Environmental Engineering Reference
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restored hay meadows of western Europe. Methods have been developed using hoofed animals to
prevent or control desertification. The land can benefit from using a “holistic approach” (Savory
1998) to managing livestock. Today, many sites cannot support even a few grazing animals, let
alone a herd. However, mowing may be an acceptable substitute. In some cases, the equipment
is modified to churn or disrupt the topsoil layer, as in restored European hay meadows. These ex-
amples represent cultural or semicultural restoration targets, as discussed in Clewell and Aronson
(2013).
In the Scottish Highlands, recreation is given priority over biological goals: the countryside is
managed primarily for deer and grouse. As a result, two factors—the burning for heath and high
populations of deer—have retarded the establishment of new forests. A deer exclosure fence is
the primary approach for reestablishing and expanding the severely limited Scots pine forest (fig.
11-2). The seeds of several species occurring in the adjacent “old growth” forests are allowed to
germinate and to avoid being eaten by deer, the primary stressor on forest restoration in northern
Scotland. The process takes several decades because after even one decade trees are still suitable
forage for deer. A number of nonprofit organizations have fenced extensive areas, working in co-
operation with the forest agency and a few enlightened landowners.
FIGURE 11-2. In this long-term project in northern Scotland by the volunteer-based Trees for Life conservation
charity, a large deer exclosure adjacent to a remnant Scots pine forest allows for natural recruitment. In places,
more than twenty seedlings per square yard were observed. Cannich, Scotland. (Photo by John Rieger.)
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