CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY

(NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL)

Project T02059u1MAFF Commissioned Project BD1304

Final Report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

CO-ORDINATION OF ESA

WETLAND RESTORATION RESEARCH

J O MOUNTFORD (CEH Monks Wood)

NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Monks Wood

Abbots Ripton

Huntingdon

Cambridgeshire

PE17 2LSJanuary 2000

IDENTIFICATION SHEET:

Final Report to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, St Christopher House London on:

(a)MAFF Project Code:BD1304 (previously BD0211)

(b)Project Title:Co-ordination of ESA wetland restoration research

(c)ITE Project Officer:J Sheail

(d)Name and address of contractor: NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE17 2LS

(e)Project start date:1st April 1994

Project end date:31st March 1999

(f)Approved expenditure: 1998/9£5K

Total£25K

(g)Total staff input:0.25 staff-years

(h)Date sent to MAFF:31stJanuary 2000

(i)Intellectual Property:No

(j)Scientific Objectives:

  • To liase with ADAS and Cranfield University to resolve any difficulties that might arise
  • To assist each contractor in meeting its own ROAME objectives and “milestones” on time.
  • To ensure that there is no duplication of effort.

(k)Primary Milestones for final year

Milestones / Target
date / Milestones met?
Number /

Title

/ In full / On time
1 / Chair meetings each year, attended by all contractors / 31/3/99 / yes / yes
2 / Submission of progress report / 31/3/99 / yes / yes

CONTENTSPage

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1

1BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVES2

2RESULTS and DISCUSSION3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS5

APPENDICES

1Refereed publications, conference papers and other published articles drawing1

wholly or partly on wetland restoration research commissioned by MAFF (1991-9)

2Contract reports (1991-9)6

3Unpublished conference papers (including posters) and9

non-attributed publications

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1. In 1991, the Ministry of Agriculture initiated a programme of research on techniques for wetland restoration, particularly as they applied within agri-environment schemes. By 1994/5, seven projects were under way, commissioned by the Ministry, involving four major contractors: ADAS Land Research, the BBSRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER), the NERC Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) and the University of Cranfield (Silsoe College). Further contracts of shorter duration followed in subsequent years.
  1. In late 1993, the Ministry appointed the ITE to co-ordinate research activity between the different contracting institutes. This co-ordination contract was designated MAFF- commissioned project BD0211 (later renumbered BD1304), and ran from April 1994 to March 1999. The present document comprises the final report of the co-ordination project.
  1. Effective co-ordination of the research was achieved through a) regular meeting of all the contractors, chaired by the ITE; b) joint publications and reports; and c) frequent contact between the ITE staff and each of the contractors.
  1. The success of this co-ordination may be measured partly by the prompt and complete meeting of the primary milestones set for each project by the Ministry. A further indication of the success is given by the number of outputs (publications, contract reports and conference presentations) that arose directly or partially from the MAFF wetland restoration programme.
  1. The present report includes three appendices that list those outputs for the years 1991-9. Of the 128 listed, over 40% (53 items) involved direct collaboration between the contractors, and the greater part of the remainder benefited from inputs by contractors other than the stated authors.

1BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVES of STUDY

The Ministry of Agriculture first funded research on wetland restoration in 1991 (CSA2069 - Treweek et al., 1991), when the ITE, ADAS and Cambridge University Department of Land Economy were commissioned to prepare a review of the current state of knowledge. These contractors also collaborated on a second phase of this review (BD0202/3 - Treweek et al., 1993). Following these reports, MAFF announced a major funding initiative in 1993 to support six “wetland” projects with a total spend in 1994/5 of £407K. As originally set up these six projects were (MAFF project numbers were later altered in some cases):

CodeContractor(s)Title

BD0204I.T.E.Effects of managing water levels to maintain or enhance ecological diversity within discrete catchments - ecological aspects.

BD0205A.D.A.S.Effects of managing water levels to maintain or enhance ecological diversity within discrete catchments - hydrological aspects.

BD0206I.T.E.Wetland restoration: techniques for an integrated approach. Phase III (previously BD0202) [Subcontract to IGER]

BD0207A.D.A.S.Support for the I.T.E. wetland restoration project (previously BD0203).

WL01I.T.E./A.D.A.SAssessment of the effects of managing water levels to enhance ecological diversity (later BD0208 and BD0210; finally BD1301 and BD1302)

WL04Silsoe CollegeWater regime requirements of the native flora - with particular reference to ESAs (later BD0209).

Further projects were commissioned in subsequent years:

BD0213ITEWetland restoration: techniques for an integrated approach. Phase IV. [Subcontract to IGER]

BD0214ADASWetland restoration: techniques for an integrated approach. Phase IV. Experimental studies at Tadham Moor.

BD0216ITE/ADASThe influence of farmland management on wetland bird populations (later BD0224, finally BD1309)

BD0218ITEA strategy for targeting restoration of vegetation at a national and regional scale: wet grassland.

BD0221ADAS/SilsoeExamination of the potential impacts of alternative management regimes in the Somerset Levels and Moors

BD0222ITEMAFF Wetland Projects: Publication and dissemination of findings

BD0225Silsoe CollegeWater-regime requirements of grassland plant communities. [Subcontract to ITE] (later BD1310)

BD1313ITEThe impact of raised water-levels on the biodiversity and agricultural value of lowland grassland. [Subcontracts to ADAS and IGER]

In a letter dated 25th October 1993, the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that the original six projects, together with those subsequently commissioned in the wetland restoration research programme, should be co-ordinated by the NERC Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. To that end a further small contract was issued to the ITE, MAFF- commissioned project BD0211 (later renumbered BD1304). This co-ordination project was to run concurrent with BD1301, the project with the longest duration in the research programme. All the wetland restoration research, except projects BD1310 and BD1313, ended in March 1999, and the co-ordination project ceased at that time.

Scientific objectives of project BD1304 (ex-BD0211):

1To liase with ADAS and Cranfield University to resolve any difficulties that might arise.

2To assist each contractor (and sub-contractor e.g. IGER and Cambridge University) in meeting its own ROAME objectives and “milestones” on time.

3To ensure that there is no duplication of effort.

Milestones for evaluating the success of the research conducted under BD1304
  • Completion of six complementary projects in the field of “Wetland Restoration”
Primary milestones for monitoring progress of BD1304
Milestone number / Title / Completion date
YEARS 1-5 (In all years)
1 / Chair meetings each year, attended by all contractors / October/
November
2 / Submission of progress reports / March

2RESULTS and DISCUSSION

The objectives of the co-ordination project were achieved in three ways, through regular progress meetings, through joint papers and reports, and most importantly through frequent contacts by the ITE staff concerned (J.O. Mountford, J. Sheail, and J.R. Treweek) with all the contractors.

2.1Meetings

The main co-ordination meeting of each year was held in the autumn, following the end of the field season. The agenda of these meetings varied in detail, but certain items were common to them all:

  • Illustrated verbal report by each participating contractor on progress with each of the projects
  • Identification of timetable and deadlines for the exchange of data, text and other materials for joint research
  • Discussion of results, and scientific progress
  • Identification of opportunities for published papers, and other outputs
  • Discussion of the overall programme, and any need for further research

In addition special meetings involving all the contractors were held to discuss particular topics. For example a two-day workshop was held at ITE Monks Wood in December 1996 on the subjects of assessing the restorability of sites, and water management for agriculture and conservation. Different sessions within this workshop addressed physical site factors, ecological factors, spatial factors and the agricultural and economic context for restoration. On a few occasions researchers from outside the MAFF wetland restoration research programme were invited to make a presentation on subjects relevant to the progress of the work e.g.

  • Dr Malcolm Ausden (RSPB): Birds, their food and water-management
  • Dr Joanna Becker (Cambridge University): Mitigation banking as an economic opportunity for ecological restoration

Following each meeting agreed action points were circulated to all the contractors by the co-ordinators, with follow-up contacts from the ITE to ensure progress to meet deadlines. Smaller meetings between the ITE and each of the other contractors took place more frequently, and direct links between the other contractors (e.g. ADAS and the University of Cranfield) were established.

2.2Productivity

The success of this co-ordinated approach can be demonstrated partly by the prompt delivery of research results to the Ministry, but an equally significant measure of success is the overall productivity of the research programme in terms of written outputs. Three appendices are included within this report that list the outputs from the MAFF wetland restoration research programme.

Appendix 1 lists all published material that draws wholly or partly on MAFF wetland research commissioned between 1991 and 1999. In total, 68 papers or related outputs were produced, of which 22 had authors from two or more of the contractors. A particularly significant publication was The Wet Grassland Guide (Benstead et al., 1997), which was published by the RSPB and endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The ITE co-ordinators (Treweek and Mountford) were among the authors, and the work drew heavily on research by the other contractors in the research programme, with important advice, commentary and examples being provided by IGER and the University of Cranfield. To some extent, the Guide provided an overview of the state of knowledge on wet agricultural grasslands toward the end of the MAFF-commissioned programme.

Usually the first product of commissioned research is a contract report. Appendix 2 presents the 43 reports that were submitted during the programme’s duration. Of course, the great majority of these reports were made directly to the Ministry of Agriculture, but at least one report to English Nature (Tallowin, 1997) draws on this programme, being a review of research on agricultural productivity in lowland grasslands. Twenty-two of the contract reports involved contributions from more than one of the contractors, and all the reports were written following advice and exchange of information between the partner research institutes.

Finally, Appendix 3 lists 17 other outputs (eight of them with authorship by more than one of the contractors), most of which are conference presentations or posters. It should be pointed out that a significant number of the published papers (e.g. Armstrong and Rose, 1998; Gowing and Spoor, 1998; Mountford et al., 1997; Tallowin and Mountford, 1997) were also first presented at conferences, including a major one on Grassland Management in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. At each of these conferences, the presenters and/or authors stressed the interdisciplinary nature of the research, the links with the partner institutes, and the role of MAFF in commissioning the research to answer policy questions.

By the end of 1999, a total of 128 separate items of output had emerged either directly from the MAFF commissioned research or drawing significantly upon it. Further publications are being drafted or planned by all the partner institutes. Of this overall output, 53 items involved authors from more than one of the contractors, representing 41% of the total.

The overall success of the co-ordinating project (BD1304) can therefore demonstrated by

  • The effective exchange of data and other materials between the contractors
  • The prompt meeting of deadlines, including contract reports
  • The very high productivity in terms of publications, conference presentations etc
  • The significant proportion of the output that resulted from close collaboration between the partner institutes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author and present co-ordinators of the wetland restoration programme wish to express their deepest thanks to Dr J R Treweek, who initiated the programme of wetland restoration research and co-ordinated the work during its early years. Our thanks also go to colleagues in our partner research institutes, for their tremendous help and co-operation through the period of the wetland restoration programme, and for the provision of material for the present report. Finally we extend our thanks to Richard Brand-Hardy of the Ministry of Agriculture for his advice, help and interest in the work over the period 1991-9.

1

Appendix 1:Refereed publications, conference papers and other published articles drawing wholly or partly on research commissioned by MAFF (1991-99) on wetland restoration (see Introduction for list of project codes)

Armstrong, A.C. (1993). Modelling the response of in-field water tables to ditch levels imposed for ecological aims: a theoretical analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment,43: 345-351

Armstrong, A.C. (1996) Peat mounds with non-uniform properties. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms21: 769-771

Armstrong, A.C (1999) DITCH: A model for examining the interaction between ditch water levels and wetland fields. Paper presented at the European Geophysical Society XXIV General Assembly, The Hague, April 1999. Abstract: Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol.1: no 2: p. 330, 1999.

Armstrong, A.C (1999). Ethical issues in nature protection. Paper presented at the European Geophysical Society XXIV General Assembly, The Hague, April 1999. Abstract: Geophysical Research AbstractsVol.1: no 2: p. 358, 1999. Submitted to Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

Armstrong, A.C. (In press) DITCH: a model to simulate field conditions in response to ditch levels managed for environmental aims. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

Armstrong, A.C., Caldow, R.W.G., Hodge, I.D. and Treweek, J.R. (1995) Re-creating wetlands in Britain: the hydrological, ecological and socio-economic dimensions. In: "Hydrology and Hydrochemistry of British wetlands". Ed J. Hughes and L. Heathwaite, J. Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp. 445-466.

Armstrong, A.C., Caldow, R.W.G., Lambourne, R., Manchester, S.J., Mountford, J.O., Rose, S.C. and Treweek, J.R. (1994). Recreating wet grasslands: hydrological, ecological and economic considerations. FourthBritish Grassland Society Research Conference, 1994, BGS Reading, 99-100

Armstrong, A.C. and Castle, D.A. (1992). Drainage of Organic soils. In “Agricultural Drainage”, Ed. R.W. Skaggs and J. van Schilfgaarde. American Society of Agronomy, series Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 1083 – 1105

Armstrong, A.C., Matthews, A.M., Portwood, A.M., Addiscott, T.M., and Leeds-Harrison, P.B. (1994) Modelling the effects of climate change on the hydrology and water quality of structured soils. In: M.D.A. Rounsevell and P.J. Loveland, (eds.) Soil responses to climate change. NATO ASI Series Vol. 123, Springer-Verlag

Armstrong, A.C., Portwood, A.M., and Castle, D.A. (1993). Simple models to predict field soil water regimes in the presence of ditch water levels managed for environmental aims. Transactions, Workshop on subsurface drainage simulation models, 15th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage, (ICID) The Hague, The Netherlands, 1993, 147-157

Armstrong, A.C. and Rose, S.C. (1998). Managing water for wetland ecosystems: a case study. In European wet grasslands: Biodiversity, management and restoration. Ed. C.B. Joyce and P.M. Wade. J. Wiley, pp. 201-215

Armstrong, A.C. and Rose, S.C. (1999) Ditch water levels managed for environmental aims: effects on field soil water regimes Hydrology and Earth System Sciences,3: 385-393

Armstrong, A.C., Rose, S.C., and Arfa-Zanganeh, F. (1999) Impacts of wetness enhancement measures on the hydrology of a lowland wetland: Marsh Gibbon case study. Paper presented at the European Geophysical Society XXIV General Assembly, The Hague, April 1999. Abstract: Geophysical Research AbstractsVol.1: no 2: p. 332, 1999. Submitted to Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

Armstrong, A.C., Rose, S.C. and Mountford, J.O. (1996). The impacts of water management of regimes on the soil water regimes, observations from the UK and model development. Paper presented to 21st General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society, Session HS1: Open session on hydrology. Abstract in Annales Geophysicae, Supplement II to Volume 14, p C299. 1996

Armstrong, A.C., Rose, S.C. and Mountford, J.O. (1999). Lowland wetlands: management of water and agriculture for ecological objectives Paper presented at the European Geophysical Society XXIV General Assembly, The Hague, April 1999. Abstract: Geophysical Research AbstractsVol.1: no 2: p. 358, 1999. Submitted to Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

Armstrong, A.C., Rose, S.C., and Treweek, J.R. (1993). Water use requirements for managing wetland reserves for ecological aims. Fourth National Hydrology Symposium, University of Wales, College of Cardiff, September 1993, pp. 2.23-2.28

Barratt, D.R., Walker K.J., Pywell, R.F., Mountford, J.O. and Sparks, T H. (1999) Variation in the responses of infraspecific variants of wet grassland species to manipulated water levels. Watsonia, 22, 317-328.

Bekker, R.M., Knevel, I.C., Tallowin, J.R.B., Troost, E.M.L. and Bakker, J.P. (1998). Soil nutrient input effects on seed longevity: a burial experiment with fen-meadow species. Functional Ecology12, 673682.

Benstead, P., Drake, M, José, P.V., Mountford, J.O., Newbold, C. and Treweek, J.R. (1997) . The Wet Grassland Guide. Sandy: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Brown, N.J., Swetnam, R.D., Manchester, S.J., Mountford, J.O., Caldow, R.W.G. and Treweek, J.R. 1996. A wetland GIS: an ecologist's tool for wet grassland management. In: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. 1995-1996 REPORT. (pp. 33-35)

Brown, N.J., Swetnam, R.D., Treweek, J.R., Mountford, J.O., Caldow, R.W.G., Manchester, S.J., Stamp, T.R., Gowing, D.J.G., Solomon, D.R. and Armstrong, A.C. (1998) Issues in GIS development: adapting to research and policy-needs for management of wet grasslands in an Environmentally Sensitive Area. International Journal of Geographical Information Science.12: 465-478.

Caldow, R.W.G., Pearson B. and Rose, S. (1997). The usage of lowland wet grassland by wetland birds: The importance of site wetness. In: Sheldrick, R.D. (ed.) Grassland Management in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. British Grassland Society Occasional Symposium No.32, pp 213215.

Davies, W.J. and Gowing, D.J.G. (1999). Plant responses to small perturbations in soil water status. In: Physiological Plant Ecology. M. Press J. Scholes and M. Barker (eds). British Ecological Society Symposium Volume 39.

Gilbert, J.C., Gowing, D.J.G., Spoor, G. and Mountford, J.O. (1996). Quantifying the hydrological requirements of plants as a tool for the water management of wet grassland. In: Problems of environmental development in rural areas. Vol. 10 Ecological aspects of environmental development. Warsaw Agricultural University. pp 283-294.

Gowing, D.J.G, Morris, J., Spoor, G and Dunderdale, J.A.L. (1994). Reconciling water-regime requirements for environmental and agricultural management. In: Integrated River Basin Development, eds. C Kirby and WR White, Wiley, Chichester.