Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

It is therefore vital to carefully manage and sustain those locations containing high quality conditionsfor different guilds, and focusing management on what particular sites are important for currently.Managers should consider what conditions have been prevalent at a site in recent years, as this islikely to indicate what species are extant at a site. Although management could seek to add othernew elements (e.g. to provide new areas of bare or disturbed ground, or diversify sward structure) itis wise to retain a large element of existing micro-habitats or structures for those species currentlypresent and supported, particularly emphasising those habitats and structures that are likely to bevaluable to any priority species assemblages. For example, Weeting Heath has a long history ofmanagement by rabbit grazing and supports an important assemblage of invertebrates characteristicof physically disturbed sand and intensive grazing, including coastal species. Management at Weetingcould diversify sward structures, add nectar elements and ungrazed margins, but this should not beat the expense of maintaining a large extent of closely grazed and physically disturbed conditions.This could be by encouraging rabbit populations and supplementing this with mechanical disturbancewhere appropriate.A strategic and integrated approach to local and site prioritiesIt is not appropriate to attempt to provide for every assemblage within every site.Sites should no longer be considered in isolation, but management priorities should be consideredstrategically integrating across multiple sites in the landscape.A strategic and integrated approach should be taken, that considers suites of sites across thelandscape, and considers the resource within the region without the distraction of the County,district or other artificial boundaries. Strategically explicit and planned approaches are required toproduce an optimised and coherent assemblage of sites each with a different emphasis. Key sites,localities and regions for different processes and assemblages should be identified, and this shouldguide management priorities for restoration and enhancement at a strategic scale, synthesising andanalysing across sites. Without this approach, differences in individual or institutional objectives forsites will be unlikely to result in a coherent and focussed regional strategy.Spatial targeting can be guided by an understanding of the historic and recent past distribution ofcertain conditions and processes. For example, the mobile dune and windblown sand resource that isnow virtually lost from Breckland was most recently active in the Icklingham plains area (e.g. AvenueFarm Breck) and at Wangford Warren, and less recently at Foxhole Heath (Figure 25). Initiatives torejuvenate areas of windblown sand, or at least locally disturbed sand in these areas might benefitrelict populations of invertebrates dependent on these conditions. For example, the beetle Broscuscephalotes that requires wind-blown sand as it burrows into the ground, preying on smallcrustaceans and the sulphur beetle Cteniopus sulphureus, a coastal specialist which requires windblown sand and flower rich areas, particularly plants in the carrot family, Umbelliferae.Local and site priorities can also be strategically guided by the mapped hotspots for assemblages,targeting management according to the parts of the landscape that are important for particularguilds. Maps of assemblage distribution should not be interpreted too literally due to the knownlimitations of survey effort and incomplete coverage – both spatially and taxonomically. Rather,maps should be interpreted intelligently. For example, a high value for specialist moths at accessiblelocations such as forest gate-ways, can be taken to indicate high value of moths across the adjoiningforest landscape - including areas lacking records on current maps. A high value for specialist beetlefauna associated with cultivated arable margins at Gallows Hill, Thetford, can be extrapolated only by191