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The manipulation of vegetation field and field margin vegetation structure in intensively managed UK cattle grazed pasture systems: Implications for invertebrate biodiversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

B. A. Woodcock ,
S. G. Potts ,
S. R. Mortimer ,
C. S. Lawson ,
A. J.Ramsay ,
V. K. Brown  and
J. R. Tallowin
B. A. Woodcock*
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
S. G. Potts
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
S. R. Mortimer
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
C. S. Lawson
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
A. J.Ramsay
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
V. K. Brown
Affiliation:
CAER, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK
J. R. Tallowin
Affiliation:
IGER, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB, U.K.
*
Email: B.A.Woodcock@reading.ac.uk
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Extract

Changing management in UK lowland pasture systems has lead to larger fertiliser inputs, increased intensity and frequency of cutting and a movement towards silage rather than hay based systems. This has lead to changes in both floral diversity and the seasonal characteristics of sward architectural complexity, which include the loss of key vegetation structures at critical times of the year. e.g., seed heads. This has had large impacts on invertebrate communities in pasture systems and is thought to be the cause of large-scale declines in both the abundances and diversity of invertebrates (Duffey et al., 1974). This decline in invertebrate abundance has also been linked to a concomitant decline in farmland bird populations reliant on invertebrates as a food sources (Vickery et al., 2001). By manipulating cattle grazing, cutting and fertiliser regimes in intensively managed pasture systems the role of vegetation structure for a variety of invertebrate communities has been investigated.

Type
Poster Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2005 , 2005 , pp. 231
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2005

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References

Duffey, E., Morris., M.G., Sheail, J., Ward., L.K., Wells., D.A., and Wells., T.C.E., 1974. Grassland Ecology and Wildlife Management. Chapman & Hall, London.Google Scholar
Vickery., J.A., Tallowin., J.R., Feber., R.E., Asteraki., E.J., Atkinson., P.W., Fuller., R.J., and Brown., V.K., 2001. The management of lowland neutral grasslands in Britain: effects of agricultural practices on birds and their food resources. Journal of Applied Ecology, 42: 647–664.Google Scholar