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Hedgerow Heroes Meyrick Estate initiative - survey results are in
All the proposed wildlife, hedgerow and soil surveys have been completed and results are in.
Soil surveys were undertaken by our Hedgerow Heroes volunteers under the supervision of the Ecology Team at the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Samples were taken in areas where there have never been hedges and in areas where hedges were ripped out many years ago. It soon became evident that the soil in the areas of the field where there had been hedges before was much darker and richer in organic matter than elsewhere. This demonstrates that, even many years later, hedges have a long-term beneficial effect.
With test results back from the lab, we learned there were quite high levels of phosphorus in the soil. This is unsurprising since the field was farmed with arable crops for many years and would probably have had significant use of fertiliser in the past. When the soil surveys are repeated in the future, we expect the phosphorus levels to have gone down. We would also expect the soil under and alongside the new hedgerows to have generally higher organic matter readings. This should reflect a higher soil carbon content and clearly demonstrate the benefit of the hedge planting in the context of climate change mitigation. The new hedgerows will be storing carbon both above ground, in the branches and leaves, and in the soil and roots.
From the bird survey, most were observed along the established hedgerow. There was a good diversity and abundance of birds with a total of 218 birds of 31 species recorded over three visits. A mix of common garden bird species were noted, including blackbird, blue tit, great tit and robin as well as long-tailed tits. Along the woodland stretch there were great spotted woodpeckers, nuthatch, mistle thrush and chaffinch. A large flock of approximately 30 redwing were spotted in the paddocks and flying over.
A total of five species of bat were observed during the surveys including: common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, noctule, serotine and Myotis bat species. As expected, most of the bat activity was recorded along the existing hedgerow and woodland edge, as these provide good foraging habitat for bats while connecting to other areas of hedgerow and woodland in the wider landscape.
A low number of bumblebees, including 17 individuals of three species of bumblebee were recorded across the three survey visits: the red-tailed bumblebee, buff-tailed bumblebee and white/buff-tailed bumblebee. This low abundance of bumblebees is likely a result of surveys being conducted either late or early in the season when there was a lower botanical diversity, therefore reduced nectar opportunities and fewer blossoms, within the hedgerows and the conditions were cooler. The common carder bee was the most frequently recorded species, with a total of 11 being observed during three of the four visits.
During the butterfly surveys, a total of 24 of seven species were recorded including large white, small white, green-veined white, red admiral, speckled wood, meadow brown and gatekeeper. Large and small white were the most abundant, closely followed by red admiral. Meadow brown was only seen on one occasion. One species of moth, rush veneer, was also identified. All species are common and widespread.
We look forward to revisiting these at some point in the future to see what impact the work has made.
Please see the full report here:
