Abstract
Data from the long-term experiment on sheep grazing versus zero sheep grazing (i.e. in an enclosure) on the composition of the Juncus squarrosus grassland at the Moor House NNR are presented. The data have been analysed to assess change in (1) the abundance of individual species, (2) higher plant and bryophyte communities, and (3) vegetation structure. The higher plant data suggested that both the enclosed-and grazed plots were changing in the same direction, but the enclosed plot was moving much faster. The general tendency was towards a blanket bog vegetation dominated by Eriophorum vaginatum and Calluna vulgaris. Juncus squarrosus has declined very quickly in the enclosed plot, but there has also been a slower decline in the grazed one. A significant increase in Calluna vulgaris has occurred only in the enclosed plot. In contrast, the bryophyte data showed completely different successional trajectories in the two treatment plots.
The vegetation structure changed markedly after release from grazing, with a decrease in phytomass, but increase in necromass in the lowest height strata. There was no noticeable change in structure over the 18 year period in the grazed plot.
Particular problems found in this study were that some species either fluctuated widely in response, or changed in a curvilinear manner.
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Marrs, R.H., Bravington, M. & Rawes, M. Long-term vegetation change in the Juncus squarrosus grassland at Moor House, northern England. Vegetatio 76, 179–187 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045478
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045478