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Review of Hill-Edge Habitats in the Uplands of England and Wales

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Review of Hill-Edge Habitats in the Uplands of England and Wales Review of hill-edge habitats in the uplands of England and Wales. BD1235 Milsom, T.P., Aegerter, J., Bishop, J.D., Allcock, J.A; Barker, D., Boatman, N.D., Hill, V., Jones, N., Marshall, J., McKay, H.V., Moore, N.P., & Robertson, P.A. Central Science Laboratory, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Sand Hutton, YORK, YO41 1LZ. August 2002 Reformatted (with corrections) January 2003 © Crown Copyright CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Executive summary iv Introduction to the hill-edge and Tim Milsom 1 scope of review Origins and dynamics of hill-edge Tim Milsom, Diane Barker, 5 James Aegerter & John Allcock Hill-edge – location and extent James Aegerter & John Allcock 17 Vegetation Naomi Jones & Nigel Boatman 70 Invertebrates Helen McKay 111 Amphibians & reptiles Diane Barker 121 Birds Tim Milsom 127 Mammals Niall Moore 168 Resume and identification of gaps in Tim Milsom & Peter Robertson 171 current knowledge and future research needs Annotated bibliography Julie Bishop & Val Hill 176 Appendices 1. Hill-edge – location and extent: James Aegerter 226 sensitivity analysis 2. Plant species list Naomi Jones & Julie Bishop 237 3. Common land surveys relating to Naomi Jones & Jo Marshall 243 hill-edge ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was commissioned by the Conservation Management Division of Defra. We are very grateful to the staff of the Regional Development Service of Defra (Defra RDS), Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), English Nature (EN), the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Dartmoor National Park Authorities, RSPB, National Trust and the Game Conservancy Trust for participating in the consultation exercise. Particular thanks are due to Steve Peel (Defra, RDS) for identifying contacts and organising meetings with Defra staff; to Niall Watson and Claire Millar (Defra, RDS) for detailed discussions about remote sensing information on the hill-edge and for GIS material; to Murray Grant (RSPB) for organising a meeting with national specialists from the RSPB and for arranging access to unpublished RSPB reports, with the assistance of Mark O’Brien and the library staff at the RSPB library at Sandy; to Barbara Jones (CCW) for organising the consultation meeting at Bangor and for follow-up information; to Rod Starbuck (Defra, North Peak ESA Project Officer) for organising the meeting with local specialists from the Peak District and for much useful information; to Steve Trotter (National Trust) for hosting the Peak District meeting; to David Glaves (Defra, RDS) for organising the meeting with specialists from Dartmoor; to Peter Barfoot (North York Moors National Park) for organising several meetings with his staff; to Tim Thom (Yorkshire Dales National Park) for a very impressive discourse on hill-edge issues in the Yorkshire Dales and, finally, to Simon Bates (EN, Dartmoor) for lending us his Master’s thesis on the ffridd of North Wales. We are very grateful to Jo Judge (CSL) for assistance with the GIS analyses, and to Linda Crossley (CSL) for preparing the final report in PDF format. iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY x The hill-edge is the zone of transition between the upper margins of improved farmland in the uplands and unenclosed moorland. x This review was undertaken because of concerns about recent habitat changes, especially agricultural improvement, and their adverse effects on the plant and animal communities of the hill-edge, and because the hill-edge has been largely overlooked in the extensive literature on the uplands in Britain. x The principal objectives were as follows: (i) to characterise hill-edge habitats and to assess what is known about their species assemblages, physical characteristics and management features, (ii) to review the causes and extent of change in these features over recent decades and their impact on biodiversity and (iii) to identify gaps in current knowledge and recommend potential management options to enhance or restore the biodiversity value of these habitats. x The objectives were addressed by a literature review, consultation exercise and a GIS analysis of mapped data. x The chief characteristic of the hill-edge is the mosaic of habitats that includes inter alia unenclosed rough grazing, enclosed grazing land that has been abandoned, bracken beds, wet flushes around spring heads, scrub, relict woodland, patches of dwarf shrub heath and grass moorland, and isolated improved pastures or hay meadows. x The mosaic is the product of changes in land use, particularly episodes of agricultural improvement followed by abandonment. x Historical surveys of changes in land use in seven upland national parks in England and Wales showed that the conversion of rough pasture (moorland & rough grazing) to improved farmland and the reversion of improved land to rough pasture had occurred repeatedly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the rate of conversion to improved farmland increased in several, but not all, national parks after 1950. x Afforestation with conifers was extensive after 1920 in four national parks where it is likely that substantial areas of hill-edge habitat were eliminated as a result. x A probabilistic method entailing the application of GIS methods to mapped data from the CEH Land Cover Survey 2000 was employed to model the extent and habitat composition of the hill-edge in England Wales. x The combined estimate from the major upland regions of England and Wales was 680,175 ha. Separate estimates of the area of the hill-edge are produced for each of 12 upland regions in England and Wales. The areas varied from 5,812 ha in the Shropshire Hill ESA to 148,425 ha in the North Pennines. The area of hill-edge in each region was compared with that of the core moorland. The median percentage of the core moorland area was 87% but the values varied from 31% in the North York Moors to 203% in the Lake District. x Details of the areas of each of the constituent habitats and a map are also presented for each upland area. The maps show the extent of moorland (ericaceous and grass), hill-edge habitats and conifer plantations. x A sensitivity analysis was undertaken to evaluate the effects of adjusting the model settings on the area estimates. The goodness-of-fit of the model was not iv formally tested because there were no independent datasets that described hill- edge habitats and which were contemporary with the satellite images used in the compilation of the LCM2000 map. However, the predicted extent of hill- edge in areas known to the authors was considered to be generally good in most though not all areas. The proportion of land in the Lake District that had been assigned to the hill-edge was higher than expected. x The literature on plant and animal communities of the hill-edge was reviewed. Separate reviews were undertaken for vegetation, invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals. x The plant communities of the hill-edge have not been studied intensively and most current knowledge of the vegetation stems from Phase 1 habitat surveys and similar assessments. x Rough and semi-natural grasslands were the most widespread habitats on the hill-edge in England and Wales. Most grassland was acidic but significant areas of calcareous grassland were recorded from the North Pennines, Bowland and the Shropshire Hills. Neutral grasslands were particularly important in the North Pennines, Bowland and Northumbria. Dwarf shrub heaths comprised a very minor component of the hill-edge nationally. x Broad-leaved and mixed woodlands comprised 5-10% of the hill-edge in England and Wales but cover varied regionally and was high (>20%) in Dartmoor, Exmoor and the North York Moors. x Scrub generally occurred in small and scattered fragments, many of which are not regenerating. Juniper Juniperus communis ssp. communis scrub has a particular conservation value, and important stands occur in the north Pennines. x Less than 5% of the hill-edge in England and Wales was covered by dense stands of bracken Pteridium aquilinum. Bracken has increased over the past few decades, and probably continues to do so in spite of efforts to control it. x Grazing is necessary to maintain many semi-natural habitats. However, heavy grazing is generally detrimental and can lead to the replacement of habitat mosaics with homogeneous vegetation. Intensive grazing is probably the most important factor in the decline of Juniperus. The replacement of cattle by sheep in recent decades, coupled with high sheep stocking densities, has led to a deterioration in the quality of vegetation with an increase in Nardus, Molinia and Juncus at the expense of more palatable grasses and dwarf shrubs. x Agricultural improvement by reseeding, drainage, burning, cutting, fertilising, liming and herbicide use has resulted in a loss of species and habitat diversity. However, improved grassland will revert back to vegetation more typical of rough grazing. The rate of reversion depends on management, particularly drainage. x Afforestation has had a major impact on the vegetation of hill-edge habitats. Few plant species survive under mature conifers. In the late 1990s, conifer plantations covered between 5-10% of the hill-edge in England and Wales. However, the percentage cover varied between regions and was high (>29%) in Northumberland and North York Moors National Parks, and in the Cambrian Mountains ESA. x Studies from a small number of localities suggest that the hill-edge supports diverse species assemblages of invertebrates that may be dependent on the mosaics of habitats, which are characteristic of the hill-edge. v x Within habitats, invertebrates perform important ecosystem functions, especially decomposition of plant material. Some groups are also important in food webs, especially as prey for birds. x Components of agricultural improvement (drainage, ploughing, reseeding and the use of pesticides) have been shown to be detrimental to some invertebrate taxa. Priority invertebrate species are included in the Biodiversity Action Plans for upland habitats.
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