1. Grassland character and communities
2. Grassland wildlife
3. Semi-natural dry grassland management
4. Grassland restoration: threats and challenges
5. Opportunities in grassland restoration
6. Plant material for dry grassland restoration
7. Defining success in grassland restoration
References
Species Index
Subject Index
David Blakesley is an ecological practitioner, with experience in habitat restoration, project development and ecological surveys. He set up Wildlife Landscapes, an independent ecological consultancy in 2004. Since then he has undertaken projects in partnership with conservation organisations including the RSPB, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Woodland Trust and the Forestry Commission. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and a co-author of numerous publications relating to woodland creation, woodland management and tropical forest restoration.
Peter Buckley is an ecologist, forester and botanist, specialising in ecological restoration and its application to wildlife conservation, biodiversity and development. He set up his own ecological consultancy in 2007 and is currently affiliated to the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, and is also Visiting Lecturer at the Universities of Greenwich and Birkbeck College, London. Dr Buckley is a founder member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management and a long-standing member of the British Ecological Society. He is joint author of numerous publications relating to woodland creation and ecological restoration.
Blakesley and Buckley’s book provides great support to the
practical implementation of grassland restoration and grassland
management. Although the book focuses strongly on the United
Kingdom, there are links to restoration activities applied in other
parts of Europe. The management and restoration techniques
discussed can be used outside the United Kingdom very well, not
only as they apply to site management and restoration but also in
education.
*Policy and Practice in Restoration*
This is a must-read book for everyone involved in projects
involving the management and restoration of grasslands, as this is
the core driver and motivation of this compilation. This book will
certainly be a great help in improving assessments and planning,
and in solving real-world problems and setbacks inherently
associated with these types of projects.
*Journal for Nature Conservation*
Overall, Grassland Restoration and Management is especially
useful for European grassland practitioners and the assessment
of grazing effects, seeding methods, and nutrient management
approaches would be easily transferable for those managing
grasslands elsewhere in the world.
*Landscape Ecology*
The book is pioneering in many ways, as it provides a comprehensive
overview of the conservation status, threats and nature
conservation and restoration perspectives of dry grasslands in the
United Kingdom. There is an urgent need for such books on grassland
restoration and management in many regions. This publication is a
nice example to follow, and hopefully similar syntheses will be
published in other countries as well… To sum up, this is a
comprehensive and practice‐oriented book, which can be recommended
for conservationists, site managers and also for scientists who are
concerned with the conservation and restoration of grassland
habitats.
*Bulletin of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group*
This new book is well formatted and there are ample photos and
tables to complement the text. The authors successfully pull
together the latest research and a wealth of practical advice on
the ways to preserve, restore and create natural grasslands.
Various management and restoration techniques such as soil
amendment, reseeding and harvesting are all comprehensively
covered. As are the threats and challenges of conserving this
declining habitat, along with remedial measures available to land
managers. Other chapters provide detailed information about the
different grassland communities and their associated wildlife. My
one minor criticism is that there could have been more emphasis on
wet grassland communities, which are hardly mentioned. Despite this
I am certain this latest edition in the Conservation Handbook
series will be essential reading for land managers and site owners
alike.
*About Birds, British Trust for Ornithology*
This book is designed for those involved in the conservation and
management of grasslands in the UK. While grasslands represent some
37% of the surface area of the UK, only about 2% of that area can
be considered unimproved or semi-natural. Sadly, around 86% of the
unimproved grasslands are hay meadows. It is not therefore
surprising that such grasslands are of major conservation concern,
and some categories have been recognised as priority areas in UK
Biodiversity Action Plans and EU Habitat Directives… I was pleased
to see the importance of grasslands for other organisms emphasised,
with valuable synopses of associated invertebrates of concern,
including butterflies, birds, mammals, reptiles, and fungi (even
saprobes and pathogens). Particular attention is given to grazing
regimes, including management of cattle and sheep, and mechanical
harvesting. The treatments are pragmatic and hands-on, also with
discussions of when to use herbicides and coping with invasives,
not least bracken… The whole is lavishly illustrated with coloured
photographs, both of organisms, grassland types, and management
operations. The authors are both experienced ecological
consultants, and this is reflected in a welcome hands-on approach
throughout. This is surely destined to be the major reference work
on grasslands for conservation practitioners in the UK, and merits
a wide distribution amongst county Naturalists’ Trusts, local
authority ecologists, and those responsible for the management of
grassland SSSI’s.
*Biodiversity and Conservation*
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