Post Medieval land use and vegetation change in upland Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales, UK [Helen Shaw]

Post Medieval land use and vegetation change in

upland Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales, UK. Helen Shaw and Ian Whyte

Lancaster Environment Centre

Lancaster University

“Over the past 50 years, humans have

changed ecosystems more rapidly and

extensively than in any comparable period

of time in human history” (MEA, 2005).

Very little if any land in Europe is natural.

“Traditional agricultural knowledge

commonly promotes sustainable

production systems” (MEA 2005 Mountain

Systems p683)

CBD use traditional knowledge where

“relevant for the conservation and

sustainable use of biological diversity”

MEA 2005: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Condition.aspx

Article 8(j): Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices

http://www.cbd.int/traditional/

Research Rationale

Two major caveats

Generalised view at global scale.

(Need to scale down to the local or

regional environment to understand

relevance)

Ecology and traditional management

are both driven by processes with

adaptation strategies as change

occurs. (We need to understand

impacts and dynamics at a local scale).

… and a question!

How much do we really know about the

impact of traditional management on

biodiversity – is it sustainable?

Use palaeoecology and landscape history to

determine vegetation change and likely

drivers of that change

Examining post-medieval landscape

change in upland England

Aims driven by

lack of long-term data in ecology for

conservation management

lack of data on impacts of traditional

management

need to understand ecological

dynamics

Research

Pollen residue

Data output and interpretation

Peat

Co

re

Palaeoecology/Palynology method

Send to

lab for 14C

dating

Local Local Regional

Small hollows provide proxies for local vegetation

Source area, pollen-vegetation and depth- time relationships

Jacobson & Bradshaw 1981. Quat. Res., 16, 80-96.

TIM

E

Quantity of a

pollen type as a

percentage of

total pollen

counted

Peat/Sediment Core

Several local scale sites can illustrate variance in landscape

through space and time.

English uplands: Cultural landscapes

What is traditional management?

Is traditional management relevant to

sustaining biodiversity?

100 km British National Grid Squares

Ribblehead catchment area between the

mountains of Ingleborough (724m) and

Pen y Ghent (694m)

Ingleborough National Nature Reserve

Ribblesdale Area Map

Case study area: Ribblesdale

Wife Park

core

Pollen-vegetation relationship Grasses (P= 0.001)

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Grass % vegetation cover

Gra

ss p

olle

n %

NA

P

Sedges (P=0.001)

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Sedges vegetation % cover

Sedge %

polle

n n

ap

Herbs (P=0.015)

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Herb vegetation % cover

He

rb p

olle

n %

na

p

Heaths (P=0.2(ns) P=0.001 (2 outliers removed))

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

Heaths % vegetation cover to 50m

Heath

s p

erc

enta

ge N

AP

Wife Park age-depth model

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

depth (cm)

Years

cal.A

D

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]

1400CalAD 1600CalAD 1800CalAD 2000CalAD

Calibrated date

-200BP

0BP

200BP

400BP

600BP

Rad

ioca

rbon d

eter

min

atio

n

SUERC-27859 : 230±30BP

68.2% probability 1640AD (35.8%) 1670AD 1780AD (26.0%) 1800AD 1940AD ( 6.4%) 1960AD 95.4% probability 1630AD (44.7%) 1690AD 1730AD (39.5%) 1810AD 1930AD (11.3%) 1960AD

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]

1100CalAD 1200CalAD 1300CalAD 1400CalAD 1500CalAD

Calibrated date

400BP

500BP

600BP

700BP

800BP

900BP

Rad

ioca

rbon d

eter

min

atio

n

SUERC-27860 : 700±30BP

68.2% probability 1270AD (61.7%) 1300AD 1370AD ( 6.5%) 1380AD 95.4% probability 1260AD (76.3%) 1310AD 1350AD (19.1%) 1390AD

Wife Park SCP curve

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

SCPs (as a percentage of pollen)

Dep

th (

cm

)

Wife Park Age-depth Model

14C dates at 20cm and 40cm and SCP curve rise in 1950’s peak c. 1979

Wife Park summary pollen data D

epth

(cm

)/T

ime y

ears

AD

Percentage of total land pollen 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0-1

2-3

4-5

6-7

8-9

10-10.5

12-12.5

14-14.5

16-16.5

18-18.5

20-20.5

22-22.5

24-24.5

26-26.5

28-28.5

30-30.5

32-32.5

34-34.5

36-36.5

38-38.5

2007

2001

1995

1988

1982

1977

1961

1937

1883

1830

1799

1756

1712

1669

1625

1582

1538

1495

1451

1408

Coniferoustrees

Broadleavedtrees

Shrubs

Heaths

Herbs

Wild grasses

Grass pollenannulus >8μm

Sedges

Wife Park summary pollen data (nap) D

epth

(cm

)/T

ime y

ears

AD

Percentage of total non arboreal pollen

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

0-1

2-3

4-5

6-7

8-9

10-10.5

12-12.5

14-14.5

16-16.5

18-18.5

20-20.5

22-22.5

24-24.5

26-26.5

28-28.5

30-30.5

32-32.5

34-34.5

36-36.5

38-38.5

2007

2001

1995

1988

1982

1977

1961

1937

1883

1830

1799

1756

1712

1669

1625

1582

1538

1495

1451

1408

Heaths

Herbs

Wild grasses

Grass pollenannulus >8μm

Sedges

Wife Park possible management impacts in pollen data D

ep

th (

cm

)/T

ime

ye

ars

AD

Percentage of total land

pollen

End of Monastic period (sheep ranching and stud farms)

Enclosure began (stinted pastures) - sheep and

cattle

Decline in timber trees reported in Manor of

Newby records from end of 17th Century after a

period of poor commons management

Fluctuations in and loss of

sedge abundance –

influence of drainage? CAP

No period of stasis in management

Large shifts in biodiversity/structural

diversity occurred prior to 50 years ago.

Shrub land and woodland was part of the

pre-enclosed landscape and was part of

the traditional resource now lost –

adaptation.

Wetlands or wet grasslands have been lost

since 1900s. Amelioration of prior drainage

schemes may need to be implemented on

the slopes as well as the mountain tops.

We should not assume that traditional is

sustainable – just adaptable – to limits!

Conclusions 1

Need to improve understanding of the

variation of traditional management

through time and the consequent impacts

on ecosystems.

Traditional managers can have valuable

knowledge – but it can be time limited!

For example – most of the farmers in

the uplands of the UK today have had

training in the agricultural colleges of

the 1960’s and 1970’s when land

improvement and drainage schemes

were the norm.

Conclusions 2

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[email protected]

Acknowledgements: Research funded by the Leverhulme Trust

Conference attendance supported by UKRC

Travel Bursary scheme

Thanks to farmers, land owners, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales

National Park Authority and Yorkshire Dales Wildlife Trust for land

access.

POLLANDCAL and LANDCLIM networks