Grazing is the key to the conservation ofGentianella campestris(L.) Börner (Gentianaceae): evidence from the north Merseyside sand-dunes

Abstract

AbstractPopulations and habitat of the internationally-declining Gentianella campestris (L.) Borner were studied on a calcareous coastal sand-dune system at Ainsdale in north-western England. The total of 140,700 plants is thought to be the largest population in Britain and may be of European significance. In recent years, this species has greatly increased at Ainsdale, especially within a ‘Dune Restoration Area’ where pine trees and scrub were removed in the 1990s, followed by sheep-grazing. G. campestris was mainly found in dry-slacks where patches of short grassy vegetation are maintained by rabbits within areas largely dominated by Salix repens (UK National Vegetation Classification SD16d: Salix repens–Holcus lanatus dune-slack, Agrostis stolonifera sub-community). There was a close coincidence between G. campestris occurrence and compartments fenced for winter sheep-grazing, but plants were absent from older, more acidic, slacks in the eastern part of the study area. It is inferred that the recent po...