10.5061/DRYAD.F7M0CFXV0
Hawkes, Robert
0000-0001-6754-6794
University of East Anglia
Smart, Jennifer
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Brown, Andy
Natural England
Jones, Helen
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Lane, Steve
,
Lucas, Colin
,
McGill, James
,
Owens, Nick
,
Ratier Backes, Amanda
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Webb, Jonathan
Natural England
Wells, Doreen
,
Dolman, Paul
University of East Anglia
Experimental evidence that novel land management interventions inspired by
history enhance biodiversity
Dryad
dataset
2020
cultural landscape
dry grassland
ground-disturbance
landscape-scale conservation
lowland heathland
multi-taxa
semi-natural habitat
FOS: Biological sciences
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds*
Action for Birds in England program
Natural England
https://ror.org/00r66pz14
Action for Birds in England program
Deference Infrastructure Organisation*
Breaking New Ground*
Natural Environment Research Council
https://ror.org/02b5d8509
NE/G524095/1
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Action for Birds in England program
Deference Infrastructure Organisation
Breaking New Ground
2021-12-17T00:00:00Z
2021-12-17T00:00:00Z
en
7678623 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
To address biodiversity declines within semi-natural habitats,
land-management must cater for diverse taxonomic groups. Integrating our
understanding of the ecological requirements of priority (rare, scarce or
threatened) species through ‘biodiversity auditing’, with that of the
intensity and complexity of historical land-use, encourages novel forms of
management. Experimental confirmation is needed to establish whether this
enhances biodiversity conservation relative to routine management.
Biodiversity auditing and historical land-use of dry-open terrestrial
habitats in Breckland (Eastern England) both encourage management
incorporating ground-disturbance and spatio-temporal variability. To test
biodiversity conservation outcomes, we developed 40 4-ha management
complexes over three successive winters, of which 20 were
shallow-cultivated (rotovation) and 20 deep-cultivated (ploughing),
stratified across 3,850-ha of closed-sward dry grassland and lowland
heathland (collectively ‘dry grassland’). Complexes comprised four 1-ha
sub-treatments: repeat-cultivation, first-time-cultivation, one-year-old
fallow and two-year-old fallow. We examined responses of vascular plants;
spiders; true bugs; ground, rove and ‘other’ beetles; bees and wasps;
ants; and true flies on treatment complexes and 21 4-ha untreated
controls. Sampling gave 132,251 invertebrates from 877 species and 28,846
plant observations from 167 species. Resampling and rarefaction analyses
showed shallow- and deep-cultivation both doubled priority species
richness (pooling sub-treatments within complexes) compared to controls.
Priority spider, ground beetle, other beetle, and true bug richness were
greater on both treatments than controls. Responses were strongest for
those priority dry-open-habitat associated invertebrates initially
predicted (by biodiversity auditing) to benefit from heavy
physical-disturbance. Assemblage composition (pooling non-priority and
priority species) varied between sub-treatments for plants, ants, true
bugs, spiders, ground, rove and other beetles; but only one-year-old
fallowed deep-cultivation increased priority richness across multiple
taxa. Treatments produced similar biodiversity responses across various
dry grassland ‘habitats’ that differed in plant composition, allowing
simplified management guidance. Synthesis and applications. Our
landscape-scale experiment confirmed the considerable biodiversity value
of interventions inspired by history and informed by systematic multi-taxa
analysis of ecological requirements across priority biota. Since
assemblage composition varied between sub-treatments, providing
heterogeneity in management will support the widest suite of species.
Crucially, the intended recipients responded most strongly, suggesting
biodiversity audits could successfully inform interventions within other
systems.
Sampling protocols are outlined in the Journal of Applied Ecology paper.
The attached ReadMe.txt file explains the content of the .csv file.