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Hedgerows and Hedgerow Trees

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Hedgerows and Hedgerow Trees WoodWoodland Wise Conservation News • Summer 2014 R ke C d Be R ha C WTPL, Ri Dawn hedge Dawn HEDGEROWS AND HEDGEROW TREES BENEFITS OF HEDGEROW THE LONG TREES IN HEDGES MANAGEMENT foRest PROJECT HEDGEROWS The services they offer FOR WILDLIFE Community More trees Best times to cut supporting hedges outside woods Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2014 1 W o the majority due to agricultural intensification L Bag between the 1940s and 1970s. The 2007 Benefits of hedges N i L Hedgerows are important for humans and Co Countryside Survey of Great Britain found the length of ‘managed’ hedgerows declined by 6.2 wildlife; they provide a wide range of services per cent between 1998 and 2007, and only 48 that help support the healthy functioning of per cent that remained was in good structural ecosystems. condition. Wildlife services As a threatened habitat, there is a dedicated As the most widespread semi-natural habitat Hedgerow Biodiversity Action Plan. The in the UK, hedgerows support a large diversity original Habitat Action Plan (HAP) only covered of flora and fauna. There are 130 Biodiversity ancient and/or species rich hedges, but this Action Plan species closely associated with was increased to include all hedgerows where hedges and many more that use them for food at least one native woody tree or shrub was and/or shelter during some of their lifecycle. dominant (at least 80 per cent of the hedge). They are a good source of food (flowers, berries and nuts) for invertebrates, birds and mammals. In intensively farmed areas they Hedgerow trees offer a refuge for wild plants and animals. Along with the hedges themselves, hedgerow trees are important resources. It is estimated N iva there are around 73 million hedgerow and LL Su park trees in Great Britain. Many of these are N aging and offer veteran features for specialist Jo wildlife. There are issues with a loss of hedgerow trees and lack of future recruitment. This is linked to intensive agriculture practices, poor management techniques and disease. Dutch elm disease had negative impacts on Hedgerows and hedges, as the English elm, Ulmus minor var. vulgaris, was a major hedgerow tree. Ash, Trees and hedges in Fraxinus excelsior, is now the most frequent hedgerow trees the landscape hedgerow tree and forms the dominant landscape feature in some areas. The threat Hedgerows are important features in the management so that trees no longer take their of ash dieback, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus landscape; offering food and shelter for natural shape. These are also known as ‘managed’ (previously Chalara fraxinea), could see the loss wildlife, providing historical and cultural links, hedgerows. There are also ‘relict’ hedgerows of many of these and we may need to think and providing landscape-scale connectivity. that were originally planted as hedges but are about mitigation. Although they have been around for centuries, no longer managed.1 they are under threat from removal and poor www.hedgelink.org.uk contains a wealth of management. Loss of hedgerows hedge related information. The Countryside Survey classes a hedge as: a During the 20th century an estimated half of 1 http://www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk/sites/default/files/ Upland hedge tree on wall boundary line of woody vegetation that has been subject to all hedgerows were lost from the countryside, pdfs/reports2007/CS-UK-Results2007-Chapter05.pdf Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2014 2 Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2014 3 z Hedges provide wildlife corridors, facilitating Hedges that bound agricultural land act L hu C the movement of species through landscapes as a barrier and can reduce the amount of S Hedgerow RN ö and from one habitat patch to another. pesticides, fertilisers and eroded soil reaching J B Some species, such as the hazel dormouse, watercourses. They can also reduce flooding by management for Muscardinus avellanarius, struggle to cross increasing infiltration rates and slowing water large open areas like farmed fields. Therefore, if flows, this can help to store water in the soil for wildlife there is no wildlife-friendly feature connecting use at a later date. Hedgerows are much more than just one piece of habitat to another they are not boundaries. They provide important food able to move through the landscape. This can and shelter for many different species. be particularly problematic if, for example, The trees and shrubs that make up hedgerows Invertebrates, mammals and birds, some provide shelter for wildlife, but also for their habitat patch becomes too fragmented of high conservation status, use hedgerow livestock throughout the year. They help or unsuitable to live in and they need to find habitats. Hedges also provide connectivity alternatives to survive. sustain key pollinators that support productive Hazel dormouse farming and natural predators that feed on between other habitats, such as woodland, crop pests. Open-grown trees in hedges can across less wildlife-friendly areas, such as large Regulating ecosystems become ancient and offer a greater diversity of They can also offer educational opportunities arable fields. habitat niches for species to colonise. for people to learn species identification. ‘Regulating services’ control ecosystem Traditional techniques such as hedge laying, processes like air quality, water purification which has distinctive regional styles, can also Active management of hedgerows restricts and pollination. In terms of the air we breathe, Cultural values be taught. their growth, preventing the woody vegetation hedgerows help produce oxygen and capture from expanding, and is part of their overall ‘Cultural services’ are non-material benefits harmful particulates – especially important in definition. However, management is not directly linked to people and values, including Hedges can provide aesthetically pleasing urban areas that produce more atmospheric standardised and some practices can be recreation, spiritual enrichment and cognitive landscape features that can have positive pollutants. They also help reduce the urban development. Hedgerows can date back to benefits for psychological wellbeing. They can more damaging than others. Heavy or badly heat island effect and store carbon. prehistoric times and can help tell the history also offer natural screens that hide unsightly timed management can reduce the amount of human interactions with the land. developments and protect people’s privacy. of flowers and berries available to UK’s fauna Other services Hedgerows can provide food for humans. Blackberries, sloes, elderflowers and haws have N been used over the centuries in many recipes o and are still foraged today by people keen for nst some wild food. Joh R evo R Hedges and hedgerow trees can also provide ey T ey SL woodfuel for landowners, but it is important We for this to be sustainably managed so as not to negatively affect any wildlife value. Pollarding is a traditional technique linked to woodfuel and the provision of fodder and bedding for livestock. No rt hea stw i This long list of benefits shows how important L d L hedgerows can be in the landscape and the ife. C Rural craft - need for them to be maintained, now and in the o.uk Redwing hedge laying future. Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2014 4 Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2014 5 at crucial points in the year. Unmanaged Over the five year period, the study showed o.uk C Hedges for bTB hedges are shown to produce more berries ife. that reducing the frequency of cutting from L d L than managed ones, but some management is i every year to every three years increased the needed to prevent hedges turning into lines of stw number of flowers by 2.1 times, supporting biosecurity hea Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has serious impacts trees or gappy, unconnected remnants. rt important pollinator insects such as bees, and No the mass of berries by 3.4 times. on farmers’ livelihoods and considerable costs to taxpayers. It is estimated the disease will cost When to cut? around £1 billion over the next decade. Their overall advice was for land managers to Modern agriculture practices have led to decrease the frequency of hedgerow cutting British hedgerows being cut after harvest, in from every two years to every three years, and Currently, figures for bTB outbreaks seem to be late summer or early autumn. This seriously to cut later in winter rather than autumn. This falling due to the enforcement of better testing reduces the amount of berries available to would ultimately provide more flowers for early and biosecurity on farms. Many identify these overwintering birds, such as fieldfares,Turdus invertebrates in spring and more berries for areas as having great potential in the fight pilaris, and redwings, Turdus iliacus. A detailed birds trying to survive the winter. against bTB. Badger and cattle vaccinations study found most hedgerow berries, on non- are also areas of importance and more work cut hedges, had been naturally foraged by mid- is needed on both. Wales currently has a The study provided part of the evidence base January. So, postponing cutting until February badger vaccination programme in place and 1 used by Natural England and Defra for a or March was advised. a more comprehensive proposal for rolling out revision of the ELS in 2012, which was altered badger vaccinations in England was recently to include much stronger financial incentives announced. for farmers to cut their hedges only once in A number of key hedgerow plants, such as every three years. But if landowners did cut hawthorn, Crateagus monogyna, only flower or their hedges every two years that it was done fruit when the wood is at least two years old. R in January/February rather than autumn. ke Under the Agri-Environment Scheme (AES), C d Be the Environmental Stewardship scheme was R ha adopted in England in 2005.
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