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Setting a baseline

Common blue butterfly

In our first two years, we collected baseline data on the farm’s wildlife. Knowing what we started with allows us to see how our experimental techniques have affected the farm’s wildlife populations.

We found once-common (but still widespread) species such as skylarks, linnets and yellowhammers at the farm.

Improving the habitat for birds is a priority, but we also hope that the changes we make will benefit other species. In many cases, helping one species means helping another. For example, increased numbers of insects means more food for insectivorous birds.

Therefore, the monitoring programme includes butterflies, moths, dragonflies, surface and crop-dwelling insects, small mammals, hares and a variety of other groups.

As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we will be repeating a lot of the original baseline monitoring to examine how management of the site have benefited the other species.

Some of the highlights from our monitoring are:

  • Butterflies: 24 species have been recorded. The farm includes two transects which form part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
  • Bumblebee: Seven species of bumblebee including the nationally scarce Biodiversity action plan (BAP) species Bombus ruderatus
  • Moths: Over 350 species of moth have been trapped using light traps including the BAP species white-spotted pinion and square-spotted clay
  • Fungi: The Huntingshire Fungus Group completed a one-year study and identified an incredible 491 fungal species including one species, Eutypa crustata, recorded for the first time in Britain!

Last modified: 09 November 2009

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