How it works for butterflies

How do you monitor it?

Monitoring biodiversity is obviously important for the successful management of nature reserves. It is only by making careful assessments of the condition of the various habitats that we graze, that we can make the necessary adjustments to their management. And whilst this is an activity that underpins all successful grazing management, it is particularly important for conservation grazing, where the objectives are often set according to what happens to individual plant and animal species.

As in all forms of animal agriculture, livestock on nature reserves need to be checked frequently to ensure their safety and welfare, a requirement that is even more important in situations where the terrain, pasture quality and visitor numbers are likely to present a significant challenge for them. This need for frequent and regular inspections to ensure animal welfare allows plenty of opportunity for monitoring ongoing changes to the flora and fauna.

Usually this is associated with a specific management objective concerning either the condition of one or more of its habitats or the abundance and distribution of any of its plants, insects or birds. The livestock produce visible impacts on the vegetation which can be routinely monitored visually, noting the degree to which certain plants are being eaten relative to others and how this varies over time.

Observing these changes is an ongoing process that soon becomes automatic, supplying valuable information about how the different types of livestock interact with the various habitats, information that helps us to match the conservation requirements of the site with the most suitable grazing animals. Much of this information is recorded in photos so it can be filed for future reference.

More specific types of monitoring are often employed on sites where the conservation management aims to enhance populations of birds, butterflies  or particular plants. Mostly, these are carried out by staff or volunteers from the conservation body responsible for that site, although we too have helped by carrying out butterfly transects on a number of sites over the years.

We also have also been carrying out regular botanical surveys to monitor the changes in our hay meadows as they become more species rich in response to our restorative management. We use quadrats to estimate the distribution and abundance of the various grasses and herbs in each field, which is still the most reliable way to monitor their transition to a more species-rich state.

 

Bottom up eco engineers

We also want to understand how these above-ground changes relate to what is happening beneath it and have therefore submitted numerous soil samples for laboratory analysis over the last 10 years. These have helped us build a much clearer picture of how the soils differ across our various fields and, in so doing, establish a baseline against which to assess future changes in pH, soil carbon, and nutrient status.

We are hoping this monitoring effort will help the business to benefit from the new Environmental Land Management scheme proposals that are currently being piloted by DEFRA.

We have also undertaken initial assessments of our carbon-footprint and public goods delivery, the results of which we will provide a benchmark against which to measure future progress, something that should help our efforts to build the case for agroecological livestock production and conservation grazing.

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