Maintaining Standing Stones Benefits Biodiversity in Lowland Heathland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Maintaining standing stones benefits biodiversity in lowland heathland Journal Item How to cite: Shepheard-Walwyn, Emma and Bhagwat, Shonil A. (2018). Maintaining standing stones benefits biodiversity in lowland heathland. Oryx, 52(2) pp. 240–249. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2018 Fauna Flora International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0030605317001442 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Maintaining standing stones benefits biodiversity in lowland heathland E MMA S HEPHEARD-WALWYN and S HONIL A. BHAGWAT Abstract The exploitation of natural resources by people some cases anthropogenic influence can produce new habi- generally has detrimental effects on nature but in some tats and diversity within the landscape, resulting in a more cases anthropogenic activities can result in changes to the biodiverse environment (Jones, ; Bhagwat et al., ; natural environment that produce new habitats and increase Anthwal et al., ). Many ecosystems have been altered biodiversity. Understanding and supporting such cultural historically by human activities, and areas previously con- aspects of land use is an important part of effective conser- sidered to be pristine have been found to have been sites vation strategies. The UK has a range of cultural landscapes of historical large-scale anthropogenic changes (Moran, that contribute to the landscape matrix and are often im- ). Understanding and supporting the cultural aspects portant for biodiversity. However, little research has been of land use is therefore, in some cases, an important part conducted on the relationship between various types of cul- of an effective conservation strategy. tural landscapes or their effects on biodiversity. We exam- Anthropogenic activities in the natural environment re- ined the interaction between semi-natural sacred sites and sult in cultural landscapes (Jones, ; Agnoletti, ), lowland heathland in Cornwall, and the contribution these which can provide information about the way in which na- sites make to the overall biodiversity within the habitat. We ture responds to human influences, and how anthropogenic found that semi-natural sacred sites had significantly higher use can help to promote biodiversity (Agnoletti, ; Willis levels of biodiversity compared to surrounding heathland; et al., ; Anthwal et al., ). Globally there are exam- the existence and use of the sites created new and important ples of both positive and negative influences of people’s habitats for rare and threatened heathland species; and the actions on the natural environment; cultural landscapes, spiritual and cultural use of the sites aids the management of from single prayer trees to the extensive agricultural land- heathland. Promoting the use of semi-natural sacred sites scapes of Europe, are a product of such actions (Jones, could therefore contribute to biodiversity conservation. ; Moran, ; Bhagwat et al., ). Many cultural Furthermore, the cultural and spiritual importance of such landscapes help to contribute towards the heterogeneity of sites potentially increases the availability of volunteer re- the landscape matrix and provide unique opportunities for sources for their management. We highlight the importance biodiversity conservation (Agnoletti, ; Bhagwat et al., of an integrated management approach for achieving effect- ; Dudley et al., ). ive biodiversity conservation in areas containing multiple There have been studies of the contributions of various types of cultural landscapes. types of cultural landscapes in the landscape matrix (Bhagwat et al., ), and the importance of the variation Keywords Biodiversity, Biodiversity Action Plan habitats, of habitats within particular cultural landscapes (Kirby, Cornwall, cultural landscape, heathland, semi-natural ; Key, ; Price, ). However, there has been less sacred sites, standing stones, UK focus on habitat heterogeneity within cultural landscapes, Supplementary material for this article is available at and no previous research has investigated directly the effects https://doi.org/./S of sacred sites on biodiversity in lowland heathland. There is a variety of cultural landscapes in the UK, in- cluding agricultural landscapes, heathland and moorland, managed forests, urban green spaces, and sacred sites. Introduction Many sacred sites in the UK can be categorized as semi- natural sacred sites because of their presence in otherwise he detrimental effects of human activities on nature highly anthropogenic landscapes. Here we examine semi- Thave prompted many conservation practitioners to natural sacred sites in lowland heathland, and the contribu- attempt to keep nature separate from people. However, in tion these sites make to biodiversity within the heathland habitat. We address five questions: () What is the extent and spatial distribution of known semi-natural sacred sites EMMA SHEPHEARD-WALWYN (Corresponding author) The White House Cottage, within lowland heathland in Cornwall? () What are the dif- Stockland, Devon, EX14 9DS, UK. E-mail [email protected] ferences in community structure and composition between SHONIL A. BHAGWAT Department of Geography, Open Space Research Centre, The Open University, UK these sites and the surrounding heathland? ( ) How does the Received January . Revision requested May . use of semi-natural sacred sites affect the structure and com- Accepted September . First published online February . position of surrounding habitat, and what impact does this Oryx, 2018, 52(2), 240–249 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001442 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Open University Library, on 24 May 2018 at 11:45:43, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001442 Standing stones benefit biodiversity 241 have on biodiversity? () What are the differences in habitat significance, and are categorized as semi-natural sacred diversity between semi-natural sacred sites and heathland? sites. They harbour natural habitats that have been altered () What contribution do semi-natural sacred sites make through extensive human influence over time (Bhagwat & to the biodiversity of the heathland? Rutte, ; Anthwal et al., ; Shepheard-Walwyn, ), and they have been found to support biodiversity that differs from that of surrounding habitats (Bhagwat & Study area Rutte, ; Dudley et al., ). We focus on five types of This study was conducted in the region of Penwith, West stone monuments (standing stones, stone circles, cairns, Cornwall, in south-west England (Fig. ). The west of quoits and tumuli) regarded as sacred by Pagan worship- Penwith is an Environmentally Sensitive Area (Natural pers, and consider sites: semi-natural sacred sites England, ). (Table ) and (paired) non-sacred sites within lowland heathland. Lowland heathland The co-existence of Neolithic monuments with heathland Lowland heathland is an anthropogenic landscape that oc- curs up to m altitude. Most heathland requires active Lowland heathland in Western Europe is a highly managed management to prevent trees becoming dominant in the habitat, and without management it would return to forest landscape (Price, ; D. Allen, , pers. comm.). (Price, ). In Britain, Neolithic monuments and stone Twenty percent of all remaining lowland heathland is in structures are embedded within this habitat. Archaeological the UK, and the majority of this is in the south of evidence suggests that Neolithic cultures practised farming England (Price, ). Lowland heathlands are vital to and pastoralism, which are associated with widespread clear- many rare species, such as the smooth snake Coronella aus- ing of forest and expansion of farmland (Heil & Aerts, ; triaca, the nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus and the ladybird Gaillard et al., ). The sacredness of the stone structures spider Eresus sandaliatus (Forestry Commission, ), and therefore lies in the stones rather than in the land per se, so therefore the management of these lands is vital to the pro- management of heathland and maintenance of sacred stone tection of much of the UK’s biodiversity (Kirby, ;Key, structures would have coexisted in Neolithic times. ; Price, ). An important aspect of heathlands is the variation of structures and habitats within them (Kirby, Methods ;Key,; Price, ), including areas dominated by gorse Ulex and heather Calluna, areas of open grass We used a combination of fieldwork and a geographical and bare soil, and wet areas including boggy patches or information system to map semi-natural sacred sites in open water (Hantsweb, ). In addition, footpaths, bare lowland heathland and analyse their distribution in the ground, rocky structures, artificial features and ruins can landscape, and the differences in vegetation, habitat and all provide heterogeneity within the landscape matrix, biodiversity between paired sacred and non-sacred sites. which is essential for biodiversity (Kirby, ;Key,; Price, ). Selection of study sites Neolithic stone monuments To select the study sites we conducted analysis using ArcGIS v. , ArcMap v. and