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Site Management
Before
starting to manage a site for nature conservation you must first
consider existing factors on the site. Physical factors include
climate, weather, geology, soils, fertility, aspect and water supply.
Biological factors include existing species, habitats and communities
and those species, habitats and communities in the local vicinity
existing in similar physical conditions. It is always better to ‘work
with nature’. You should also consider past and present management of
the site and have clear and achievable aims and objectives.
The main ecological processes you need to consider in habitat
management are succession and disturbance but there are other issues
such as fertility of the site, vegetation structure, competition and
the ability of species to disperse which need to be considered too.
Succession and Disturbance
Succession
is the natural process of change from an area devoid of life to a
stable climax community. Over most of the UK the climax community is
deciduous woodland and many other communities are the result of the
halting of succession by management. Examples are heathland, wetlands
and grasslands. If you visit a heathland, wetland or grassland that is
under-managed you will see birch and willow scrub appearing.
Disturbance retards the dominant competitors and opens up gaps for
regeneration. The balance needs to be right. With little disturbance
succession will occur and eventually will result in a reduction of
species (you will see few annuals or biennials for instance),
considerable disturbance will also result in a reduction of species
(e.g. a worn footpath), but with an intermediate amount of disturbance
there will be the highest number of species. The need for monitoring
your management is obviously vital to this process.
Natural disturbance occurs, for example, by erosion and flooding in
coastal and river systems, by trees falling and deer grazing in
woodlands. Human disturbance includes such activities as mowing,
cutting, coppicing, burning, grazing and ploughing.
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