The role of buffer zones in the conservation of semi-natural habitats

Angold, Penelope Gaynor (1992) The role of buffer zones in the conservation of semi-natural habitats. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Abstract

The importance of the use of conservation buffer zones around nature reserves is investigated through a series of observations and experiments to determine the extent of the effect of adjacent land use in several different habitats. The three case studies were:1. The impact of a road upon heathland (Chapters 3-6).2. The impact of arable agriculture upon chalk grassland (chapter 7).3. The impact of a housing estate upon urban woodland (chapter 8). In each case an estimate is made of the distance to which a detectable perturbation extends into the habitat and the long term consequences of the different impacts are discussed. The impact of a road upon heathland was primarily a nitrogen input, and changes in the vegetation were detected up to 200 metres from a road. The impact of agriculture was primarily a phosphorus input, and changes in the chalk grassland habitat were detected up to 100 metres from a field. The impact of housing upon urban woodland was not a simply quantifiable edge effect, being primarily disturbance and damage from human penetration. In a small sample of urban woods, the greatest perturbation was approximately 20 metres into the wood. In chapter 9, two case studies are used to demonstrate the importance of the use of conservation buffer zones to absorb edge effects from land surrounding nature reserves. Using estimates of the extent of the edge effects based on the field studies, remnants of woodland in Greater London, and of heathland in the Poole Basin, are measured to show the relative amounts of pristine habitat, and that which may have been degraded or altered by the edge effect. In the Poole Basin, the fragmentation of the heath has been well documented, and the absolute and effective loss of habitat through time are compared. The results show that very little undisturbed habitat may be left in these fragments although the absolute area is relatively large.

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