Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

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Ruderal breck seedbanks in Thetford ForestMuch of Thetford Forest was planted on fallow arable brecks not heath and the breck seedbankspersist under plantations on chalky sands. Restoring cultivated habitats may be a moreappropriate goal in such locations than attempting to restore grass-heath. Cultivation alongforest track-way margins may provide benefits without a need for field-scale reversion.Photographs © P Dolman; historic land-use mapped by Skipper & Williamson.164
Key Recommendations for Cultivated Margins of the Breckland Biodiversity AuditArable Workshop(Panter, Nichols and Dolman 2010)1. With HLS agreements, cultivated margins should be included as prescription HF20, not the“more of the same” HF11. This would allow NE to use a tailored prescription to maximisebenefit (and also pays the farmer an additional £40/ha)2. NE should devise a Breckland-specific HF20 prescription (drawing from the workshopdiscussions) which can be promoted across Breckland by NE. This maximises benefits,increases adviser/farmer confidence, and would be quicker for NE advisers than tailoringindividually to farms.3. Margins should be at least 6m wide to alleviate effects of spray/irrigator drift.4. Longer 6m margins may be preferable to a shorter length of 12m margins as edge benefitsand juxtaposition of the cultivated margin and grass baulk are important, while seed densitiesare greater near field margins5. Desirable locations to target for cultivated margins are anywhere on light soils (chalky andacid) but especially alongside old tracks, tussocky verges and grassland areas, on lines of oldhedges and pine-lines, near the edge of Thetford Forest, at locations of known rare plant andinvertebrate species and at existing well-managed ESA cultivated margins.6. Undesirable locations are on heavier or peaty soils (unless there is a known rare species whichwill benefit), in shaded locations (e.g. north sides of woods) and under over-hanging trees.7. Cultivations should be annual or biennial, since both have benefits, but this must be tied tostronger indicators of success in prescriptions, e.g. spray off once perennial grasses reach>50% cover.8. Rotational and non-rotational approaches each have benefits, so either approach isappropriate. However a presumption towards non-rotational agreements is compatible withconservation of dispersal-limited invertebrates and may be particularly valuable on ESA nonrotationalmargins that have accrued value over time.9. Where existing ESA cultivated margins are being managed well, they are likely to haveaccrued benefits for biodiversity over time. These should be maintained as non-rotationalmargins wherever possible under new HLS agreements.10. Cultivation timing should be varied from September through to March. Different cultivationtimings have benefits for different species. Practicalities of management mean it is likely thatheadlands will be cultivated at the same time as preparing the adjacent field (although this isnot always the case), thus there will be inherent variability among headlands and yearsdepending on cropping patterns.11. Cultivation timing should only be fixed to a specific month/period when conservation priorityspecies are known to be present and the optimal cultivation timing for these is also known.Given the presence of long term seedbanks and the high potential for population increase ofinvertebrates given appropriate conditions, variability in timing is unlikely to be a seriousproblem in most cases.On farmland, a high priority is to ensure that potential accumulated benefits already achievedthrough public investment in the cultivated margins under ESA agreements be sustained by transitionof key sites into Environmental Stewardship (ES).165
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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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difference is partly attributable t
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There were Breckland specialist spe
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Figure 13. Proportion of Breckland
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Distribution of Breckland Conservat
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Figure 15. Number of Breckland cons
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Evidence of Climatic Change: Long-T
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Figure 17. Total seasonal precipita
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Biodiversity Implications of the Ch
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Ariel depositions to agricultural s
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the status of Deschampsia flexuosa.
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The relative effects of ploughing,
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Trends in Species Status: Extinctio
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HymenopteraHymenopteraHymenopteraCo
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In addition to the loss of rare lic
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edstraw Galium parisiense (Tansley
Page 113 and 114: The relative extent of lichen rich
Page 115 and 116: The Feasibility and Usefulness of t
Page 117 and 118: Across patch arrangementLandscape c
Page 119 and 120: Across patcharrangementJuxtapositio
Page 121 and 122: Delivery of Multiple Species by Int
Page 123 and 124: Figure 24. Number of Breckland cons
Page 125 and 126: Mechanical disturbance to create br
Page 129 and 130: estricted to road verges, with the
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Page 133 and 134: Records of species from this guild
Page 135 and 136: © Jeremy Earlywww.natureconservati
Page 139 and 140: Open with sward mosaics guildChryso
Page 141 and 142: Grazing without physical disturbanc
Page 143 and 144: Deadwood in an open-woodland ecoton
Page 145 and 146: Specific Requirement in a Variety o
Page 147 and 148: Management to Sustain Dry Terrestri
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Page 151 and 152: GrazingrequirementsLightly sheep-gr
Page 153 and 154: a mosaic of overlapping ploughed, a
Page 155 and 156: Wind-blown sandThere is great uncer
Page 157 and 158: IntensityProcess Technique Immediat
Page 159 and 160: Complex Sward MosaicsComplex sward
Page 161 and 162: Management for Assemblages of Light
Page 163: Management for Species of Physicall
Page 167 and 168: Shallow cultivation is preferable t
Page 169 and 170: Maidscross Hill is largely overgrow
Page 171 and 172: Ecological Requirements of Wetland
Page 173 and 174: numbers of conservation priority sp
Page 175 and 176: Recommendation Requirements of wetl
Page 179 and 180: Restored pingo complexAt Great Hock
Page 183 and 184: the difficulties of achieving this
Page 185 and 186: Strategic Challenges to Biodiversit
Page 187 and 188: Table 22. Problems arising from poo
Page 189 and 190: Recommendation: Natural England and
Page 191 and 192: It is therefore vital to carefully
Page 193 and 194: Creating networks for resilienceTo
Page 195 and 196: More ambitious possibilities that c
Page 197 and 198: Figure 34. Example of a potential c
Page 199 and 200: Connectivity networks© Neal Armour
Page 201 and 202: and consider whether these repeated
Page 203 and 204: Ensure that scrub removal, ploughin
Page 205 and 206: ReferencesADAS. (1997) Biological M
Page 207 and 208: Haes, E. C. M. & Harding, P. T. (19
Page 209 and 210: Sastre, B.(2003). Ground spider com
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Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

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