South East England Biodiversity Forum

Lowland meadow

What is it?

Lowland meadows includes most forms of unimproved neutral grassland found in the enclosed lowland landscapes of the UK, including pastures. This includes areas of lowland neutral grassland that are not managed as meadows or pastures, such as churchyards, road verges and recreational sites that tend to be cut or mown.

For further informaiton please see the UK BAP website or see the regional BAP definition or the national BAP habitat definition for further information.

The situation in the South East

There are 3,300 ha of Lowland Meadow in South East, equivalent to 10% of the total UK resource. A high proportion of the region’s lowland meadow, or land that is suitable for the restoration or re-creation of lowland meadow, is in the ownership of conservation bodies, notably Natural England, the National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB.

The National Vegitation ClasificationMG4 grassland community have a lower overall cover, but there are still a few quite large stands. Alopecurus - Sanguisorba flood-meadow has a total cover of less than 1,500 ha and is found in scattered sites across the Thames Valley. These include well-known, but now very rare, Lammas meadows, such as North Meadow, Cricklade, and Pixey and Yarnton Meads near Oxford, which are shut up for hay in early spring and cropped in July, with aftermath grazing from early August. Nutrients are supplied by flooding episodes in winter.

Precise data for the cover of unimproved neutral grassland communities within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are unavailable. In the South East there are approximately 400 SSSIs with Cynosurus - Centaureagrassland and 66 SSSIs with Alopecurus - Sanguisorbafloodplain meadow.  

 

Extent in England app 7300 ha
Extent in the SE region app. 5,000
Percentage UK resource in the SE   68%
Extent covered by SSSI designation   

 

Rate of change

 

 County 1998 extent (ha)  2008 extent (ha) 
 Berkshire  200  229
 Buckinghamshire 60
  143
 Hampshire  unknown  1,000
 Isle of Wight  130  200
 Kent  430  app. 200
 Oxfordshire  350  602
 Surrey  unknown  150
 Sussex  690  786
 Total  unknown 3,310

1998 data taken from 'The Biodiversity of South East England - An Audit and Assessment' published by the Wildlife Trusts of South East England and the RSPB, South East and Central Regions  

2008 data taken from regional or national BAP habitat inventory.

Please note that some of the changes listed here are due to improvements in mapping and habitat definition. 

 

Current threats

  • Unimproved neutral grassland habitat underwent a remarkable decline in the 20th century due to numerous factors:
  • Agricultural intensification has led to the extensive development of nutrient-demanding, productive Lolium perenne grasslands. These are managed for grazing and also silage production, which has widely replaced traditional hay-making.
  • Agricultural improvement through, drainage, ploughing, re-seeding, fertiliser treatment, slurry application, conversion to arable and a shift from hay-making to silage production.
  • Perception. There has been a decline in the perceived agricultural value of species-rich pasture and hay in farming regimes.
  • Abandonment leading to rank over-growth, and bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and scrub encroachment.
  • Supplementary stock feeding, associated with increased stocking levels, which can lead to eutrophication as well as localised poaching.
  • Application of herbicides and other pesticides.
  • Atmospheric pollution and climate change, the influence of which is not fully assessed.
  • Reduced inundation frequency and duration, in water-meadows and floodplain grasslands associated with abandoned irrigation schemes, and lowered water tables as a result of land drainage, flood alleviation engineering, surface and ground water abstraction, floodplain gravel extraction and other activities.

Floristic impoverishment due to heavy grazing pressure and changes in stock species and breeds.

Vision for lowland meadow

  • The South East Biodiversity Forum’s vision for this habitat is that there should be:
  • No further loss of existing habitat
  • Good management, including where appropriate scrub control, light grazing and visitor management, on all extant sites
  • No damage to site integrity from activities arising outside the sites, eg. inadequately managed public access
  • Re-creation of lowland meadow on appropriate sites to restore some past losses, including the linking up of fragmented sites
  • Greater public appreciation of lowland meadow and their specialist wildlife, including greater awareness of the impacts of human pressures, such as dog-walking, mountain-biking, dumping of waste
  • Creation of alternative green space around important lowland meadow areas under pressure for increasing new housing.

How we can deliver this vision