Heathland Restoration Techniques: Ecological Consequences for Plant-Soil and Plant-Animal Interactions

We compare the soil and plant community development during heathland restoration on improved farmland when achieved through soil stripping with that achieved through soil acidification. We also test the potential for toxic metals to be made more available to plant and animal species as a result of these treatments. Acidification with elemental sulphur was found to be more effective than soil stripping for establishing an ericaceous sward despite the high levels of phosphate still present within the soil.However, both soil acidification and soil stripping were found to have the potential to increase the availability of potentially toxic metals. Acidification increased uptake of both aluminium and zinc in two common plant species Agrostis capillaris and Rumex acetosella and decreased the abundance of surface active spiders. The potential consequences for composition of restored heathland communities and for functioning of food chains are discussed

The effect of sewage sludge application to an agricultural soil on the fecundity of the Rose Grain aphid (Metopolophium dirhodum).

A pot trial was used to assess the effect of amending soil with sewage sludge on the number of offspring produced by individual Rose Grain Aphids. Results demonstrated that the highest application rate (100 t.d.s. ha-1) could significantly decrease the number of offspring produced by the aphid

Do aphids biomagnify Cd and Zn as a defence against predation?

The results of a study on sewage sludge application to agricultural soil have led us to propose that recycling sewage sludge can affect the biological control of grain aphids. This, we suggest, is due to the biomagnification of trace metals in the aphid presenting potentially toxic concentrations to predators

The Effects of Cervus nippon on Two Key Ecological Drivers Controlling Populations of Plebejus argus on Heaths: Larval Food Sources and Mutualistic Ants

This study investigated the effects of grazing by invasive sika deer, Cervus nippon on the abundance of the silver-studded blue butterfly Plebejus argus on a lowland heath system in the UK. Plebejus argus is a rare species whose UK stronghold is lowland heath, where it is dependent on a mutalistic relationship with species of Lasius niger ants. Cervus nippon is an invasive species but genetically and ecologically closely related to native red deer C. elaphus and so may have positive as well as negative ecological effects. This study examines the relationship between the incidence of C. nippon and the abundance of P. argus and tests the effect of deer i) directly via their impact on vegetation structure and composition, ii) indirectly their impact on the abundance of L. niger ants. Data were collected from 37 plots of heathland in Dorset, measuring 50 m by 50 Original Research Article Woodley and Diaz; ACRI, 12(1): 1-11, 2018; Article no.ACRI.39140 2 m which were differentially grazed by deer. The abundance of P. argus was found to be significantly higher in areas with high incidence of C. nippon and the best predictor of butterfly abundance was the abundance of L. niger ants rather than the abundance of butterfly larval food plants. We conclude that this result provides evidence for an important indirect impact of grazing via manipulating habitat suitability for a key mutualistic species

Heathland creation on improved grassland using sulphur: is there a conflict between optimal application rates for plant and animal communities?

We examined the effectiveness of using elemental sulphur (a soil acidifier) as a method for creating heathland on improved pasture. We determined i) optimal rate of sulphur application to control mesotrophic grasses ii) if invertebrates avoid areas of sulphur application. Results indicated that optimal sulphur application attracted invertebrates

Grassland habitat restoration: lessons learnt from long term monitoring of Swanworth Quarry, UK, 1997–2014

Habitat restoration projects are often conducted when prior use or extraction of natural resources results in land degradation. The success of restoration programmes, however, is variable, and studies that provide evidence of long term outcomes are valuable for evaluation purposes. This study focused on the restoration of vegetation within a limestone quarry in Dorset, UK between 1997 and 2014. Using a randomised block design, the effect of seed mix and seed rate on the development of community assemblage was investigated in comparison to a nearby target calcareous grassland site. We hypothesised that seed mix composition and sowing rate would influence both the trajectory of the grassland assemblage and final community composition. We found that species composition (in relation to both richness and community assemblage) was strongly influenced by time and to some extent by seed rate and seed mix. However, no treatments achieved strong resemblance to the calcareous grassland target vegetation; rather they resembled mesotrophic communities. We conclude that (as with previous studies) there is no “quick fix” for the establishment of a grassland community; long-term monitoring provides useful information on the trajectory of community development; sowing gets you something (in our case mesotrophic grassland), but, it may not be the target vegetation (e.g., calcicolous grassland) you want that is difficult to establish and regenerate; it is important to sow a diverse mix as subsequent recruitment opportunities are probably limited; post-establishment management should be explored further and carefully considered as part of a restoration project

Modifying soil chemistry to enhance heathland recreation: a use for sulphur captured during oil refining

The overall aim of this paper is to evaluate potential new modifications to methods for re-creating heathland habitats. Heathlands need acidic soils so the specific objectives are to evaluate the effectiveness of a new method for heathland re-creation by soil acidification using a sulphur soil amendment and to explore the benefits for re-creation of applying a soil stripping treatment in conjunction with soil acidification. A new source of sulphur was recovered from oil refinery towers and applied over agricultural sites covering a total of 13 ha on Trehill Farm, Marloes, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK in 2004. In the summer of 2011 we compared soil chemistry and plant communities on sites subjected to different sulphur treatments (sulphur applied to the existing soil surface and sulphur applied after top soil had been stripped) with those on an adjacent untreated control and on a nearby established heathland. Each of the four treatment sites and the control and heath site was surveyed using 10 random locations measuring 4m x 4m. The total above ground % cover was measured for each plant species and a bulk soil sample was taken in a ‘W’ shape from within each 4m x 4m quadrat. pH and all chemical parameters of the soil showed highly significant differences amongst the sampled sites (P>0.01 in all cases) and produced even greater abundance of ericaceous species on some of the treated sites than occurred in the established heath. However, soil stripping had no significant additional effect on either edaphic factors or plant species abundances. Sulphur recovered from oil refinery is a potentially useful tool in heathland re-creation, but soil stripping prior to sulphur amendment did not enhance success. We propose that sulphur application drives success through increasing H+ toxicity reducing the availability of base cations and creating Fe-induced Mn deficiency in plants

A desk review of the ecology of heather beetle

The heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis is a naturally occurring species in the heather dominated landscapes of the United Kingdom. When the heather beetle population density increases dramatically it can cause significant damage to heather plants. It has been suggested that burning heather outside the permitted heather-burning season will promote the regeneration of heather following heather beetle damage. There is also some discussion as to whether burning outside the permitted season might also help control heather beetle. For these reasons Natural England regularly receives applications for licences to burn outside the permitted season. However, burning at this time of year may have effects on a wide range of biodiversity. Therefore, Natural England commissioned this report, and (NEER009 - Desk review of burning and other management options for the control for heather beetle) to ensure the best available evidence is being used. This report is based on an extensive literature review to determine the current state of knowledge of the ecology of the heather beetle. Some of the older references, which appear to form the basis for much current thinking on the subject, are now out of print and were not accessible for this review. A flurry of work was published in the 1980s and early 1990s, but much of this was either: • based at the same experimental plots; • involved relatively low levels of replication; or • did not report heather beetle damage as a central focus of the work. More recently, there have been some PhDs quantifying the ecology of heather beetles in more detail, but these have rarely been published in the peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, current thinking may be influenced by out-of-date information and experimental work that does not truly back up the conclusions of authors. This makes it difficult both to confidently discern patterns over time in frequency and severity of attacks (such as might be caused by climate change or changing nutrient deposition loads) and to be certain which factors control population levels in most year’s at most heather-dominated sites. Much more, and higher quality, monitoring and experimental work needs to be carried out to be able to predict the likely population dynamics of this species under different scenarios. The potential for parasites and parasitoids to control population numbers is particularly worthwhile. More detailed spatial analyses based on citizen science records, combined with carefully designed laboratory studies, might also be used to more clearly elucidate the relationship between beetle numbers and climatic conditions, enabling prediction of the relative likelihood of outbreaks occurring in the future

Desk review of burning and other management options for the control for heather beetle (NEER009)

The heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis is a naturally occurring species in the heather dominated landscapes of the United Kingdom. When the heather beetle population density increases dramatically it can cause significant damage to heather plants. It has been suggested that burning heather outside the permitted heather-burning season will promote the regeneration of heather following heather beetle damage. There is also some discussion as to whether burning outside the permitted season might also help control heather beetle. For these reasons Natural England regularly receives applications for licences to burn outside the permitted season. However, burning at this time of year may have effects on a wide range of biodiversity. Therefore, Natural England commissioned this report, and (NEER008 - A desk review of the ecology of heather beetle) to ensure the best available evidence is being used. An extensive literature review was carried out to determine the effectiveness of burning and other management options in managing heather-dominated systems for the heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis. In general, the quantity of relevant studies was low, and the quality of most was also poor, with very low levels of replication and/or a lack of controls or comparators being very common. There are three potential ways that management could be used. The first way is to reduce the likelihood of outbreaks. There is currently no evidence that burning is useful for this, due to a lack of relevant studies. Other management options that could be considered to achieve this are biological control and drainage of wetter areas, as well as general moorland management such as mowing, rotovating and sod cutting. The second way that burning could be used is by burning infested areas to reduce the numbers of heather beetles present. There has been some discussion as to whether it would be necessary to do this outside the current burning season, but there is currently no reliable evidence available to show whether this is effective, nor a cost-benefit analysis to take account of the additional risks of burning during the summer months. This is again due to a total lack of relevant studies. Other management options at this stage are to use insecticides on the affected areas, but there are also risks associated with this and again there is a lack of evidence as to how effective it would be. The potential for biocontrol at this stage has also not yet been explored. The third way is in encouraging regeneration of damaged areas. The available evidence for this is generally poor quality, and there is some suggestion that management techniques other than burning might be more effective at encouraging regrowth. In addition, some sites have been observed to regenerate naturally, in the absence of management, so there is a question as to whether management is necessary. Some trials are currently under way in Scotland and the Peak District with the aim of determining which management techniques are best for restoring damaged heather, but again the level of replication and lack of control areas appears to be a problem. The following are recommended in order to be better able to advise managers in the future: • Management actions should be carefully monitored so as to establish the effects of decisions (including whether to burn out of season or not). This monitoring should use properly designed experiments with adequate levels of replication and control plots. The effectiveness of management in controlling heather beetles and the effects on biodiversity as a whole and on ecosystem functioning should all be recorded. • Further research should be undertaken into the relationship between the heather beetle and its natural enemies. • Further research should be undertaken into the other factors that might affect the likelihood of outbreaks occurring

El leasing financiero y su incidencia en la situación económica y financiera de la empresa Transportes Pedrito S.A.C Distrito de Trujillo. Año 2016

En la actualidad las empresas se enfrentan a un mundo cada vez más competitivo que se manifiesta en la conformación de bloques económicos para dar respuesta a una demanda más exigente y a un mayor control tributario. En este mundo económico el leasing se inserta en el mercado como una técnica de financiamiento de las empresas complementaria a las tradicionales, debemos subrayar que el leasing no nace con el objeto de reemplazar a las clásicas fórmulas de financiamiento si no, es un valioso aporte a las empresas para hacer frente a problemas difíciles de solucionar a través de los acostumbrados negocios de créditos. En el presente trabajo de investigación se realizó la aplicación del leasing financiero y su incidencia en la situación económica de la empresa Transportes Pedrito S.A.C. Durante la evaluación económica y financiera antes de la aplicación del leasing financiero se comprobó un bajo nivel de liquidez y un porcentaje elevado en sus cuentas comerciales por pagar. Se realizó la aplicación del leasing financiero, operando una tasa de interés del 16.14% efectiva anual con el Banco de Crédito del Perú, con una deuda ascendente a S/. 457,638.47 (Cuatrocientos cincuenta y siete mil seiscientos treinta y ocho y 47/100 Nuevos Soles) por pagar. En la comparación financiera de la empresa durante los años 2015 y 2019 se obtuvo como resultado el incremento del 0.63% al 5.55% de liquidez, esto gracias a la adquisición de una unidad de transporte bajo la modalidad de la aplicación del leasing financiero.Today companies face an increasingly competitive world that is manifested in the formation of economic blocs to respond a demand and to greater tax control. In this economic world leasing is inserted into the market as a financing technique of complementary companies to traditional, we must emphasize that the leasing is not born with the aim to replace the traditional formulas, if not a valuable contribution to practical to cope with difficult problems to solve through the usual lending business. In this research described the application of financial leasing and its impact in the economic situation of the company Transportes Pedrito S.A.C. During the economic and financial evaluation before of the application of financial leasing, it was found a low level of liquidity and a high percentage in trade payables. The application of financial leasing was made, managing a annual interest rate of 16.14% effective with Banco de Crédito del Peru, with a rising debt S /. 457,638.47 (Four hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred thirty-eight and 47/100 Soles) payable. In the financial comparison of the company during the years 2015 and 2019 was obtained as a result increased 0.63% to 5.55% liquidity, this thanks to the acquisition of a transport unit in the form of the application of financial leasing