Management options for hedgerow vegetation : combining weed control with habitat improvement for predatory arthropods
Management options for hedgerow vegetation : combining weed control with habitat improvement for predatory arthropods
In a project designed to explore possibilities for botanical improvement of hedge-bottom vegetation, with the added aim of enhancing resources for aphid predators, nine different management options were compared in a replicated experiment along the length of a hedge. In all treatments the hedge-bottom was extended from approximately 0.5 m to 2m. There were three unsown treatments: natural regeneration, natural regeneration with frequent cutting during establishment and natural regeneration with a single selective application of herbicide. The six sown treatments first had the existing vegetation removed with glyphosate and were then re-sown with cock's foot (Dactylis glomerata) and red fescue (Festuca rubra), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), Yorkshire fog (Hocs lanatus) and a mixture of all four species; the sixth sown treatment had a mixture of the four grasses and was cut frequently during establishment.
Sampling of overwintering polyphagous arthropods was carried out in the existing hedge-bottom before treatment and for the successive four winters. Hedge-bottom extension was considered likely to increase the availability of overwintering habitat for polyphagous predators, but none of the treatments appeared to offer any advantage over simple natural regeneration. Proximity to the hedge and the depth of the sod layer had a positive effect on predator numbers. An experiment comparing different methods of sampling overwintering arthropods showed that, unlike 0.01m2 circular cores and suction samples, 0.04m2 square spade samples generally gave data that was suitable for parametric statistical testing.
Botanical surveys were carried out during June for the three summers following treatment. None of the treatments had an overall advantage over natural regeneration alone, apart from the herbicide treatment, which gave the best control of cleavers (Gallium aparine). This treatment also carried the highest densities of couch grass (Elymus repens).
University of Southampton
1997
Dunkley, Felicity Ann
(1997)
Management options for hedgerow vegetation : combining weed control with habitat improvement for predatory arthropods.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
In a project designed to explore possibilities for botanical improvement of hedge-bottom vegetation, with the added aim of enhancing resources for aphid predators, nine different management options were compared in a replicated experiment along the length of a hedge. In all treatments the hedge-bottom was extended from approximately 0.5 m to 2m. There were three unsown treatments: natural regeneration, natural regeneration with frequent cutting during establishment and natural regeneration with a single selective application of herbicide. The six sown treatments first had the existing vegetation removed with glyphosate and were then re-sown with cock's foot (Dactylis glomerata) and red fescue (Festuca rubra), false oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), Yorkshire fog (Hocs lanatus) and a mixture of all four species; the sixth sown treatment had a mixture of the four grasses and was cut frequently during establishment.
Sampling of overwintering polyphagous arthropods was carried out in the existing hedge-bottom before treatment and for the successive four winters. Hedge-bottom extension was considered likely to increase the availability of overwintering habitat for polyphagous predators, but none of the treatments appeared to offer any advantage over simple natural regeneration. Proximity to the hedge and the depth of the sod layer had a positive effect on predator numbers. An experiment comparing different methods of sampling overwintering arthropods showed that, unlike 0.01m2 circular cores and suction samples, 0.04m2 square spade samples generally gave data that was suitable for parametric statistical testing.
Botanical surveys were carried out during June for the three summers following treatment. None of the treatments had an overall advantage over natural regeneration alone, apart from the herbicide treatment, which gave the best control of cleavers (Gallium aparine). This treatment also carried the highest densities of couch grass (Elymus repens).
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Published date: 1997
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Local EPrints ID: 463194
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463194
PURE UUID: 1b9ca1e2-e482-488f-a106-a5c816af2b12
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:47
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 20:47
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Author:
Felicity Ann Dunkley
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