In this paper, the authors investigate how three different land management approaches impact the elemental composition and subsequent nutritional content of key blanket bog vegetation. Their findings have important implications for the health of grazing animals and upland birds, such as red grouse.
Fresh new shoots of heather are the main food source for red grouse, providing vital potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus.
Photo: Julian Ackroyd / Unsplash
Despite the tightening of regulation around heather burning, relatively little is known about the long-term impacts of different management approaches, positive or negative. Here, the authors investigate how three different management strategies impacted the elemental composition of two key blanket bog plants: heather (Calluna vulgaris) and cotton-grass (Eriophorum spp.).
The team looked at management impacts across a span of ten years at three sites in Northern England, where land had been managed in three different ways:
A laboratory analysis of samples found that several key elements important to grazing and photosynthesis (nitrogen, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, potassium) increased significantly post-management, and burning sometimes showed greater elemental enhancement for a longer period. However, the magnitude and length of these increases varied between elements, as well as between heather and cotton-grass.
The findings indicate that heather management has a positive impact on elemental content, especially from burning. There were also indications, however, that longer-term cutting with brash removal could reduce nutrients (nitrogen, silicon, iron and potassium). The positive impacts on elemental composition could increase carbon uptake in peatlands from photosynthesis and offer nutritional benefits for grazing animals, including sheep and cows, and support the breeding success and egg formation of red grouse.
The research was further supported by Yorkshire Water Services; United Utilities; the Moorland Association, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and the Law Family Charitable Foundation.
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