LOWER ALLITHWAITE PARISH COUNCIL
ALLITHWAITE COMMUNITY MEADOW
Preliminary Investigation into the vegetation state and possible future management strategies
BACKGROUND
A member of Lower Allithwaite Parish Council asked me about the Community Meadow project
and I offered to have a look at the field and the vegetation as it stood. The proposed meadow is
adjacent to the newly established Community Orchard and Apairy.
OVERVIEW OF THE AREA
The field has previously been managed for agricultural purposes, for example, grazing and hay
making and, therefore, is likely to have been subjected to inputs of fertiliser, herbicide and
possibly some drainage work. The field slopes down west to east with a boundary wall and
fence to the south and churchyard wall to the north. There are beehives in the top part of the
field.
VEGETATION STATUS
Using field walking and random quadrat sampling (1m x 1m) on visits to the field in June, July
and August 2015 the following dominant vegetation was recorded:
DOMINANT SPECIES LIST –GRASS SPECIES
COMMON NAME
LATIN NAME
APPROXIMATE ABUNDANCE
Perennial Rye - Grass
Lolium perenne
Decreasing
Crested Dog’s Tail
Cynosurus cristatus
Yorkshire Fog
Holcus lanatus
Red Fescue
Festuca rubra
Meadow Foxtail
Alopecurus pratensis
Sweet Vernal Grass
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Cocksfoot
Dactylis glomerata
DOMINANT SPECIES LIST – WILDFLOWER SPECIES
COMMON NAME
LATIN NAME
APROXIMATE ABUNDANCE
Common Mouse-ear
Cerastium fontanum
Decreasing
White Clover
Trifolium repens
Meadow Buttercup
Renunculus acris
Sorrel
Rumex acetosa
Creeping Thistle
Cirsium arvense
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
The dominant two grass species appear to be Perennial Rye Grass and Crested Dog’s Tail and
the dominant two wildflower species appear to be Common Mouse-ear and White Clover. The
overall cover of the meadow is approximately in the ratio of 95:5 grasses to wildflowers. No rare
or scarce grasses or wildflowers were found.
The presence of these species and their abundance indicate that the area is typical of Improved
Grassland according to definitions set out by Natural England. The vegetation community fits
well into the NVC (National Vegetation Classification) of MG6 (Mesotrophic Grassland
community) which is associated with well-drained permanent pastures and meadows. MG6 is
Lolium perenne – Cynosurus cristatus grassland.
POSSIBLE FUTURE HABITAT SURVEY AND MONITORING
A more comprehensive investigation using, for example, Phase 1 grassland survey or
Countryside Survey methodologies may be useful. This could be used to develop a
management plan and to measure future change. However this would need more detailed data
acquisition and subsequent analyses.
POSSIBLE FUTURE MANAGEMENT
In the long term the area will tend to revert to scrub if unmanaged. Some type of annual
management will be required to try and improve the quality of the meadow. This year’s plan to
manage the area by cutting the vegetation in mid-August and removing it fits in with
recommendations by various conservation bodies. These bodies say that it is possible to
manage an area of grassland to take it to a more biodiverse and species rich state using
techniques including specific weed eradication, re-seeding, grazing abandonment etc.
The speed of change and the ecological succession will be dependent on a number of factors,
for example, source pools of potential colonizing species, soil nutrient status, soil pH and
vegetation structure.
The established meadow could provide enhanced wildlife benefits to different degrees
depending on what management regime is adopted, for example:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Leaving small uncut areas for cover
Targeted weeding to give bare areas beneficial for insects
Sowing local grass/wildflower seed mixtures
Weed pulling (hand roguing) to limit the ability of competitive species to achieve
dominance
The meadow is already a valuable amenity for the community of Allithwaite but could be further
enhanced to provide a more biodiverse habitat.
Martin J Rossall Dip.H.E (Lancaster), Uni.Cert in Biological Recording (Birmingham).
Field Ecologist (Retd.) Natural Environment Research Council.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING


Rodwell, J.S. (1992) British Plant Communities Volume 3 – Grasslands and montane
communities
JNCC Lowland Grassland Management Handbook 2nd edition