Securing Biodiversity in Breckland - European Commission

Of the grass-heath resource for which we obtained information, 43% of the sheep grazed area wasmanaged by low intensity grazing, 70% of the area extent had no or few rabbits and disturbancetreatments covered less than 1% of the grass-heath extent. This is not compatible with conservingthe priority assemblages that depend on this resource. Approaches to management should berevised, and best practice followed.Recommendations for management of dry terrestrial habitats Large numbers of priority species require heavy and intense grazing, this should beimplemented across large parts of most heathland sites. Presence of heather (Calluna vulgaris) should not be an obstacle to heavy grazing asretention of mature heather should not be an objective of management for priority species. Physical disturbance should be applied to a substantial part of all terrestrial sites to provideconditions required by large numbers of priority species. Physical disturbance is a key tool in mitigating deleterious effects of nitrogen deposition andeutrophication. Heterogeneity, with areas of lighter grazing, structurally diverse swards, and thejuxtaposition of ungrazed elements (including ploughed or cultivated ungrazed marginswithin or alongside heath sites) all provide for additional species assemblages. Management should not be approached with the hope of keeping things from changing,rather management should be dynamic, episodic and disruptive as gradual recovery fromgrazing or disturbance provides conditions and structures not found on homogenouslymanaged sites. Important assemblages that require physically disturbed ungrazed vegetation, includingbare ground and ruderal plant communities, are best supported on arable field margins,through cultivated margin prescriptions, in the forest landscape, along lightly grazedmargins of large grazed heathlands, or in brown-field sites. Large lightly grazed heathlands provide opportunities for recreation of breck arable andruderal habitats through mechanical disturbance and cultivation. Brown field sites require mechanical management to create exposures of bare sand, graveland chalk. Areas of uncertainty and recommendations for further research and survey identified.Recommendations for management of wetlands: fen, pingos and meres Scrub and woodland should be largely removed from fen and wetland sites. A range of grazed and tall vegetation structures should be created. On large wetland complexes this may be achieved by flexible extensive grazing, while onsmaller or wooded sites mechanical management may be required.Strategic recommendationsSites should no longer be considered in isolation, but management priorities should be consideredthat strategically integrate across multiple sites in the landscape.Adjacent sites should be combined into larger contiguous integrated units.Biodiversity resilience of sites will be enhanced by developing connectivity networks that are bestachieved by: Buffering existing track-ways and track verges with cultivated margins through agrienvironmentalagreements in the arable landscape.8