"Born out of Crisis": an analysis of moorland management agreements on Exmoor; final report

The designation of Exmoor National Park in 1954 recognised the importance of the open character of much of the area and, in particular, its moorland to that natural heritage of the UK. However, the moorland that the park was charged with maintaining and enhancing was soon under threat and the following years saw extensive moorland loss and the fragmentation of remaining moorland (Lowe et al, 1986). The ensuing moorland conflict and debate eventually lead Exmoor NPA, in collaboration with farmers, land owners, the CLA and NFU to pioneer a new system of moorland management agreements. Indeed, for a short time, Exmoor was the only location operating wholly voluntary management agreements (Brotherton, 1990). Only two agreements now remain and in the twenty-five years since their inception much has changed. Once castigated for their "theft of the countryside" (Shoard, 1980), many farmers now work in partnership with statutory and non-statutory organisations as 'stewards' of the countryside. The purpose of this chapter is to review the policy and economic changes affecting farming over this time and to review the development of Exmoor moorland management agreements.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Dispersal of Calluna vulgaris(L.) Hull. seeds on a severly burnt upland moorland

From natural and manipulated experiments at 460 m a.s.l., traps were used to record the dispersal range of Calluna vulgaris seeds on an unvegetated post-wildfire site. Seeds were trapped to 50 m from source, although most (73%) were deposited within one metre of the parent plant. C. vulgaris seeds were not dispersed as far in these experiments as recorded in previous workers’ experiments on lowland grassland

A decade of studies at Loch Fleet, Galloway (Scotland): A catchment liming project and restoration of a brown trout fishery

Loch Fleet is a small upland lake in the hills of Galloway in southwest Scotland. In the 1970s the waters of the loch became more acidic and a brown trout fishery failed. This account summarises an experimental project, the "Loch Fleet Project" initiated in 1984, designed to reverse acidification of the loch by liming parts of the catchment. Liming about 40% of the catchment in 1986 and 1987 raised the pH and calcium levels, and reduced toxic aluminium concentrations. The improved conditions had been maintained up to 1994, but water in the loch, and its principal inflow stream, is now falling close to the desired threshold of quality. After liming, restocking with local strains of trout in 1987 was successful, and a self-recruiting population became established within 2 years. Recruitment is highly variable, however, and was attributed to severe spring conditions and the limited spawning capacity of the nursery stream, rather than to water quality

Artificial drainage of peatlands: hydrological and hydrochemical process and wetland restoration

Peatlands have been subject to artificial drainage for centuries. This drainage has been in response to agricultural demand, forestry, horticultural and energy properties of peat and alleviation of flood risk. However, the are several environmental problems associated with drainage of peatlands. This paper describes the nature of these problems and examines the evidence for changes in hydrological and hydrochemical processes associated with these changes. Traditional black-box water balance approaches demonstrate little about wetland dynamics and therefore the science of catchment response to peat drainage is poorly understood. It is crucial that a more process-based approach be adopted within peatland ecosystems. The environmental problems associated with peat drainage have led, in part, to a recent reversal in attitudes to peatlands and we have seen a move towards wetland restoration. However, a detailed understanding of hydrological, hydrochemical and ecological process-interactions will be fundamental if we are to adequately restore degraded peatlands, preserve those that are still intact and understand the impacts of such management actions at the catchment scale

Ascertaining the nature and timing of mire degradation : using palaeoecology to assist future conservation management in Northern England

This study was initiated under contract VT0419 from English Nature (Natural England) to CECQR. In 2015, additional funding was provided by the Yorkshire Peat Partnership, for 210Pb dating, to refine age–depth estimates. We thank the following for fieldwork co-ordination, logistics or field assistance: Miriam Baynes, Mike Sutcliffe, Martin Furness, Gez Marshall, Paul Duncan, Tim Page, Andrew Windrum, Craig Sandham and Jackie Smith. We thank the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for suggestions for improvements.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Landscape influence on small-scale water temperature variations in a moorland catchment

Acknowledgements Iain Malcolm and staff at Marine Scotland (Pitlochry) are thanked for the provision of data from the AWS. Finally, the two anonymous reviewers are greatly acknowledged for their constructive comments.Peer reviewedPostprin

The origin of fault scarps & fissures on moorland plateaux & in the vicinity of landslides, in the South Wales Coalfield, UK

Fault scarps and fissures occur on moorland plateaux and in the vicinity of deep-seated landslides in the South Wales Coalfield, UK. These scarps may reach about 4 m in height and 3-4 km in length. The ages of the fault scarps and fissures are difficult to determine. Their relatively fresh and unweathered appearance would seem to suggest they were generated during subsidence as a result of coal mining which has taken place for some 150 years. However, their large magnitude, which make them dramatic features of the landscape, sets them apart from the much lesser features generated during coal mining subsidence in other UK coalfields. Some fault scarps seem to pre-date Ordnance Survey and British Geological Survey maps from the late 1800s-early 1900s. As total extraction (longwall) methods associated with fault reactivation had yet to develop widely at that time it is probable that mining subsidence alone could not have generated such distinct topographic features. The paper reviews the evidence of analogous non-mining fault steps and fissuring, mine abandonment plans and recent fissure treatment works to cast new light on the origin and development of these features. A conceptual model to demonstrate the causative mechanisms and evolution of fissures is also presented. The paper concludes that some fault steps and fissures developed in response to stress relief caused by deglaciation and periglacial activity and have subsequently undergone a later phase of development as a consequence of differential mining subsidence

Scoping biological indicators of soil quality Phase II. Defra Final Contract Report SP0534

This report presents results from a field assessment of a limited suite of potential biological indicators of soil quality to investigate their suitability for national-scale soil monitoring