I am Sian Hale, and I have spent this year researching the soils found in the grikes of limestone pavements for my Master's by Research. As someone who has come primarily from a geology and geomorphological background with ambitions for it to be integrated more within conservation and land management, limestone pavements and the soils that are the interface between the living and non-living environment is an amazing opportunity to begin my research. Soils provide a wealth of secrets that can be studied to understand more about the environment for these habitats to be managed whilst highlighting the importance geodiversity plays in conservation.

This year I have had the great opportunity to carry out fieldwork on 12 limestone pavement areas across northern England, sampling the soil within the grikes and characterising the grikes to identify correlations that can help us understand how the soils have formed. We know very little about the soil that forms in the grikes of limestone pavements.

I was not always alone in the field though; I was fortunate to be accompanied on two of my field days.

One of my field days I was joined by Scott from Cumbria Wildlife Trust on ‘The Island’ at Farleton Knott where my soil collection method was described as looking like I was doing yoga on the limestone pavement as I was trying to retrieve soil from the deep grikes with my gauge auger.

Another day was at a limestone pavement called ‘The Clouds’ with Sue from Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority where we were balancing on pinnacles for clints as the grikes were densely distributed across the limestone pavement.

Both Scott and Sue were eager to identify the plants, and it was a great opportunity to learn more about plant species found on the limestone pavements that are a key part of the organic matter that contributes to the soil.

Since completing my fieldwork, I have been busy in the lab undertaking a range of analyses to determine key components in the soil to understand factors affecting soil formation and establish how they might vary across limestone pavement areas. To extend this further, I have also undertaken soil sampling on a single limestone pavement in Horton-in-Ribblesdale to identify the limestone content in the soil and how it may vary within a single limestone pavement area.

This feels like just the start for research into the soils of limestone pavements, and how this knowledge might help the conservation of limestone pavements. Every day I find more questions about the soil, the evolution of limestone pavements, or the challenges being experienced by these limestone pavement habitats.

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  A podcast on Hutton Roof Crags

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  Summer at the pavements

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  Our Second Limestone Pavement Partnership Conference

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