PROject Specification
Competition Code: / CTE 1204Date for return of tenders: / 4:00pm on 10 September 2012
Address for tender submission:
(the Competition Code must be shown on the envelope and the tender submitted in line with the instructions in the attached guidance, otherwise your tender may not be accepted) / Miss Kerry Whitehouse
Defra
Area 1A
Ergon House
London
SW1P 2AL.
Number of electronic & hard copies required: / 1 copy on CD-ROM plus 2 hard copies
Contact for information relating to this project specification: / Name: Richard Brand-Hardy
Tel no: 020 7238 5005
E-mail:
Proposed ownership of Intellectual Property (contractor or Defra): / Defra
Proposed start-date (if known): / 1 November 2012
Proposed end-date (if known): / 31 March 2013
Project TITLE: Understanding the combined biodiversity benefits of the component features of hedgerows
Background
Hedgerows are important biodiversity refuges, providing habitats for a wide range of native plant and animal species, particularly in agricultural landscapes. Hedgerow networks are also likely to play an important future role in adaptation for climate change and restoration of ecological networks by facilitating the movement of species through intensively managed landscapes (Damschen et al., 2006, Lawton, 2011). The particular conservation value of hedgerows has been recognised by their inclusion as a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
A hedgerow typically consists of more than one feature. In addition to the line of shrubs (the hedgerow), a hedgerow may also consists of a bank and/or mature trees, and, on either side, have ditches and/or herbaceous margins.
125 priority BAP species are significantly linked to hedgerows, including their trees, banks, basal flora and immediate margins (Wolton 2009). Hedgerows are used as a source of food, for shelter and refuge from predators, for breeding, for display purposes (eg. song-posts), and as movement corridors and flyways for dispersal.
Hedgerows are a key component of ecological networks both as habitats in their own right and as linear landscape corridors, providing natural connections between fragmented habitats (Lawton, 2011).
The components of ecological networks (from Making space for nature, Lawton 2011)
Environmental Stewardship (ES) is a cornerstone of the Government's sustainable agriculture and rural development policies in England. The scheme is run under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and has multiple objectives as follows:
· conserve wildlife;
· maintain and enhance landscape quality and character;
· protect the historic environment ;
· promote public access and understanding of the countryside, and
· protect natural resources particularly soil and water).
ES also has secondary objectives concerned with genetic conservation and flood management. Furthermore, climate change is now an overarching theme of ES and so when meeting the scheme objectives listed above, ES will also:
· support the adaptation of the natural environment to climate change, and
· enhance the contribution of agriculture and land management to climate change mitigation, for example, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and providing and protecting carbon storage.
ES was launched in 2005, and comprises three strands;
i. Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) provides a straightforward approach to supporting the good stewardship of the countryside.
ii. Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) is the organic strand of ELS.
iii. Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) involves more complex types of management and agreements are tailored to local circumstances.
A fourth strand, Uplands Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) was launched in February 2010 to support hill farmers with payments for environmental management and succeeds the Hill Farm Allowance.
Options for the management of hedgerows and their component parts are available across all strands of ES and are a major focus of expenditure, in particular through ELS.
Options include those which focus on the timing and frequency of cutting of hedgerows, the protection of hedgerow trees and maintenance of ditches and banks, as well as capital items to plant or rejuvenate hedgerows, manage or plant hedgerow trees and restore ditches and banks. There are also management options to establish grassy margins adjacent to hedgerow features, for both arable and intensive grassland.
Options in the ELS strands of ES have a list of compulsory requirements for each management option, which allows no opportunity to specify species specific management. In contrast, HLS options have prescriptions (the do’s and don’ts of management) which can be tailored to specific species and objectives. Indicators of Success (IoS) are used to judge the success of HLS option management.
Research needs
Current understanding of the way that the component features of a hedgerow complement one another or act synergistically to benefit biodiversity is poor. This research would address this gap by investigating the degree to which different species/groups of species are dependent on the features individually or in combination and allow recommendations on ideal management of the relevant hedgerow features for particular species or groups of species to be made.
There is also a need to inform how to approach the conservation of the species linked to hedgerows, in particular how better to target and use the appropriate ES options to manage each component part of the hedgerow appropriately for the key species, or groups of species. As such they will improve the cost-effectiveness of these interventions.
The results would be applied to improve management advice and options within agri-environment schemes (eg Environmental Stewardship) and the targeting of scheme resources. A series of management advice sheets need to be developed for agreed key species/groups of species.
Improved understanding of how different hedge components complement one another to benefit biodiversity will be beneficial at the landscape level as well as the individual hedge level. It will help us to improve landscape connectivity in the most effective manner and to maximise the role of hedgerows in the delivery of ecosystem services and climate change adaptation.
Project Objectives
1. Undertake a synthesised desk-based review of available information to identify species/groups which are dependent on one or more hedgerow components and their optimal management. (This should be limited to BAP/Section 41 species and other species of conservation concern which are indicators of farmland quality).
2. Where a species or species group is found to be dependent on more than one component describe the links and assess the relationship of each component to one another and to the population size of the particular species or species group being considered. An example based around bumble bees is provided below.
3. Use selected species or species groups which are dependent on more than one component to develop recommended models of hedgerow management at both individual hedge and landscape level, which will support and sustain a wide range of organisms, including a consideration of climate change.
4. Provide a maximum of ten management advice sheets for key species/groups of species summarizing which hedge components should be managed and how, covering the full range of major landscape types from lowland and upland, to pastoral and arable. These should make reference to relevant ELS and HLS options which could be used in isolation or in combination, and recommended Indicators of Success (IoS) for HLS options.
5. Provide recommendations for changes to relevant existing ES options, to include both prescription changes and species specific Indicators of Success IoS). Also highlight where there is the potential for new ES options.
Example
An example of a species group which requires a number of different hedge components to be in favourable condition for its continued survival is a suite of farmland bumblebees. These hibernate and nest in mouse holes and grass tussocks in or close to the hedge base, often in holes in banks. They rely on pollen and nectar from early-flowering hedgerow shrubs in the spring, and later in the year on flowering herbs in the margins – without either the shrubs or the herbs the bees would not have adequate food throughout their long active season. So, for the bumblebee species group optimal hedge habitat requires not just that the shrub layer should be in favourable condition, but also that the hedgerow bottom and field margin should be in a favourable condition. Unless all these elements are in place, bumblebee populations may be expected to decline, along with species that are dependent on them such as the cuckoo bees. Other species require the presence of both mature trees and shrubs, such as the hairstreak butterflies, while others prefer thick vegetation on ditch sides to breed in early in the season but move to the shrub layer for second broods, such as buntings.
Timescale and resources
The project will start on 1 November 2012, ending on 31 March and is expected to cost up to £25,000.
Further information
The closing date for applications is 10 September 2012 at 4.00pm. Late applications will be returned unopened. Applications by fax or e-mail are not acceptable; however, an electronic version of the application (CD-ROM) should be submitted with the signed hard copies.
Bidders will be expected to have extensive knowledge of past and on-going related research and monitoring and to take this into account in their bids. No specific further information is available, as all bids will be assessed against this specification. However, if you need further information about specific issues relating to this competition, please contact:
R Brand-Hardy, Sustainable Land and Soils/Biodiversity (Wildlife Management) teams, Defra, on either:
or
020 7238 5005
Details of Defra’s research programme can be found on the Defra website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/research/project_data/Default.asp. The application form, general advice on preparing bids, and standard terms and conditions for Defra research contracts are included in the Competition pack of which this specification forms a part.
Some Key References
Hedgerow management and wildlife – A review of research on the effects of hedgerow management and adjacent land on biodiversity, Defra, 2005 . http://www.hedgelink.org.uk/files/hedgerow%20management%20and%20wildlife.pdf
Biodiversity Action Plan species linked to hedgerows - A report to the UK Habitat Action Plan Steering Group for hedgerows (Hedgelink), Robert Wolton, 2009 http://www.hedgelink.org.uk/wildlife-and-hedgerows.htm BAP species linked to hedgerows.
Trends, long term survival and ecological values of hedgerow trees: development of population models to inform strategy, Forest Research, 2009.
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