You say transitional zones, I say ecotones
Thursday, March 15th 2018
The weather has been rotten today, and yet the reserve is ever active. I was especially pleased to be handed this lovely White-legged Snake Millipede found in the Field Centre Activity Room.
Aside from our many legged friend we've also been visited by four Greylag Geese on the Wetland.
The largest numbers of Greylag recoveries are from those ringed in Denmark, Britain and Sweden. The recoveries reported during winter are found in western and southern Europe, in northern Africa and a few in the area of the Black and Caspian Seas.
In terms of habitat management, we have been tackling the scrub by the welcome signs to the reserve along the main access route.
Scrub makes for great habitat when managed properly, with the best results being seen when management is carried out on a rotational basis providing a mix of young and mature scrub. This ensures greater structural diversity which appeals to a wider variety of species.
Once on top of the work scrub management is best carried out at low intensity at regular intervals rather than major works every few years.
It is important to marry management practices with reserve aesthetics and protection of key species; such as the nearby young Oak and Yew that were starting to become crowded out by encroaching scrub.
It is a difficult balancing act that we must carry out; without management of scrub and woodland edge many species that thrive in ecotones where two different habitats meet would soon disappear.
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