Meadows and enclosed pasture 7 Definition and location of meadows and enclosed pasture ................................ 7:3 7.1 Definition of meadows and enclosed pasture ....................................... 7:3 7.2 Location and extent of meadows and enclosed pasture .............................. 7:4 Habitats and species of meadows and enclosed pasture in the uplands ..................... 7:5 7.3 Why meadows and enclosed pasture are important ................................. 7:5 7.4 Habitats and species of meadows and enclosed pasture, their nature conservation status and distribution ................................................................... 7:5 7.4.1 Vascular plants ......................................................... 7:5 7.4.2 Bryophytes ............................................................. 7:6 7.4.3 Plant communities ...................................................... 7:6 7.4.4 Birds .................................................................. 7:8 7.4.5 Invertebrates ........................................................... 7:9 7.4.6 Mammals ............................................................. 7:10 7.4.7 Amphibians and reptiles ................................................ 7:10 7.5 Habitat and management requirements of meadow and enclosed pasture species ...... 7:10 Management of upland meadows and enclosed pasture .................................. 7:11 7.6 Managing upland meadows and enclosed pasture ................................. 7:11 7.6.1 Establishing management objectives and options ........................... 7:12 7.6.2 Managing pastures ..................................................... 7:15 7.6.3 Managing meadows .................................................... 7:27 7.6.4 Flushed grassland and mires ............................................ 7:30 7.6.5 Floodplain grasslands .................................................. 7:33 7.7 Further management techniques for upland meadows and enclosed pasture .......... 7:33 7.7.1 Drainage .............................................................. 7:33 7.7.2 Stock feeding .......................................................... 7:34 7.7.3 Rolling and chain harrowing ............................................ 7:34 7.7.4 Managing problem species .............................................. 7:35 7.7.5 Use of avermectin anthelmintics ......................................... 7:36 7.7.6 Burning ............................................................... 7:37 7.7.7 Managing scrub ....................................................... 7:37 7.7.8 Archaeological and historical interests and management in enclosed grasslands 7:39 February 2001 7:1 The upland management handbook 7.8 Specific management for fauna .................................................. 7:40 7.8.1 Managing for birds ..................................................... 7:40 7.8.2 Managing for invertebrates .............................................. 7:43 7.9 Techniques to restore species-rich meadows and enclosed pasture ................... 7:44 7.9.1 Restoration management ................................................ 7:44 7.9.2 Grassland re-creation ................................................... 7:45 Tables 7.1 Plant communities associated with management as pasture .......................... 7:7 7.2 Plant communities associated with hay meadow management ....................... 7:8 7.3 ‘Traditional’ management treatments of semi-natural grassland communities ......... 7:13 7.4 Information required prior to establishing management objectives and options ........ 7:14 7.5 Grazing attributes of sheep, cattle, horses and goats ................................ 7:16 7.6 A guide to stocking rates for lowland grassland ................................... 7:17 7.7 Examples of stocking rates for different vegetation types as specified by various environmental land management schemes ........................................ 7:18 7.8 The effects of grazing at different times of year .................................... 7:23 7.9 Nationally rare and scarce vascular plants associated with meadows and enclosed pastures in England ........................................................... 7:46 7.10 Nationally rare and scarce bryophytes associated with upland meadows and enclosed pastures in England ........................................................... 7:56 7.11 Habitat and management requirements of nationally rare and scarce bryophytes associated with meadows and enclosed pastures in England ........................ 7:59 7.12 Semi-natural plant communities associated with enclosed grassland in the uplands of England ................................................................... 7:60 7.13 Breeding birds associated with upland enclosed grasslands in England ............... 7:65 7.14 Habitat requirements of birds associated with upland enclosed grasslands in England . 7:68 7.15 Management guidelines for birds associated with upland enclosed grasslands in England ..................................................................... 7:72 7.16 Mammals associated with upland meadows and enclosed pastures in England ........ 7:73 7.17 Amphibians and reptiles associated with upland meadows and enclosed pastures in England ..................................................................... 7:75 February 2001 7:2 The upland management handbook Meadows and enclosed pasture: 7.1 Definition Definition and location of meadows and enclosed pasture 7.1 Definition of meadows and enclosed pasture This chapter covers the meadows and pastures found within the enclosed land of the English uplands. Pastures are grazed but not cut, while meadows are cut for either hay or silage and may or may not be grazed. While these areas are generally referred to as grasslands, they frequently contain a range of wetland plant communities (mires) which are also covered in this chapter. They may also be described in agricultural terms as in-bye, which is enclosed land in by the farm buildings, or allotment or intake, which is land taken in or enclosed from the hill. Although grasslands can be composed of a rich mixture of plant species, grasses are typically dominant. Three broad types of dry grassland occur in Britain. These are defined by the type of substrate on which they occur (Crofts & Jefferson 1994, 1999). Neutral grasslands are found mostly within enclosed field systems on moist mineral soils with a pH of between 5 and 6.5. Calcareous grasslands occur on both enclosed and unenclosed land, largely on pervious calcareous bed rocks. The soils here tend to be shallow and typically have a pH range of between 6.5 and 8.5. Acid grasslands normally occur on acid soils, which have a pH below 5. Much grassland has been agriculturally ‘improved’, by the application of fertilisers or herbicides, drainage or ploughing and reseeding. Where these activities have not taken place they are termed ‘semi-natural’ or ‘unimproved’. The National Vegetation Classification (NVC, Rodwell 1992) describes the grassland communities of England and those which occur in the enclosed uplands are listed in Table 7.12. The majority of the wet grassland communities found in the enclosed uplands are technically mires, that is they are permanently or periodically waterlogged. Many of these communities, however, resemble grassland in structure and are managed in similar ways to grasslands, though in many cases grasses are replaced as the dominant species by small sedges Carex spp. or rushes Juncus spp. Depending on the species composition and structure of these communities they are varyingly referred to as wet, flushed or marshy grasslands, fen meadows, mires, flushes or bogs. These communities are listed in Table 7.12 and described in Rodwell (1991 and 1992). For the sake of simplicity these communities are referred to as wet grasslands hereafter. The emphasis in this chapter is on semi-natural and ‘semi-improved’ grasslands, as these have a far greater wildlife value than agriculturally ‘improved’ grasslands. However, where agricultural grasslands are of wildlife interest, this has generally been derived from a long history of management, either as pasture or meadow. February 2001 7:3 The upland management handbook Meadows and enclosed pasture: 7.2 Location and extent 7.2 Location and extent of meadows and enclosed pasture Enclosed grasslands occur throughout the English uplands, predominantly along valley floors and on the lower valley sides. Some enclosures, however, occur on higher ground and can even extend to the hill tops. In the latter situations, the nature of the enclosed land is often very similar to the open fell or moor. The extent of the grassland and mire communities found in the enclosed uplands of England varies with the grassland type. Agriculturally improved grasslands are extensive throughout, while unimproved grasslands and their associated mires are often restricted in their distribution. Semi-natural neutral grasslands in particular have become a scarce resource because they usually occur on relatively dry, even terrain which is easily improved (Jefferson et al 1994). Calcareous grasslands are more extensive, but again many have received applications of herbicides or fertilisers where full cultivation is not possible (Hillier, Walton & Wells 1990). Acid grasslands are the most extensive of the unimproved types, occurring on the poorest soils. Many acid grassland stands have been derived from dwarf-shrub heath via overgrazing. At present it is not possible