Managing Grassland and Maintaining Diversity

Grassland is found in many areas, such as agricultural lands were a farmer would use it to graze animals or us it for other reasons. Grass land is also found at playing fields and many gardens. Maintaining grassland can include mowing, grazing and even burning, however burning is rarely used.

Mowing is an unselective may of controlling the growth of the plants that are cut by the machine. If cutting is done with a scythe then the heights will not be the same leading to unevenness, this unevenness can provide good habitats for invertebrates or ground nesting birds but the plant growth will not be similar.

The cut plant can be used for silage or hay, the removal of the plant means that nutrients have been taken out of the soil; however this can be replaced easily by fertilisers and other chemicals. If mowings are left on the ground they can prevent other plant seeds from reaching the ground and germinating.

Grass grown for silage consist of high yielding varieties and is usually aided with fertilises to maximise the crop yield. Mowing for silage usually begins in late April and the followed by two more cuts every six weeks. More diversity in the crop is produced when

Integrating conservation and production

cutting for hay is done usually in June. The later cutting date allows for more species to flower and produce seeds.

Horses are much more selective about the type of grass they eat compared to sheep and cattle. Horses can eliminate some species of grass from an area while leaving the rest untouched producing a patchy uneven sward.

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