Sussex Wetland Conference: Margaret Pilkington
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Transcript of Sussex Wetland Conference: Margaret Pilkington
The restoration of species-rich floodplain meadows andwashlands in the Ouse
Margaret Pilkington with Will Pilfold, Andrew Holmes, Nick Steer, Jacqui Hutson and Christine ZaniewickaCCE, University of Sussex
The River Ouse ProjectAim: restoration of flower-rich grassland along the river Ouse in Sussex
The River Ouse Project
Aim: restoration of flower-rich grassland along the river Ouse in Sussex
Ecological survey combined
with historical land-use research (both documents and oral history)
Picture of meadow grasslandbefore agricultural improvement
through to present-day
To inform restoration decisions
Species-rich MeadowsMG5 Crested dogstail – Common knapweed grassland
Cultivation and fieldnames as recorded at Tithe Apportionment Survey (researched by Nick Steer).
G re at R ac ks w oo dG re at R ac ks w oo d
Soles C oppice
Nort hlands wood
Seyron Wood
Long Wood
Li tt le Sion Wood
Furl and Wood
Sands Wood 1
Sands Wood 2
SF2
Great W et Wood
Darv e l Wood
Roc k y W oodSharp' s H anger
Paiges Wood
Furnac e Wood
Hendal l Wood
Reeding's W ood
1
2
3
4
5
12 3
4
Shortbridge Stream
Brown's Brook
Annwood Brook
Cockhaise Brook
Danehill Brook
Cob Brook Hook Ghyll
River Ouse
Scrase Stream
River Ouse
Ardingly reservoir
Tickerage
Uck
Heron's Ghyll
Uck
Barcombe
N
Stream System in Upper Ouse
Connected Landscape of flower-rich grasslandalong Cockhaise Brook in Upper Ouse.
Species-rich Meadows
• Biodiversity Action Plan target habitat
Species-rich Meadows• Biodiversity Action Plan target habitat
• But they have gone on vanishing
Species-rich Meadows• Biodiversity Action Plan target habitat
• But they have gone on vanishing
97% species-rich grassland lost since 1930.(Natural England, 2011. Lost Life.)
Species-rich Meadows• Biodiversity Action Plan target habitat
• But they have gone on vanishing
• Value?
Species-rich Meadows• Biodiversity Action Plan target habitat
• But they have gone on vanishing
• Value?
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem ServicesEcosystem Services: “the benefits provided by
ecosystems that contribute to making human life both
possible and worth living” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005).
Ecosystem ServicesEcosystem Services: “the benefits provided by
ecosystems that contribute to making human life both
possible and worth living” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005).
For streamside meadows:
Wildflowers and pollinators
Cultivation and fieldnames as recorded at Tithe Apportionment Survey (researched by Nick Steer).
Cockhaise Brook
Caseford Bottomon Cockhaise Brook
Cockhaise Brook
Caseford Bottomon Cockhaise Brook
Broad Mead, Sheffield Park
Meadow grassland
River Ouse
Broad Mead, Sheffield Park
Rush area
Meadow grassland
River Ouse
• flood for 2-3 days
• are ideal for flood alleviation because they quickly become available to store water again
• were hay meadows
• have free-draining soil
Flash Washlands on the Sussex Ouse:
“Two days after … I’ve drove a tractor over it and you wouldn’t see where I’ve been.”
(farmer interviewed by Andrew Holmes in 2007)
Ecosystem ServicesEcosystem Services: “the benefits provided by
ecosystems that contribute to making human life both
possible and worth living” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005).
For streamside meadows:
Wildflowers and pollinators
Flood alleviation
Detailed NVC surveys on over 80 sites
Iron Gates
Iron Gates
Iron Gates lock
boundary Sheffield Park
river Ouse
Broad Mead
Sheffield Park
Sheffield Park Garden
Pro je ct ar ea. sh pOu se 3.s hp
0.4 0 0.4 0.8 Miles
N
Sheffield Park riverside meadows
1816 Estate Map
Cultivation and fieldnames as recorded at Tithe Apportionment Survey 1840-1 (researched by Nick Steer).
“The Iron Gates, in my day [1948-1974]
we always made hay…Because the
grass there was a very fine grass and
made beautiful soft hay, very suitable
for feeding to calves.” (97 year old farmer interviewed by Andrew Holmes in 2007)
“When I came here, the Iron Gates was full of cowslips and as soon as I applied some fertiliser, the cowslips disappeared completely and have never come back.”
(97 year old farmer interviewed by Andrew Holmes in 2007)
Grassland Vegetation Diagram (adapted from NVC)
flower-rich hay meadow (MG5)Knapweed – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates pre-1949
semi-improved grassland (MG6)Ryegrass – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates 1949-
chemicalfertiliser
Iron Gates… is incredibly free draining….we weren’t allowed to plough as part of the tenancy …. But what we did do back in, must have been 1998, …we actually burnt off the grass ….and direct-drilled grass seed in because the productivity of the grass wasn’t very great. It made great hay, but I didn’t want to make hay I wanted silage.
(farmer’s son interviewed by Andrew Holmes in 2007)
Grassland Vegetation Diagram (adapted from NVC)
flower-rich hay meadow (MG5)Knapweed – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates pre-1949
semi-improved grassland (MG6)Ryegrass – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates 1949-1998
chemicalfertiliser
sown agricultural grassland (MG7)Ryegrass leys Iron Gates 1998
re-seeded
Came really well ... and then we had the
floods of 2000…, and that killed most of it
off and it was very patchy thereafter.
Whereas the bit that hadn’t been
reseeded recovered ‘cos it was obviously
used to being under water.(farmer’s son interviewed by Andrew Holmes in 2007)
View of Iron Gates looking north-east, December 2007
River Ouse
Iron Gates about to flood, 6 December 2009
Iron Gates floodedJanuary 2009
Grassland Vegetation Diagram (adapted from NVC)
flower-rich hay meadow (MG5)Knapweed – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates pre-1949
semi-improved grassland (MG6)Ryegrass – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates 1949-1998
chemicalfertiliser
sown agricultural grassland (MG7)Ryegrass leys Iron Gates 1998
re-seeded
MG7d Ryegrass – Meadow foxtail
Iron Gates 2007Ryegrass >10% coverBent grass constantMG5 species present
Grassland Vegetation Diagram (adapted from NVC)
flower-rich hay meadow (MG5)Knapweed – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates pre-1949
semi-improved grassland (MG6)Ryegrass – Crested dogstail grasslandIron Gates 1949-1998
chemicalfertiliser
sown agricultural grassland (MG7)Ryegrass leys Iron Gates 1998
re-seeded
MG7d Ryegrass – Meadow foxtail
Iron Gates 2007Ryegrass >10% coverBent grass constantSome MG5 spp present
Enhancement with wildflowerplugs and seed
Putting back the meadow flowers
plant plugs?
or
wildflower
seed?
Putting back themeadow flowers
National Trust at Sheffield Park
Weald Landscape Trust
Kew at Wakehurst
CCE, University of Sussex
Total Area:70m by 120m
Conclusions from 2 years of field trial
Plugs not seed:birdsfoot trefoilselfhealragged robin
Seed OK:yarrowcowslipoxeye
Cowslip plug 6 December 2009
Conclusions from 2 years of field trial
Plugs not seed:birdsfoot trefoilselfhealragged robin
Seed OK:yarrowcowslipoxeye
Common knapweed? - may be slow to germinate
Restoring 20 hectaresof washland meadowalong the river Ouse
Esmee Fairburn
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Kew at Wakehurst
Weald Landscape Trust
CCE, University of Sussex
Restoring 20 hectaresof washland meadowalong the river Ouse
Esmee Fairburn
4 sites
Wildflower seed collected by Kew
6,000 plugs grown from this seed
10% of each site planted and sown
Green hay to be spread
Plug-planting in Iron Gates West22 September 2011
Sowing WMI seed in Buckham Hill Brooks4 November 2011
Future Work:
Plugs for difficult species Flood alleviation for Uckfield
And what about the otherSussex Rivers?
Special thanks to our survey volunteers without whom this research would not have been possible:Frank BidnallPeter Heeley Shirley JonesSuzie LockyerMike LuscombeJennie MartenLeonie MercerMichael Nailard Frances Parrish Robin PepperFabae ProdgerJohn Prodger Helen Proctor Sue Rubinstein Shirley SiemsPauline Trotter Janet WirdnamJon Wood
and The Leverhulme Trustfor funding us from 2006-2008