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Conservation monitoring of three management treatments for public understanding of meadow management

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posted on 2023-06-08, 00:49 authored by Margaret Pilkington
In this paper the declining habitat of flower-rich grassland on neutral soil (MG5a) is used as an example to show how non-classical ecological experiments set in a real-life situations can provide answers to practical questions and thus contribute directly to achieving biodiversity targets. Such biodiverse grassland is vanishing at an alarming rate from the farming sector, but remains as small areas within many community sites. Here it is unlikely to be managed appropriately unless the effect of different management treatments can be demonstrated to the local community and to those responsible for management decisions. This paper describes such a demonstration set up on a community site in Sussex. Three different treatments were imposed on the field in a way that was practical to apply and easily understood, but since this precluded replication of treatments the demonstration should be regarded as an example of pro-active conservation monitoring rather than a field trial. Discriminant analysis was used to show pre-treatment similarities between areas together with change of direction following treatments, supporting conclusions drawn from unreplicated analysis of variance models. Aftermath grazing led to a higher percentage cover of wildflowers in the sward and an annual application of organic fertiliser led to a lower percentage cover of wildflowers. Varying the timing of the hay cut made no significant difference

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Journal of Practical Ecology and Conservation

ISSN

1354-0270

Publisher

UKEconet

Issue

2

Volume

5

Page range

47-56

Pages

1.0

Department affiliated with

  • Centre for Community Engagement Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-02-13

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2013-02-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2013-02-14

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