Breeding Bird Assemblages and Habitat Use of Alpine Areas in Scotland

Thompson, D. B. A.; Whitfield, D. Philip; Galbraith, Hector; Duncan, Keith; Smith, Rachel; Murray, Stuart J.; Holt, Sue

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18967-8_19

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…But Carex still remained the main dominant and Racomitrium lost only 2.5% cover from its initial 40.2% in 1990. Essentially the slightlymodified community still provides the features necessary for dotterel (Nethersole- Thompson, 1973; Thompson and Whitfield, 1993;Thompson et al, 2003). Grasses did increase somewhat up to 2002/03 (Table 1), but their total cover is similar to levels previously reported in the community (McVean and Ratcliffe, 1962;Rodwell, 1992b).…”

Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…The montane heaths containing R. lanuginosum (NVC U9 and U10) are of special nature conservation value because they are the preferred habitat for dotterel (Eudromias morinellus) (Galbraith et al, 1993; Thompson and Whitfield, 1993;Thompson et al, 2003). This rare and attractive bird is listed in Annex 1 of the EC Birds Directive (EC Directive 79/409/EEC) and has decreased in numbers in Britain between 1987/88 and 1999 (Whitfield, 2002) and also across Europe (Stroud et al, 2004).…”

Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in the composition of Carex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath on Glas Maol, Scotland, in response to sheep grazing and snow fencing

Welch

Thompson

2005

Biological Conservation

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Carex bigelowii-Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath has high conservation value in Britain, being one of the most extensive near-natural habitats and also the preferred habitat of dotterel (Eudromias morinellus). This rare and attractive bird has declined in Britain in the past century, and loss of Racomitrium heath due to heavy sheep grazing and/or nitrogen deposition is probably responsible. Erection of snow fencing for a ski corridor across Carex-Racomitrium heath on Glas Maol, a mountain rising to 1068 m in the eastern Highlands, affected sheep (Ovis aries) usage, and so gave an opportunity to compare trends in botanical composition under different grazing intensities. We began monitoring in 1990, four years after the fenceÕs erection, and report trends up to 2002/03. Adjacent to the fencing (0-10 m away) sheep usage was much increased due to improved shelter, and C. bigelowii and R. lanuginosum declined, the latter sharply. Racomitrium cover was already reduced by a third in 1990, and fell by a further third over the next 12 years. Grass cover increased to nearly equal Carex cover 16 years after the fence erection. Dicranum fuscescens also spread but lichens declined. There was longer snow-lie near the fence, this being correlated with sheep usage despite somewhat different incidence, and logistic regression showed that for the 1990-1996/97 period Racomitrium loss was rather more closely related to snow-lie than to sheep pellet-group density, whereas Agrostis increase was highly significantly related to pellet-group density. Distant to the fence the composition of the Carex-Racomitrium heath changed little over 12 years of monitoring. Agrostis increased and C. bigelowii declined, both changes being significant but much smaller than adjacent to the fence. Also Polytrichum alpinum increased significantly and some lichens declined. For Racomitrium there was a fall of only 2.5% from its initial cover of 40% in 1990. Since the dung counts showed only a negligible reduction in sheep usage between plots at 13-15 and 43-45 m from the fence, the trends in composition recorded at positions 19-20 and 39-40 m from the fence apply to the extensive moss heath used by the dotterel on Glas Maol. These birds still nest in the distant zone, and we judge that the condition of the Carex-Racomitrium heath will remain satisfactory for them unless sheep usage increases by 25% or more. However, the ongoing loss of lichens and the sparsity of Vaccinium myrtillus imply that the current level of sheep grazing has appreciably modified this community from its former pristine condition.

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Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the composition of Carex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath on Glas Maol, Scotland, in response to sheep grazing and snow fencing

Welch

Thompson

2005

Biological Conservation

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“…Whether there is a causal relationship between the Raven population expansion and the Dotterel decline warrants further investigation, however, previous work found no significant negative associations between Raven numbers and upland wader populations (Amar et al 2010, Madden et al 2015. In addition, impacts of disturbance from increasing numbers of walkers on Dotterel have previously been discussed (Whitfield 2002b, Thompson et al 2003 although there is little strong evidence for widespread effects, despite negative impacts of such activities on heath condition.…”

Section: Changes In Uk Dotterel Populationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Changes in the abundance and distribution of a montane specialist bird, the DotterelCharadrius morinellus, in the UK over 25 years

et al. 2015

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“…This study will continue to monitor changes in the Glas Maol heath and hopefully provide pointers to how other heaths and protected areas may change in response to environmental factors. South of the Highlands, where historically these montane heaths have deteriorated so much that nesting dotterel have been lost (Thompson et al, 1987(Thompson et al, , 2003(Thompson et al, , 2012, there is now evidence of sheep grazing pressure declining and heaths recovering (Van der Wal et al, 2011, pers obs). Our study at Glas Maol provides one of very few pointers to the timescale of potential recovery of the heath.…”

Section: Persistence Of the Carex Bigelowii-racomitrium Lanuginosum Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brid. have high conservation value in Britain, being the preferred habitat of the rare dotterel (Eudromias morinellus), for which Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are designated under the EC Birds Directive (Galbraith et al, 1993;Thompson et al, 2003;Thompson et al, 2012). The birds nest in the heaths and feed on invertebrates within the Racomitrium carpets, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence ofCarex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosummoss heath under sheep grazing in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland

Welch

Thompson

2014

Journal of Bryology

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This version available http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/511342/ NERC has developed NORA to enable users to access research outputs wholly or partially funded by NERC. Copyright and other rights for material on this site are retained by the rights owners. Users should read the terms and conditions of use of this material at http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/policies.html#access This document is the author's final manuscript version of the journal article, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer review process. Some differences between this and the publisher's version remain. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from this article.The definitive version is available at http://www.maneyonline.com/ Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. et al., 1993; Thompson et al., 2003; Thompson et al., 2012). 40The birds nest in the heaths and feed on invertebrates within the Racomitrium carpets, 41 e.g. tipulid larvae (Smith et al., 2001). However, there is concern that heavy grazing by 42 sheep is causing these heaths to decline in extent and change in composition with loss of 43Racomitrium (Thompson et al., 1987; Ratcliffe & Thompson, 1988; Thompson et al., 44 2012). Nitrogen deposition can also damage Racomitrium (Baddeley et al., 1994; Jones 45 et al., 2002; Pearce et al., 2003), and moreover helps the spread of graminoids 46 (Armitage, 2010); these are usually introduced into the heaths by sheep. The increased 47 cover of graminoids may then attract more herbivore usage, so the interaction of grazing 48 with nitrogen deposition substantially increases the overall threat to Racomitrium (Van 49 2 der Wal et al., 2003Wal et al., , 2011 Armitage et al., 2012). Over much of the British range of 1 this community there is monitoring of Special Areas of Conservation and SPAs to assess 2 if conservation targets are being met for habitats and birds respectively (see Van der Wal 3 et al., 2011, Thompson et al., 2012. However, we lack detailed data on the nature of 4 changes in vegetation and their drivers (e.g. Ross et al., 2012). 5 6 In 1990 we began detailed studies on a montane heath around the summit of Glas 7Maol, part of the Caenlochan SPA designated for its dotterel population. This mountain 8 in the eastern Scottish Highlands had long been grazed by sheep and had a substantial 9 breeding population of dotterel (Galbraith et al., 1993). Our study was triggered by the 10 construction of a fenced skiing corridor along the edge of the summit plateau in 1986; 11 this 800 m long corridor clearly modified sheep usage on Glas Maol since it prevented 12sheep from moving directly between favoured grazings on the summit and in an adjacent 13 corrie. The fencing also gave the sheep some shelter, causing greater usage close-by. 14 Furthermore, the fencing was designed to intercept drifting snow, increasing t...

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Breeding Bird Assemblages and Habitat Use of Alpine Areas in Scotland

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Changes in the composition of Carex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath on Glas Maol, Scotland, in response to sheep grazing and snow fencing

Changes in the composition of Carex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosum moss heath on Glas Maol, Scotland, in response to sheep grazing and snow fencing

Changes in the abundance and distribution of a montane specialist bird, the DotterelCharadrius morinellus, in the UK over 25 years

Persistence ofCarex bigelowii–Racomitrium lanuginosummoss heath under sheep grazing in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland

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