Surveys – We log every new species we identify on the farm and try to record spatial and temporal patterns as well. This species inventory determines almost everything that occurs on the farm from habitat-management to wildlife tours and education, it also provides a useful “measure”biodiversity barometer” to judge the impacts that our work is having.
Ponds – A Patch Wilder is an area identified as “High Priority” for pond-creation in a scheme run by Natural England to link together fragmented populations of great crested newts. We have been giving funding by Natural England and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) to create 4 ponds on the Patch, which will had wide-ranging benefits for all sorts of wildlife.
Trees – Unfortuately, our corner of the Mendips is being ravaged by ash dieback disease. We have around 5 acres of woodland here at A Patch Wilder, 90% of which is composed of ash trees. We expect to lose most, if not all of these trees over the next 10 to 20 years. However, we will hopefully not lose the woodland. We will be re-planting the woodland with a diverse mix of native Mendip trees. Diversity being the key to mitigating the devastating impacts of diseases such as dieback. To date, we have planted over 1600 trees here with help from donations by The Woodland Trust and Extinction Rebellion.
Orchard – Traditional orchards have been a feature of the British landscape for many thousands of years and are a haven for all sorts of plants and animals. Around two thirds of Britain’s orchards have been lost since 1960 – rubbed up and replanted with cereals, replaced by development or simply neglected. In the past, the farm here hosted a cider orchard, which is now sadly gone. However we have begun replanting a traditional orchard with local varieties on traditional (M25) root stock.
Limestone Grassland – A botanical survey in 2020 by the Somerset Rare Plants Group, who identfied a staggering 257 plant species here and confirmed the presence of a small, remnant section of speceies-rich limestone grassland. This section had started to scrub-over from a lack of grazing and so we will be hacking back the scrub, and scything the grass – effectively mimicing the effects of large herbivores in an attempt to preserve our rarest and most species-rich habitat here.
Wildflower meadows – The main fields were previously used as a camp site and regular mowing over the years has allowed fast-growing grasses to dominate over the more delicate wildflowers. We are hoping to reverse this trend. We will be managing the grass by cutting it once a year (in late summer) for hay, followed by aftermath grazing. This management regime will leach the soil of nutrients over time and create lots of opportunities for seed dispersal and germination. To help the process along, we have seeded the meadows with yellow rattle, an invaluable flower that acts as a hemi-parasite on grasses – weakening their growth, and creating opportunities for other wildlfowers to thrive.
Scrub mosaic – Throughout the meadows we will be actively encouraging the growth of scrub patches and thickets of thorny bushes. This habitat is much maligned as ‘untidy’ by many UK landowners but current research shows that this is likley what much of the country would have looked like before the first agrcultural revolution (around 10,000 years ago). Large herbivores such as the aurochs, tarpan, elk and boar (so-called ecosystem engineers) would have perpetuated this mosaic by browsing on the shoots of young trees, keeping forests at bay, whilst breaking up the soil and dispersing seeds. Unfortunately, we have been unable to get our hands on any aurochs for the project, so we will be mimicing them as best we can by selectively cutting grass and scrub in some areas, whilst letting natural succession take place elsewhere, resulting in a patchy mosaic of trees, scrub and grass.
Dormice – We are a member of the PTES National Dormouse Monitoring Program and will continue to record the dormouse population, whilst carrying oout beneficial land-management practices (coppicing, tree-planting and hedge-laying).
Adders – We are hoping to give local populations a boost through the creation of our scrub mosaic (particularly scalloped scrubby margins on south-facing slopes) and ponds – see above). We we have also provided numerous basking spots by leaving out ‘reptile tins’ – these are sections of material such as roofing felt or corrugated iron that heat up in the sun, providing essential warmth for cold-blooded reptiles. We will also be creating hibernacula – partially buried piles of sticks and stones that remain above freezing temperatures in the winter, giving our reptiles a safe place to wait out th cold temperatures. We have also recently started a project using high-resolution photography to record specific individuals using the pattern of head scales as a fingerprint. This will give us greater insight into the population size and seasonal movements of our adders.
Bats – We are hoping to put up a range of bat boxes to create roosting opportunites through the woodland. We would also like to try and construct a larger, insulated horseshoe bat roost, dug back into the hill to help maintain a constant temperature.
Butterflies – We have recorded a number of locally scarce and rare species such as the small blue, silver-washed fritillary and grizzled skipper. Each of these species has a very specific set of requirements from foodplants to habitats and we hope to manage the land to ensure that each one has at least a small corner where all their needs are met!
