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Abstract from BTO Research Report No 194:

Gough, S.J. & Fuller, R.J. (1998)

Scrub management for conservation in lowland England: practices, problems and possibilities.

Executive summary

1. Scrub creates particular problems in managing habitats for conservation. At many sites it is seen as an invasive threat to existing open habitats of high conservation value, yet scrub mosaics can support rich communities of animals, especially insects and birds. This report assesses the extent to which scrub is actively managed as a habitat in its own right (‘active management’), outlines the management practices that are most commonly adopted, discusses the problems of achieving sustainable scrub management and makes recommendations about work that is needed to better understand the conservation value of scrub.

2. Eleven nature reserves were visited to help gain an appreciation of current scrub management practices. Additional information was provided by the National Trust concerning scrub management for conservation on their properties.

3. It is concluded that there is considerable interest in managing scrub habitats for conservation and on eight of the 11 sites visited large-scale maintenance of scrub habitats is a major element of the management objectives. Active scrub management for conservation reasons is also undertaken on many National Trust properties. Much of this management appears to be aimed at creating and maintaining a variety of scrub growth stages; insects and birds are the most frequently cited ‘target groups’.

4. Active scrub management is predominantly undertaken by rotational cutting. The principal exception is Gorse management for which burning as well as cutting is used. We are only aware of grazing being used to maintain grass-scrub mosaics on a handful of sites. Grazing is, however, widely used to prevent scrub growth in open habitats.

5. A fundamental problem in seeking to conduct sustainable scrub management is that the characteristic mosaic structures that form when scrub invades grassland are extremely difficult to maintain or re-create. Rotational cutting is likely to turn the vegetation into relatively uniform coppice-like structures that lack the fine-scale mosaics of grass and scrub. Grazing may offer more possibilities for maintaining such mosaics but there is little available information on appropriate practices.

6. A new classification of scrub types is needed: the National Vegetation Classification does not describe the range of variation in British scrub adequately.

7. It is suggested that a comprehensive review be undertaken to identify more exactly the conservation value of different types and structures of scrub and the circumstances under which scrub should be tolerated or encouraged to expand. The findings of such a review could feed into the development of local and national policies for scrub conservation.

8. There is a need to learn more about successional changes in animal communities that occur as scrub invades grassland and to compare these changes with those that occur under rotational cutting. For birds this work should examine both breeding and wintering bird communities, including requirements for roosting. Experimental work on scrub management and responses of insects and birds is highly desirable. In particular it is suggested that (a) experimental grazing regimes are established on a small number of sites to assess the feasibility of sustaining grass-scrub mosaics, (b) comparisons are undertaken of short and long-rotation cutting to assess whether the former has potential for maintaining mosaics.

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