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UPLANDS - HEATHER BURNING AND RED GROUSE |


peat, ie. blanket bog and those moors on drier, more shallow peat sites, ie. heathland. Perhaps in contrast to the prior expectations of grouse moor managers, grouse pair densities in spring before breeding were not higher where there was more burning conducted. In contrast, both breeding success, measured by the number of young per adult grouse in July, and post-breeding density, ie. the number of young and adult grouse combined per unit area, were higher on moors where the frequency of recent burning was greater. Again, these relationships between grouse and burning were similar irrespective of underlying peat depth, ie. did not differ between moors compris- ing of heath or blanket bog. The association between rotational burning and grouse breeding success and post-breeding densities provides a justification for recent increases in burning rates for moors seeking to maximise numbers of grouse available for driven grouse shooting. We must stress, however, that these results are non-experimental and hence do not necessarily imply cause and effect. They are based on statistical associations and whereas we tried to compare moors that had otherwise similar management so that we could focus on differences in burning rates, those moors with higher burning rates may also have been more efficient in other aspects of grouse moor management, ie. the keepers may also have been more effective in controlling grouse predators or parasites. The Trust are keen to develop long-term, multi-site, multi-discipline burning experiments to help collective stakeholder understanding of such complex relation- ships, with a view to helping overcome any apparent conflict between grouse manage- ment and other ecosystem services, particularly on deep peat sites.


Heather height showed greater variation on moors where more heather was burned. © Laurie Campbell


BACKGROUND


Rotational burning of moorland vegetation is considered by most grouse moor managers to create structurally diverse habitat that helps maximise red grouse abundance for shooting by increas- ing the number of breeding terri- tories that a moor can support. However, there is growing concern that increased burning is impacting upon upland ecosystems.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


We would like to thank all the owners and keepers who granted access to their moors for this study.


White seed heads of cotton grass, a peat forming species that is often encouraged by rotational burning of heather over peat-rich substrates. © Laurie Campbell


www.gwct.org.uk GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2016 | 49


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