Grassland
Within Basingstoke, we have good examples of the first two sub-categories:
- Lowland calcareous grassland ( down land)
- Lowland meadows
and a limited amount of the rarer
- Flood meadows
With a practical perspective, members may also consider the role of improved amenity grass within their sites and roadside verges in their neighbourhood. These are dealt with in more detail in the section Wood-pasture and Parkland.
Managing grassland for biodiversity involves planning over a number of years for:
– enrichment of species range by a range of techniques,
– control of invasive species,
– cutting regime objectives – are they aimed at promoting the range of flora species, invertebrates promotion, mammal and bird populations, the needs of each category are not always compatible so priorities have to be agreed.
A useful source of basic advice is the 2014 Grassland Management Course held at Bishops Waltham organised by Flora Locale with Pete Potts (ex-HCC Countryside Services) as presenter. See the notes from the course here.