Our Second Limestone Pavement Partnership Conference
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Last week, we welcomed nearly 50 conservation practitioners, academics and students for our second Limestone Pavement Partnership conference.
The day began with a special speaker, Stephen Ward. Fifty years ago this month, Stephen and his collaborator David Evans published their incredibly influential and important survey of limestone pavements in Britain; the report led to Gait Barrows becoming a National Nature Reserve and ultimately contributed to the passage of Section 34 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act of 1981, which gives local authorities the power and duty to protect limestone pavements. The Ward-Evans report is still used for valuable ecological data on pavements today and has inspired our own Professor Carly Stevens’ repeat survey. It was a real privilege to hear Stephen speak about the challenges and triumphs of that survey and a great way to kick off the conference.
The day was then filled with talks from practitioners and researchers working on limestone pavements and their adjacent calcareous grasslands, with really strong themes emerging throughout the day.
Talks by Ezra Tattersall (PhD Student, Lancaster University), Scott Petrek (Reserves Officer, Cumbria Wildlife Trust) and Wilson Flint (MRes postgraduate researcher, Edge Hill University) focused on the need for more data on management of limestone pavements and calcareous grasslands, looking at everything from scrub removal, in the case of Ezra and Scott, to grazing management, discussed by Wilson.
Other talks shared ongoing research to better understand the unique and highly varied microclimates of limestone pavements and adjacent habitats. Professor Carly Stevens (Lancaster University) talked about a new experiment studying the effects of nitrogen on limestone pavements’ soil, while MRes student Sian Hale (Lancaster University) discussed her ongoing research looking at the varying soils of limestone pavements. Sophie Roberts, who recently completed her Masters by research at Lancaster University, shared her investigations into bryophyte communities on shaded and open limestone pavements. And Dr. Andy Wilby (Lancaster University) rounded out the picture, sharing data on floral communities and the pollinators that visit them at Warton Crag, a mosaic of habitats that includes bits of pavement, calcareous grassland and more wooded areas.
The two final talks of the day focused on restoring and even recreating limestone pavements. Andrew Cannell and Erin Lacey of Shuttleworth Botanic Garden shared more on their plans to create an ex-situ limestone pavement on the Isle of Man. Their hope is it will both educate the public about these unique and rare landscapes and provide new opportunities for scientific research. Hebe Carus journeyed south to share more about Forestry and Land Scotland’s efforts to reclaim limestone pavement from pine plantation near Schiehallion, Scotland.
The discussion around all the papers was great, and the group kept returning to questions of how to best manage and preserve limestone pavements—and the lack of data around key questions such as optimal grazing for pavements and scrub levels. So it was really nice, in the afternoon workshop session, to breakout into small groups to talk about the barriers, challenges, and opportunities for gaining better data around management. With so much knowledge and expertise in the room, these discussions were really lively and the Partnership is really looking forward to combing through all the input and using it to better support our network in our shared aim of preserving the amazing and varied habitats that are limestone pavements.
This is really only a taste of the vibrant discussions, and I know I personally left feeling really excited and energised about the Partnership’s work to come. I think it’s a mark of the level of excitement and engagement that long after the conference had officially “ended” and the tea and coffee had been cleared away, the room was still full of discussion. If you were hoping to come to the conference but missed it, all the talks will be on our YouTube channel soon. And if you’re not already on our mailing list and want to find out when our next conference is, or just keep up-to-date on the partnership, you can join by emailing Carly.
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