause localized extinction where
severe, it has probably been vital in maintaining open conditions on sites with intermittent or
low levels of stock grazing. It has also survived a variety of cutting treatments ranging from
cutting once a year in spring, summer or autumn, to three times a year as well as annual
burning (‘swaling’) in February or March to reduce the dominance of coarse grasses such as
Bromopsis erectus and Brachypodium pinnatum. On some sites it has also benefited from
occasionally burning and trampling by humans which appears to stimulate the development of
the deep-seated adventitious root buds.
On some sites where over-grazing, mainly by rabbits, is perceived to be a problem fencing
exclosures have been erected although this appears to have been detrimental due to the
build-up of coarse grasses.
Given the poor dispersal ability of Pulsatilla vulgaris and the high degree of isolation of many
populations the movement of livestock and cutting machinery between extant and potentially
suitable sites is likely to be critical in promoting gene-flow and in enabling colonization to
take place.
7 Threats/factors leading to loss or decline or limiting recovery
In England Pulsatilla vulgaris has undergone a rapid and dramatic range contraction over
recent millennia and its current distribution now represents just 27% and 14% of its former
range at the 10-km and site-population scales respectively. A similar magnitude of decline has
been reported for Pulsatilla vulgaris in central Germany (Hensen et al., 2005), Austria (Franz,
2005), Switzerland (Pfeifer et al., 2002) and Luxembourg (Colling, 2005) and for Pulsatilla
patens in Finland where 60% of populations have been lost since the 1930s (Uotila, 1996;
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