• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.139-148
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• 2022

Saxifraga hirculus is classified as a vulnerable plant species in Europe, and it is confined to base-rich flushes in the British uplands. However, a lack of available information about its conservation status hampers the development of adaptive strategies for its in-situ conservation, especially with respect to grazing. To assess the effectiveness of sheep grazing in maintaining viable populations of S. hirculus, we compared the community dynamics of the vegetation in a base-rich flush over 44 years in two plots: one sheep-grazed under business-as-usual sheep grazing densities and the other fenced to exclude grazing. The plots were established in 1972, and the abundances of all vascular plants, bryophytes, and litter were measured at six intervals until 2016. Our results showed that although the presence of S. hirculus was maintained in both plots over the 44 years, it declined and reached a minimum between 1995 and 2010, when it was close to extinction. Since 2013, Saxifraga has recovered only slightly. Interestingly, the S. hirculus response appeared to be independent of grazing treatment, but it mirrored wider changes in the vegetation composition and structure within the flush over the 44 years. These changes are similar to others reported in broader uplands that have been attributed to a combination of reduced nitrogen and sulfur deposition and global warming. Thus, the simple adaptive management approach of "just managing" sheep grazing appeared ineffectual for preserving the S. hirculus population. S. hirculus showed signs of recovery at the end of the study period within this base-rich flush.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2020

Many areas of vegetation in the British uplands have reduced species diversity as a result of sheep overgrazing. It has been suggested that abandonment or re-wilding strategies might be used to reverse this. A likely first step would be the removal or reduction of grazing livestock from upland areas, with a presumption that this would lead to a recovery in species richness. However, we do not know if this would work, or the timescales involved. One of the important areas where more knowledge is needed is information on the size and composition of soil seedbanks as regeneration from zseed is a likely pathway of recovery. Here, we compared seedbanks in both grazed and ungrazed plots in five experiments at Moor House NNR in the northern Pennines; these sheep grazing exclusion experiments were started 52 and 63/64 years ago. Soil samples (n=10) were collected from both grazed and ungrazed plots in each experiment, and seed emergence counted in glasshouse trials. We detected only seeds of common species and very few dicotyledonous species. This suggests that the soil seedbank is unlikely to be a reliable source of the less common species for ecological restoration in these upland communities, suggesting an extinction debt. Therefore, seed addition and the creation of suitable safe-sites for germination may be needed in conjunction with grazing controls to allow the establishment of plants that will increase the species richness of the vegetation. However, this interventionist restoration approach remains to be tested.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.101-120
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of agricultural polices on the change of regional structure based on the specialization during the productivism period. Analysis are carried on through the comparison of distribution in 1950s and 1997. Since the 1950s, governmental policy has played a leading role in shaping the pattern of farming in Great Britain. The range of British measures have also been employed in an attempt to improve the efficiency of agriculture and raise farm income. Three fairly distinct phase can be identified in the developing relationship between government policies and British agriculture in the postwar period. In the 1st phase, The Agricultural Act of 1947 laid the foundations for agricultural productivism in Great Britain until membership of the EC. This was to be achieved through the system of price support and guaranteed prices and the means of a series of grants and subsidies. Guaranteed prices encouraged farmenrs to intensify production and specialize in either cereal farming or milk-beef enterprise. The former favoured eastern areas, whereas the latter favoured western areas. Various grants and subsidies were made available to farmers during this period, again as a way of increasing efficiency and farm incomes. Many policies, such as Calf Subsidy and the Ploughing Grant, Hill cow and Hill Sheep Schemes and the Hill Farming and Livestock Rearing Grant was provided. Some of these policies favoured western uplands, whilst the others was biased towards the Lake District. Concentration of farms occured especially in near the London Metropolitan Area and south part of Scotland. In the 2nd stage after the membership of EC, very high guaranteed price created a relatively risk-free environment, so farmers intensified production and levels of self-sufficiency for most agriculture risen considerably. As farmers were being paid high prices for as much as they could produce, the policy favoured areas of larger-scale farming in eastern Britain. As a result of increasing regional disparities in agriculture, the CAP became more geographically sensitive in 1975 with the setting up of the Less Favoured Areas(LFAs). But they are biased towards the larger farms, because such farms have more crops and/or livestock, but small farms with low incomes are in most need of support. Specialization of cereals such wheat and barely was occured, but these two cereal crops have experienced rather different trend since 1950s. Under the CAP, farmers have been paid higher guaranteed prices for wheat than for barely because of the relative shortage of wheat in the EC. And more barely were cultivated as feedstuffs for livestock by home-grown cereals. In the 1950s dairying was already declining in what was to become the arable areas of southern and eastern England. By the mid-1980s, the pastral core had maintained its dominance, but the pastoral periphery had easily surpassed arable England as the second most important dairying district. Pig farming had become increasingly concentrated in intensive units in the main cereal areas of eastern England. These results show that the measure of agricultural policy induced the concentration and specialization implicitly. Measures for increasing demand, reducing supply or raising farm incomes are favoured by large scale farming. And price support induced specialization of farming. And technology for specialization are diffused and induced geographical specialization. This is the process of change of regional structure through the specialization.