Grassland Restoration and Management (Conservation Handbooks)

✍ Scribed by David Blakesley, Peter Buckley

• Publisher: Pelagic Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 287
• Category: Library

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Preliminaries
Title Page
1. Grassland character and communities
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The origins of semi-natural dry grassland communities
1.3 Dry grassland succession
1.3.1 Primary succession
1.3.2 Secondary succession
1.4 Semi-natural dry grassland types
1.4.1 Lowland calcareous grassland
1.4.2 Lowland dry acid grassland
1.4.3 Lowland meadows (mesotrophic grasslands)
1.4.4 Upland calcareous grassland
1.4.5 Upland hay meadows
1.5 Specialised semi-natural dry grassland types
1.5.1 Calaminarian grasslands
1.5.2 Machair
1.5.3 Limestone pavements
1.6 Dry grassland scrub communities
1.6.1 Lowland communities
1.6.2 Upland communities
1.7 Semi-improved dry pastures and meadows
2. Grassland wildlife
2.1 Invertebrates
2.1.1 Butterflies
2.1.2 Implications for management
2.2 Birds
2.2.1 Lowland birds
2.2.2 Upland birds
2.2.3 Conservation
2.2.4 Implications for management
2.3 Reptiles and amphibians
2.3.1 Reptiles
2.3.2 Amphibians
2.4 Mammals
2.4.1 Bats
2.5 Fungi
2.5.1 Macrofungi
2.6 Assessing the conservation value of a site
2.6.1 Phase 1 habitat survey
2.6.2 Wildlife surveys
3. Semi-natural dry grassland management
3.1 Grazing
3.1.1 Livestock species and breeds
3.1.2 Cattle
3.1.3 Sheep
3.1.4 Horses and ponies
3.1.5 Stocking density
3.1.6 Timing and duration of grazing
3.1.7 Animal management
3.1.8 Grazing by Rabbits
3.2 Cutting
3.2.1 Cutting methods
3.2.2 Timing
3.2.3 Cutting and aftermath grazing
3.2.4 Cutting to replace grazing
3.2.5 Combined cutting and grazing regimes
3.3 Weeds and herbicides
3.3.1 Non-chemical control
3.3.2 Chemical control
3.3.3 Common Ragwort control
3.3.4 Bracken control
3.3.5 Control of other species
3.4 Scrub management
3.4.1 Assessment
3.4.2 Management techniques
3.5 Fertiliser application
3.5.1 Farmyard manure
3.5.2 Lime
4. Grassland restoration: threats and challenges
4.1 Threats to semi-natural dry grassland communities
4.1.1 Agricultural improvement and land conversion
4.1.2 Lowering soil fertility
4.1.3 Habitat deterioration
4.2 Climate change and dry grassland
4.2.1 Climate change in Britain
4.2.2 Impacts on grassland habitats and wildlife
4.3 Challenges in dry grassland restoration
4.4 Limits to natural colonisation
4.4.1 Impoverished seed banks
4.4.2 Limited dispersal opportunities
4.4.3 Missing trophic levels
4.5 Assessing hydrological and topographic constraints
5. Opportunities in grassland restoration
5.1 Conservation of semi-natural dry grassland habitats
5.2 Opportunities for dry grassland restoration
5.3 Reinstating traditional management
5.3.1 Grazing effects
5.3.2 Cutting effects
5.3.3 Influences of restoration management on sward diversity
5.3.4 Impacts of restoration management on invertebrates
5.4 Site limitations and solutions
5.4.1 Fallowing
5.4.2 Plant and animal offtake
5.4.3 Chemical manipulation
5.4.4 Immobilisation
5.4.5 Reinstating soil communities
6. Plant material for dry grassland restoration
6.1 Surveying the restoration site
6.1.1 Soil analysis
6.1.2 Vegetation
6.2 Surveying reference sites
6.3 Selecting plant material
6.3.1 Use of ecological traits
6.3.2 Complex or simple mixtures?
6.3.3 Hemiparasites: Yellow-rattle
6.4 Sourcing plant materials
6.4.1 Nursery production
6.4.2 Wild harvesting
6.4.3 Adverse impacts of seed collection
6.5 Sowing and the role of soil disturbance
6.6 Sowing practice
6.6.1 Sowing mechanics
6.6.2 Complete and partial sowing
6.6.3 Arable reversion and grassland enhancement protocols
6.6.4 Transplants
7. Defining success in grassland restoration
7.1 Plant introductions
7.2 Preparation for sowing
7.3 Management techniques
7.4 Long-term vegetation development
7.5 Cost-effectiveness in restoration
7.6 Monitoring success