Nature, Culture, and Conservation in the Anthropocene - Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Change - page 154

found evidence of declining palynological richness in Atlantic forests associated with the
abandonment of traditional pastoralist management and the transition to extensive grazing
(Davies 2011).
Restoring upland landscapes will require a suite of different management approaches, and
recreating a woodland-moorland mosaic will require careful management of grazing and fire
to maintain both woodland and heathland elements. Restoration is subjective and values
based, since most uplands were formerly wooded and the heathlands of today, whether grass
or heather dominated, are cultural landscapes. While too little grazing could lead to tree
regeneration and the loss of open habitats, too much can cause loss of diversity and erosion.
Changes in burning and grazing regimes have been blamed for the expansion of bracken
( Pteridium aquilinum ) and purple moor grass ( Molinia ) into areas formerly dominated by
heather, leading to species poor ecosystems with low palatability. Conservation interventions
include attempts to control Molinia through cutting, burning, and herbicides, but its ecologi-
cal history is not uniform and site specific management plans are needed. Plant macrofossils
from a peat core from Drygarn Fawr, mid-Wales, for example, show a rise in Molinia after
about 1900 ce, probably caused by a change in grazing pressure and increased deposition of
nitrogen during the industrial revolution (Chambers et al. 2007). Control of Molinia at this
site therefore seems appropriate if heather moorland is to persist. A study of fossil pollen and
plant macrofossils on Exmoor, in the south-west UK, showed a similar, recent rise in Molinia
at the expense of heather, probably driven by increased burning, but also indicated that
heather moorland originated from grassy heathland in Mediaeval times. The palaeoecologi-
cal data from this site suggest that grasses are a long-standing part of the heath assemblage,
raising the option of grassy heathland as a legitimate conservation target (Chambers et al.
1999). Similarly, while heather moorland landscapes are much loved, they have a relatively
short ecological history and their management is controversial and largely depends on val-
ues and preferences. Various studies from Scotland, Wales, and northern and south-west
England show relatively recent rises in Calluna abundance in recent centuries in areas of
former birch-oak forests, often associated with increased burning (Chambers and Daniell
2011, Davies 2011).
Palaeoecological studies suggest that in upland landscapes, conservation targets depend
on the timescale, local history and context, heritage considerations, as well as the needs,
aesthetics and aspirations of today's stakeholders and the economic realities of the agricul-
tural sector (Davies 2011). As afforestation schemes in the uplands have declined and live-
stock farming becomes increasingly unprofitable, there is a move towards planting native
woodlands, which supply a range of products and ecosystem services (Reed et al. 2009).
Regeneration of native woodlands could help to reduce erosion and enhance groundwater
recharge and water quality, as well as increasing carbon sequestration. Simply replanting
present-day woodlands, however, or even what was recorded a few hundred years ago, may
not be feasible because forests had already been managed for millennia and the cooler con-
ditions of the Little Ice Age are not a suitable benchmark for the warmer and more extreme
conditions of today (Brown 2010). It may be more far-sighted to try to develop a 'future-
natural' state, using the palaeoecological record to provide some guidance into changing