McCollin 2000 Editorial: Hedgerow policy and protection—changing paradigms and the conservation ethic (original) (raw)
Related papers
Contemporary themes in hedgerow research in the UK
Hedgerows are an important element of the landscape both as a habitat and as a visual component contributing to the character of the countryside. The aim of this paper is to identify key areas of contemporary research into hedgerows in the UK, to assess progress being made in each area, and to highlight areas that need more attention. Key themes were extracted from Barr et al. (1995) and recent papers were assigned to eleven distinct groupings. Two areas were found to have had the most published papers: 'autecological studies' and 'landscape ecology'. Recommendations for future areas of research include the need for a national classification of hedgerow vegetation, long-term large-scale studies on the effects of management and different restoration techniques, and research into population dynamics at the landscape-scale including that into the role of hedgerows as supplementary woodland habitat and as movement corridors.
Hedgerows: An international perspective on their origin, function and management
Journal of Environmental Management, 2000
A framework for the ecological study of hedgerows is given, before a short review of problems relating to their definition. Hedgerows have developed in response to the inherent physical and biological character of the region concerned, in conjunction with cultural factors. Traditionally, hedgerows were an important source of wood as well as other products, although such functions are in decline in many regions. They still have an important role in the landscape for soil protection and act as barriers and boundaries between management units. Although the closed landscapes of the Atlantic fringe, termed 'bocage' are often considered as the core of hedgerow distribution, there are many other regions, not only in Europe, but also elsewhere in the world with equally dense networks. It is concluded that a review of their distribution would be of great interest for the design of appropriate policies for landscape management and conservation of hedgerows. Such regions show marked differences in hedgerow character, species composition and the type of management and there is a degree of convergence between them. The diversity of hedgerows stems from their multiple origins and includes their role in the landscape, as well as their contribution to biodiversity and function. It is emphasised that hedgerows have often changed roles in history and current regulations for their protection must be based on sound science and a precise definition of their role and contribution to social objectives.
Applied Vegetation Science
Questions: How did hedgerows and forests change in area between 1974 and 2015 and did hedgerows still show the same vegetation composition in 2015? To what degree did the vegetation change in hedgerows and how do these changes compare to changes in forests? What is the nature of the species that changed and, from these, can we make general inferences about possible drivers of change? Location: The countryside in the municipality of Turnhout, province of Antwerp, northern Belgium. Methods: Through a resurvey of 54 and 20 quasi-permanent plots in hedgerows and forests, respectively, we investigated shifts in the herb layer over the period 1974-2015. The plot-level mean Ellenberg Indicator Values (EIVs) were calculated and soil samples were taken in 2015. We compared diversity statistics and used GLMM to detect trends in species richness (SR) and EIVs. Via a NMDS-ordination based on the Sørensen dissimilarity, we compared shifts at the community level. Results: Our study shows severe, however opposite changes in SR in forests and hedgerows. In forests, SR declined and a homogenization occurred. The shifts in EIVs indicate that forest vegetation evolved to more shade tolerant and nutrient demanding species, likely due to eutrophication combined with natural forest succession. In hedgerows, SR significantly increased. The species pool became more diverse and more heterogeneous. Changes in EIVs suggest a change towards more light demanding species, possibly caused by fragmentation of the network, and towards species indicative for nutrient rich habitats, benefiting from eutrophication. Conclusions: In general, SR in hedgerows is higher than in forests in our studied region, being a suitable habitat for a wide range of plant species in the countryside.
Biodiversity value of urban hedges
The Ecology of Hedgerows and Field Margins, 2019
Rural hedges are ubiquitous features in the British landscape and are recognised for their biological, cultural and aesthetic importance. Hedges are also present in urban settings; as relicts of previously farmed landscapes and as planted boundaries. Relatively little is known about their composition, spatial distribution nor their biodiversity value to our cities. This thesis responds to this knowledge gap by evaluating the ecological value of urban hedges in the UK with a focus on their use by birds, small mammals and insects. The research involved habitat surveys undertaken in the city of Stoke-on-Trent (2015 – 2017) to collect data including: hedge species and physical structure, surrounding land-use and floral composition of verges. Associated field surveys of birds, insects and small mammals were also completed. In addition to the ecological assessment, a photographic perception study was conducted to investigate the public perceptions of Stoke-on-Trent’s hedges. This sought t...
Differences between urban and rural hedges in England revealed by a citizen science project
BMC ecology, 2016
Hedges are both ecologically and culturally important and are a distinctive feature of the British landscape. However the overall length of hedges across Great Britain is decreasing. Current challenges in studying hedges relate to the dominance of research on rural, as opposed to urban, hedges, and their variability and geographical breadth. To help address these challenges and to educate the public on the importance of hedge habitats for wildlife, in 2010 the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) programme coordinated a hedge-focused citizen science survey. Results from 2891 surveys were analysed. Woody plant species differed significantly between urban and rural areas. Beech, Holly, Ivy, Laurel, Privet and Yew were more commonly recorded in urban hedges whereas Blackthorn, Bramble, Dog Rose, Elder and Hawthorn were recorded more often in rural hedges. Urban and rural differences were shown for some groups of invertebrates. Ants, earwigs and shieldbugs were recorded more frequently in urban...
Hedgerows As Corridors for Woodland Plants: a Test on the Po Plain, Northern Italy
2007
The use of hedgerows as corridors for forest vascular species has been widely studied, but only in humid oceanic and continental climates; no replicated trials have ever been performed on corridor function. Given these premises, a study was done on the eastern Po Plain, in a transition area between the Temperate (Eurosiberian) and Mediterranean climatic zones, adopting the same sample shape and dimensions as a North-American study [Corbit et al. (1999) J Ecol 87:220–232]. The following research questions were posed: (1) how common are forest species in hedgerows? (2) do origin, isolation, distance from source, width and adjacent land-use factors correlate with the frequency of forest species? (3) are hedgerows corridors for forest species? To address these, three functional types of hedgerows, identified by comparing old aerial-photos, were sampled: remnant attached (n = 12) and remnant isolated (n = 6) with respect to the nearest woodland and regenerated attached (n = 4). If wooded patches were a source for hedgerows, then regenerated hedgerows should be more similar to an adjacent woodland than an isolated remnant. A 900 m2 circular plot in woodlands and an adjacent 90-m transect along hedgerows were sampled for the presence and cover of all plant species, then 39 woodland taxa were selected. Significant differences between the three hedgerow types emerged in forest species richness, but not in cover. The forest species composition in both remnant and regenerated attached hedgerows showed a strong affinity with the adjacent stand, implying a dispersal process from woodland (source) to regenerated hedgerows (sink). A distance effect on forest species distribution clearly linked to a corridor function was found only in regenerated hedgerows, while in the remnant attached ones, even with a composition similar to that of the nearest woodland source, other additional factors cannot be ignored to explain the fine scale distribution of forest species. The cover of the most common ant-dispersed species showed a similar distance effect while vertebrate-dispersed ones did not show any significant trend with distance from woodlands. Habitat suitability for forest species was affected by width, especially in hedges wider than 12 m, but not by adjacent land use.
McCollin et al 2000 Hedgerows as habitat for woodland plants JEM
Hedgerows as habitat for woodland plants
For hedgerows to act as corridors for woodland plants they must provide habitat conditions to suit species' autecological requirements. This supposition was tested by examining differences in the habitat and autecological characteristics of woodland plants according to their relative frequency in hedgerows and woodlands using a novel Habitat Preference Index (HPI). Indicator values for habitat and autecological characteristics of plant species were derived from Ellenberg and other published sources. Analyses were done separately for three main types of landscape in which hedgerows are found in Britain: (1) Lowland Arable; (2) Lowland Pastural; and (3) Marginal Upland. The relative frequency of plant species across all three landscape types was similar and significant differences between HPIs and environmental indicators were found for all three landscape types. Plants more frequently found in hedgerows had significantly higher indicator scores for soil fertility, temperature, continentality together with reduced soil acidity, in comparison to those species more frequent in woodlands. Analyses of autecological indicators failed to show similar consistent trends across landscape types except for the number of woodland types of the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) in which species occur. Plants more frequently found in hedgerows were associated with fewer woodland communities suggesting that hedgerows contain only a narrow range of recognised woodland NVC stand types. Also, a significantly higher proportion of ancient woodland indicators were found in the group of plants that were more frequent in woodlands. Overall, results suggested that the environments of hedgerows are more similar to woodland edges than interiors. Qualitative differences between the environmental characteristics of hedgerows and woodlands are such that certain woodland plant species are highly likely to be limited in their capacity to use hedgerow networks. Implications for conservation of biodiversity are considered.