Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

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equire access to nectar resources that are similarly provided by grazing intolerant flowering plants.Among these species, there are those that also have a direct requirement for bare ground, physicaldisturbance, and others that rely on foodplants that require disturbance for regeneration. Theseconditions are rarely met on the heaths. In this context, concentration of conservation effortspredominantly on the heaths and other semi-natural habitats with traditional grazing practices isunlikely to secure a future for these species.Entomologists, botanists and some ecologists have long been aware of the importance of ungrazed,physically disturbed, ruderal and brownfield sites (Haggett 1951; 1952; Watt 1971; Rothera, 1998;Harvey 1994). To paraphrase one leading Lepidopterist with a lifetime of experience of the rareBreckland moths,“ when you wanted to find the interesting species you always went to look in the brecks, not onthe heath”.However, this guidance had not fully translated into recommendations for land managers, whileincreasing numbers of species initially regarded as being characteristic of heathland habitats are nowbeing recognised as requiring ungrazed, physically disturbed conditions. For example, the brushthighedseed-eater beetle Harpalus froelichii was long regarded as a rarity of the Breckland grassheathsrather than as an arable specialist (e.g. Rothera 1998), but recent work (Telfer, 2004) insteadmade it clear that arable field margins and other recently disturbed sandy ground (often withabundant Chenopodium album in August) are the preferred habitat. The foodplant is preferentiallygrazed and will not persist in a grazing regime on a heathland site, even if suitable soil disturbance ispresent.The vital importance of ungrazed ruderal habitats (arable / wayside and disturbed ground) wasrecognised by the Natural England Natural Area Profile (Rothera 1998). However, the number ofspecies attributed to this habitat (for vascular plants and invertebrates: 22 RDB species; 11 BAPspecies) was far fewer than were attributed to heathland or grass-heath (90+ RDB and 17 BAP). Themore completePhysical disturbance without grazing – trackwaysand systematictreatment in theMedicago minimaBBA has reversedthis finding.Crasula tilleaTrackways can provide a gradation ofdisturbance: with occasionally disturbedbroken turf adjacent to bare sand, suitablefor annual plants, coastal spiders andsome burrowing hymenoptera.134
© Jeremy Earlywww.natureconservationimaging.com© Christoph Benischwww.kerbtier.de© Ian Rabarts© Christoph Benischwww.kerbtier.de© Christoph Benischwww.kerbtier.de© Jeremy Earlywww.natureconservationimaging.comSome examples of priority species. From top right clockwise:Open habitats with disturbance and grazing requirements uncertainThe monoceros beetle, Notoxus monoceros (Coleoptera - Anthicidae), Coastal Specialist.The dune chafer, Anomala dubia (Coleoptera - Scarabaeidae), Coastal Specialist.Open habitats with disturbance and grazingAn ironclad beetle, Orthocerus clavicornis (Coleoptera - Colydiidae), Notable:B, Coastal specialist.Open habitats with a sward mosaicA jumping spider, Aelurillus v-insignitus (Araneae - Salticidae), Notable:B.Open habitats with disturbance and no/light grazingA robber fly, Eutolmus rufibarbis (Diptera - Asilidae), RDB:R, Secondary Stronghold.Open with scrub, disturbance and no/light grazingA ground bug, Aphanus rolandri (Hemiptera – Lygaeidae), Notable:A.135
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Securing Biodiversityin BrecklandGu
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Commissioning GroupNeil Featherston
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Wind-blown sand guild .............
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milder winters and increased winter
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Creating broad ruderal and disturbe
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Introduction“Few of the lowland d
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Inland DunesThe 1km wide dune and b
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Following the Black Death of the mi
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The area of grass-heath declined by
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PingosPingos are ground water fed p
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Breckland Conservation and the Need
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SSSI. The Breckland Forest SSSI cit
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The Breckland Biodiversity Audit ha
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The Breckland bio-geographic region
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polygons of alternating calcareous
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quality calcareous fen communities
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Figure 2. The extent of Breckland,
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Table 3. Grass-heath vegetation in
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The Conservation Resource: Designat
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All other SSSIs are less than 600 h
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GrasslandHeathWoodlandWetlandFlowin
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Calcicolous grasslandsShingle, stra
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Figure 4. Location of designated si
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Figure 6. Location of Plantlife’s
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Figure 7. Locations of stations in
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Scheme for Stilt & Stalk Flies, Dra
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Table 6. Rare vascular plant specie
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Recommendation BTO be commissioned
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Table 7. Species for which records
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Table 8. Descriptions of Red Data B
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If the sub-species was designated b
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Collating and Synthesising Species
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Table 11. Published, documentary an
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Baron de Worms, C.G.M. (1953) Colle
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Guild AnalysisA number of habitat a
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The specific questions for the work
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Findings of the Breckland Biodivers
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Recording Effort and CoverageThere
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Butterfly Conservation (Suffolk) 17
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Norfolk Biodiversity InformationSer
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Figure 11. Number of taxonomic grou
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Page 93 and 94: Evidence of Climatic Change: Long-T
Page 95 and 96: Figure 17. Total seasonal precipita
Page 97 and 98: Biodiversity Implications of the Ch
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Page 103 and 104: The relative effects of ploughing,
Page 105 and 106: Trends in Species Status: Extinctio
Page 107 and 108: HymenopteraHymenopteraHymenopteraCo
Page 109 and 110: In addition to the loss of rare lic
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Page 117 and 118: Across patch arrangementLandscape c
Page 119 and 120: Across patcharrangementJuxtapositio
Page 121 and 122: Delivery of Multiple Species by Int
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Page 133: Records of species from this guild
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Page 145 and 146: Specific Requirement in a Variety o
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Page 151 and 152: GrazingrequirementsLightly sheep-gr
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Page 155 and 156: Wind-blown sandThere is great uncer
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Page 159 and 160: Complex Sward MosaicsComplex sward
Page 161 and 162: Management for Assemblages of Light
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Page 165 and 166: Key Recommendations for Cultivated
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Page 175 and 176: Recommendation Requirements of wetl
Page 179 and 180: Restored pingo complexAt Great Hock
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Strategic Challenges to Biodiversit
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Table 22. Problems arising from poo
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Recommendation: Natural England and
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It is therefore vital to carefully
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Creating networks for resilienceTo
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More ambitious possibilities that c
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Figure 34. Example of a potential c
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Connectivity networks© Neal Armour
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and consider whether these repeated
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Ensure that scrub removal, ploughin
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ReferencesADAS. (1997) Biological M
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Haes, E. C. M. & Harding, P. T. (19
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Sastre, B.(2003). Ground spider com
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Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

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