British Wildlife 05.2 December 1993

Habitat management news

If unmanaged, dykes within grazing marshes may virtually disappear, being reduced to faint depressions. Work by Steve Harris at Gressingham, Norfolk, shows that the dyke network may be re-created with positive results. A 360° tracked excavator was used to dig out dykes along their previous positions, as shown by remnant hollows and old photographs. A diverse flora has regenerated, including marginal species such as Leser Spearwort, Ranunculus flammula, Ragged-robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil, Lotus pendunculatus, Water Mint, Mentha aquatica, Fen Bedstraw, Galium uliginosum, Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, and Marsh Thistle, Cirsium palustre, and aquatic species including Water Plantain, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Water Starworts, Callitriche spp., Broad-leaved Pondweed, Potamogeton natans, and Stonewort, Chara sp.

Twitcher in the Swamp Conservation news
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