Lowland Calcareous Grassland LBAP -Dorset

Lowland calcareous grassland - Dorset


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Mendips

Purbeck

Sedgemoor

Calcareous Grassland SW

Lowland Calcareous Grasslands UK

Dorset Biodiversity Initiative

Key factors

Extent/Distribution

Calcareous grassland occurs on chalk or limestone substrates; Dorset supports important areas of both types.

Dorset’s chalk grassland supports an outstanding range of flora and fauna across an area of just under 3000 ha. This habitat is very fragmented and mainly confined to the steeper slopes of the South Wessex Downs and Purbeck Ridge. The majority of the chalk grassland has been recognised to be either of national or of countywide interest.

Limestone grassland is much smaller in area, but equally fragmented; most of it is on the Isle of Portland or the Purbeck coast, with a few sites in the west and north. The Dorset Limestone Grassland Inventory identified 480 ha in the county. The vast majority of this has been recognised as being of national importance and is designated SSSI. The remaining 29.3% is within SNCIs. The limestone turf supports many key plant species. It also supports the range of butterflies that occur on the chalk.

Threats

Loss of grazing or under-grazing leading to scrub invasion.
Intensification, by application of fertilisers and herbicides or over-grazing.
Fragmentation leading to reduced species and/or management viability.
Game cover and management – damage to sward and invertebrate populations.
Knowledge of Dorset resource

Action Plan Objectives

1. Maintain extent and quality of existing habitat through appropriate management.
2. Restore areas of semi-improved calcareous grassland which retain some wildlife value.
3. Increase the area of calcareous grassland of wildlife value through arable reversion and management of improved permanent grassland, targeted to areas with existing concentrations of the habitat.
4. Continue to build on the existing knowledge of calcareous grassland habitat and species management through ongoing recording and additional targeted monitoring and research.
5. Raise awareness of the wildlife value of calcareous grasslands and best practice management techniques.

Action Plan Targets

[no information currently available]

Current Action

[no information currently available]

Proposed Action

Policy and legislation

[no information currently available]

Management

Loss of grazing/ under-grazing

Continue to facilitate CS, ESA and EN grant-aiding for appropriate sites.

PARTNERS: DEFRA, EN, DWT, FWAG, Purbeck BAP

Investigate grazing initiatives for former quarry sites on Portland and elsewhere

LEAD:EN, DWT, LA’s, minerals industry

Intensification

Continue to facilitate CS, ESA and EN grant-aiding for appropriate sites.

PARTNERS: DEFRA, EN, DWT, FWAG, NT

Encourage use of buffer zones adjacent to, and especially upslope of, SNCI/SSSI calcareous grassland sites.
PARTNERS: DEFRA, EN, DWT, FWAG

Fragmentation

Investigate possibilities for landscape-scale restoration of calcareous grassland in areas offering greatest potential biodiversity

PARTNERS:EN, DWT, RSPB, AONB, DEFRA

Game cover and management

Ensure grant aid is not given to tree planting which would damage calcareous grasslands.

LEAD: FC

Research and monitoring

Knowledge of Dorset resource

Continue to gather information through SNCI process and community surveys. Ongoing funding needed to ensure all sites monitored every 5 years.

LEAD: DERC, DWT, LAs

Education and awareness raising

[no information currently available]

Progress

[no information currently available]