WET AND MARSHY GRASSLAND

ACTION PLAN

Compiled by the Environment Agency

Lead Agencies: Public Sector Environment Agency

Voluntary Sector RSPB

1 INTRODUCTION

Wet and marshy grasslands in the UK are predominantly semi-natural or man-made habitats, strongly influenced by water management and by farming practices. They form important habitats for wildlife, perform a vital flood storage function and play a significant role in traditional farming systems. As a consequence their management is crucial.

Wet grasslands normally occur in river valleys, where they are prone to winter flooding. These floods bring nutrients to the grasslands and traditional farming systems recognised this benefit, with the productive sward in the meadows managed for hay production and cattle grazing.

2 CURRENT STATUS

Habitats included in this plan:

Wet grassland

Marshy grassland

Associated Plans:

Reedbeds and swamps

Spring and flushes

Lowland neutral grassland

Acid grassland and heathland

Lowland calcareous grassland

2.1 Definition

Grasses, low-growing herbs and rushes, which can tolerate periodic inundation, typically dominate wet and marshy grassland communities. Often drainage channels or other water bodies are associated with the habitat and these can also support important species assemblages. The shallow winter floods create ideal conditions for feeding waterfowl, and in spring the receding floods leave damp conditions ideal for breeding waders such as Snipe, Lapwing and Redshank.

Wet and marshy grasslands can be sub-divided into separate vegetation communities that develop according to the soil conditions and flooding regime of each site. Northamptonshire wet grassland communities can be classified as any of the following National Vegetation Classification (NVC) communities:

· MG4 Alopecurus pratensis – Sanguisorba officinalis (Meadow foxtail – Great burnet)

· MG8 Cynosurus cristatus – Caltha palustris (Crested dogstail – Marsh marigold)

· MG9 Holcus lanatus – Deschampsia cespitosa (Yorkshire fog – Tufted hairgrass)

· MG10 Holcus lanatus – Juncus effusus (Yorkshire fog – Soft rush)

· MG11 Festuca rubra – Agrostis stolonifera – Potentilla ancerina (Red fescue – Creeping bent – Silverweed)

· MG12 Festuca arundinacea (Tall fescue)

· MG13 Agrostis stolonifera – Alopecurus geniculatus (Creeping bent – Marsh foxtail)

2.1.1 Flood Meadows – MG4 Grassland

Areas that experience periodic inundation in winter, but have good sub-surface drainage and water retentive soils, allowing the water table to fall in spring, can support species-rich MG4 plant communities.

Example One: River Ise and Meadows SSSI. Grid Ref: SP880833

The meadows on this site support a typical MG4 community of Meadow foxtail, Yellow oat-grass and Great burnet.

2.1.2 Water Meadows - MG8 grassland

Water meadows can occur naturally but often result from careful water level management; ditch water levels are kept high in summer to prevent either drying out or water-logging of the soil. Such habitats develop species-rich vegetation communities.

Example Two: Bugbrooke Meadows SSSI. Grid Ref: SP672586

This site contains a group of low-lying meadows on the River Nene. They tend to flood in winter and remain damp into the growing season. As a result, the meadows support a diverse range of plant species.

2.1.3 Inundation Grasslands – MG9-13 grasslands

Inundation grasslands occur on poorly structured clay soils that flood in winter and spring, but do not then readily drain. As such, plant species present have to contend with water-logging in early summer and then drought conditions as the soil gradually dries out.

Example Three: Plumpton Pasture SSSI. Grid Ref: SP594481

This pasture is an area of unimproved grassland lying on boulder clay with a pronounced ridge and furrow formation. Whilst the ridges support a herb-rich community, the wetter furrows support a characteristically species-poor MG9 community.

2.2 National Status

Lowland wet grasslands have declined significantly nation-wide because of changes in agricultural practices, most significantly the drainage of land and conversion to arable. In England and Wales the remaining wet grassland covers an area of approximately 220,000ha (RSPB, EN & ITE, 1997) from a historical resource of 1.2 million ha. Of this remaining wet and marshy grassland much has been agriculturally improved by the use of fertilisers and as a consequence is of limited value to wildlife. Linked with the loss of this habitat has been the massive decline of breeding waders dependent on the habitat.

2.3 Local Status

Northamptonshire is a lowland county that has followed the national trend of agricultural intensification over many decades. Consequently, there is relatively little grassland remaining in the county and the proportion of this that is wet or marshy is low. The remaining sites are mostly small (very few are larger than 1ha) and are fragmented in nature. Recent surveys of wet and marshy grasslands for waders in the county have shown that the decline of wading birds has broadly followed the national trend.

3 CHARACTERISTIC SPECIES

3.1 National Priority Species

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) and curlew (Numenius arquata).

3.2 Local Priority Species

Redshank (Tringa totanus), Gadwall (Anas strepera), Golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria), Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) and Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris).

See Appendix 1 Rivers and Wetlands Priority Species for full lists

4 CURRENT FACTORS AFFECTING THE HABITAT

· Restrictions on flooding regimes due to land use changes, leading to drying out of sites.

· Water abstraction and drainage.

· Development on the floodplain.

· Small size and fragmented nature of remaining sites.

· Changes in agricultural practice including use of herbicides and conversion to arable.

· Mineral extraction.

· Poor water quality and the influence of pollutants.

5 CURRENT ACTION

· The Nene Valley Project, a partnership of local authorities, statutory organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations, exists to promote conservation and recreation in the valley. It has already enjoyed some success through encouraging landowners to restore wet grassland through agri-environment schemes.

· The RSPB, Environment Agency, Nene Valley Project and the Wildlife Trust have carried out feasibility studies into habitat restoration at a number of sites in the Nene Valley. This had involved topographical and hydrological surveys, supported by long term monitoring of water levels.

· The Wildlife Trust has been co-ordinating breeding wader surveys on wet grasslands in the county.

· English Nature has completed a wet grassland inventory for the UK, which includes sites in Northamptonshire.

· Open water areas are regularly counted during the winter as part of the national Wetland Bird Survey, organised by the British Trust for Ornithology, Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and RSPB. Some wet grassland areas are also included in the survey.

6. WET AND MARSHY GRASSLAND OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS

	OBJECTIVE	ACTION	LEAD AGENCY	PARTNERS	TARGET
6.1	Policy and Legislation
	Objective One: Ensure that BAP species and their habitats are given an appropriate level of protection in local plans	Include habitat and species protection policies in local plans and/or supplementary guidance	Local Authorities	English Nature, Wildlife Trust, RSPB	By 2003
	Objective Two: Target agri-environment schemes and other incentives to take account of the requirements of wet grassland habitats in the county	Encourage wet grassland creation and conservation in line with agri-environment schemes targets	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, English Nature, RSPB, Wildlife Trust, Nene Valley Project	Double the area of habitat created or conserved by agri-environment schemes by 2006
	Objective Three: Promote the restoration of wet grassland as an option for after use of mineral extraction sites	Agree restoration schemes prior to the commencement of mineral extraction	County Council	English Nature, RSPB, Environment Agency, Nene Valley Project	Strategy in place by 2001
	Objective Four: Influence planning authorities to adopt a presumption against development in the floodplain. Ensure Structure and Local Plans adopt such a policy	Notify Local Authorities of relevant sites	Environment Agency		Flood plain maps to be prepared by 2001
		Incorporate appropriate policies into development plans	Local Authorities		Policies adopted by 2002
6.2	Site safeguard and management
	Objective Five: Prepare a prioritised inventory of designated sites and their management. Prepare and implement improved management regimes where appropriate	Review the management of all designated sites and implement improvements where found to be necessary	Wildlife Trust	English Nature, Nene Valley Project, RSPB	Review of management completed by 2002
	Objective Six: Ensure all sites larger than1ha are designated as County Wildlife Sites, and identified in development plans. Ensure all sites that are worthy of SSSI status are designated	Assess site interest against SSSI criteria Identify all relevant sites and notify Local Authorities	English Nature Wildlife Trust	RSPB, Nene Valley Project	All appropriate sites designated by 2003
	Objective Seven: Develop major floodplain grassland and other wetland habitat restoration initiative in the Nene Valley	Identify suitable sites. Develop and implement restoration plans	Nene Valley Project	Environment Agency, English Nature, RSPB, Wildlife Trust	100 ha being restored by 2006
	Objective Eight: Ensure development proposals do not affect the integrity of existing and proposed sites	Notify Local Authorities of all relevant sites and ensure their inclusion in local development plans	Wildlife Trust	English Nature, Nene Valley Project, RSPB	All sites included in local plans by 2003
		Ensure that development does not affect relevant sites	Local Authorities		Throughout Plan Period
	Objective Nine: Prepare, implement and review Water Level Management Plans for all wetland SSSIs	Continue with, and complete the WLMP process. Implement the plans on all sites	Environment Agency	English Nature, Wildlife Trust, Nene Valley Project	All plans in place by 2002
6.3	Species management and protection
	Objective Ten: Monitor and record key species for priority habitats in the County	Identify key species and their locations. Devise monitoring plan	Wildlife Trust	English Nature, RSPB	Monitoring Plan finalised by 2002
	Objective Eleven: Prioritise management of key sites towards requirements of target species	Identify target species on each site and write/review management plans	Wildlife Trust	English Nature, RSPB	Management plans in place by 2003
6.4	Research and monitoring
	Objective Twelve: Establish appropriate survey and research work to define priority sites and identify potential creation opportunities	Collate and interpret current data. Identify gaps in current knowledge and commission surveys as appropriate	Nene Valley Project	Wildlife Trust, English Nature, Environment Agency, RSPB	Survey requirements identified by 2002
6.5	Advisory
	Objective Thirteen: Ensure that management advice and information is readily available to owners and managers of sites, to encourage optimal management of these habitats	Produce and promote literature / information. Apply organisation’s advisory roles	English Nature	Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Environment Agency	Advisory strategy in place by 2002
	Objective Fourteen: Ensure that advice on habitat creation is available and is promoted to suitable landowners	Produce and promote literature / information. Apply organisation’s advisory roles	English Nature	Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Environment Agency	Advisory strategy in place by 2002
6.6	Communication and publicity
	Objective Fifteen: Increase public awareness of the importance of, and threats to, floodplain habitats	Produce and promote literature, attend and support local shows to encourage the conservation and sensitive management of these habitats	Wildlife Trust	Nene Valley Project, RSPB, Environment Agency, English Nature	Collaborative strategy by 2003
	Objective Sixteen: Publicise the progress made in delivering this Action Plan in a BAP Annual Report			BAP Partners	Annual

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