| Titre : |
New priorities for arable plant conservation |
| Type de document : |
Électronique |
| Auteurs : |
Kate Still, Auteur ; Andrew Byfield, Auteur |
| Editeur : |
Salisbury : Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity |
| Année de publication : |
2007 |
| Importance : |
20 p. |
| ISBN/ISSN/EAN : |
978-1-904749-71-4 |
| Langues : |
Anglais (eng) |
| Catégories : |
[CBNPMP-Thématique] Messicole
|
| Résumé : |
Arable flora is the most threatened group of plants in Britain today. From being a commonplace element of the farmed landscape, and indeed the bane of farmers’ lives in past decades, modern agricultural techniques have brought many species to the verge of extinction. Fifty-four species are considered rare or threatened, whilst seven species are extinct in the arable setting. Far from being opportunistic weeds, cropping up wherever ploughed land exists, increasingly, the complexity of arable plant communities is being recognised. For example, no fewer than 48 different arable communities have been identified, reflecting subtle variations in soil, aspect and climate, whilst many rarer arable plant species show a high fidelity to certain historic areas. Late in the day, conservationists have focused conservation attention on the arable landscape, recognising the precarious state of many characteristic farmland plants, insects and birds. From the plant perspective, it is encouraging to note that even the rarest of arable species often respond well to sympathetic management. Over ten thousand plants each of Cotswold Pennycress and Broad-leaved Cudweed appeared in Worcestershire and Kent respectively, within just a few months of sympathetic farming without herbicides: these are amongst our rarest arable species, confined to a handful of UK sites and both fully protected by law. Nature conservation policies now potentially provide the mechanisms through which effective arable plant conservation could be achieved. The UK Government’s Arable Field Margin Habitat Action Plan (HAP) seeks to expand the area of cultivated, unsprayed field margin in England by an additional 4,619 hectares to 10,000 hectares by 2010. On the ground, the new Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) scheme offers farmers a range of management options that could provide a sustainable future for our most valued arable plant communities and species. Plantlife’s Arable Plants Project has been monitoring the effectiveness of arable plant conservation over the past two years, and through a scheme run in partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) has been implementing a programme to conserve key sites in five counties. But increasingly the project has been concerned that conservation effort is not being directed most cost effectively. This report highlights a number of issues of current concern to Plantlife, of which the key areas are: Poor uptake of options: For financial reasons, Entry Level Stewardship is proving popular amongst the farming community, and uptake has generally been good. However, each applicant is free to choose the most appropriate management options, often opting for boundary options (such as hedgerow and ditch management), whilst uptake for key infield arable plant options has been low. Relatively low payment levels compared with the management input required for key uncropped cultivated margins has further discouraged widespread uptake. Poor awareness about arable plants: Rare arable plants continue to suffer from poor awareness amongst landowners, industry professionals and policy makers, and accordingly this low profile means that farmers are often unwilling to manage their land for ‘weed’ conservation. Matters are exacerbated by perceptions about less desirable, pernicious weed species that can ‘infest’ land managed for the conservation of rarer, more delicate growing species. Use of sown conservation mixes: Farmland birds have been chosen as a biodiversity indicator for the health of the arable environment but the widespread and popular use of sown birdseed and pollen and nectar mixes – often utilising non-native species – has ‘artificially’ favoured bird populations yet without necessarily improving the overall biodiversity of the farmed landscape. There is an urgent need to focus attention on arable plants in the landscape, in part to reflect their continued rarity in Britain, but also to reflect the key role that they play towards the viability of rarer insects and birds, in their position at the base of the food chain. |
| Permalink : |
https://biblio.cbnpmp.fr/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=144395 |
Still, Kate, Byfield, Andrew
, 2007.
New priorities for arable plant conservation.
Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity, Salisbury.
20 pp.
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