Post Medieval land use and vegetation change in upland Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales, UK. Presented by Helen Shaw at the "Perth II: Global Change and the World's Mountains" conference in Perth, Scotland in September 2010.

1. Post Medieval land use and vegetation change in
upland Ribblesdale, Yorkshire Dales, UK.
Helen Shaw and Ian Whyte
Lancaster Environment Centre
Lancaster University

2. Research Rationale
“Over the past 50 years, humans have
changed ecosystems more rapidly and
extensively than in any comparable period
of time in human history” (MEA, 2005).
Very little if any land in Europe is natural.
“Traditional agricultural knowledge
commonly promotes sustainable
production systems” (MEA 2005 Mountain
Systems p683)
CBD use traditional knowledge where
“relevant for the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity”
MEA 2005: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Condition.aspx
Article 8(j): Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices
http://www.cbd.int/traditional/

3. Two major caveats
Generalised view at global scale.
(Need to scale down to the local or
regional environment to understand
relevance)
Ecology and traditional management
are both driven by processes with
adaptation strategies as change
occurs. (We need to understand
impacts and dynamics at a local scale).
… and a question!
How much do we really know about the
impact of traditional management on
biodiversity – is it sustainable?

4. Research
Use palaeoecology and landscape history to
determine vegetation change and likely
drivers of that change
 Examining post-medieval landscape
change in upland England
 Aims driven by
 lack of long-term data in ecology for
conservation management
 lack of data on impacts of traditional
management
 need to understand ecological
dynamics

5. Palaeoecology/Palynology method
Pollen residue
Send to
Peat Core
lab for
14C
dating
Data output and interpretation

6. Source area, pollen-vegetation and depth- time relationships
Local Regional Local
TIME
Quantity of a
pollen type as a
percentage of
total pollen
counted
Peat/Sediment Core
Small hollows provide proxies for local vegetation
Jacobson & Bradshaw 1981. Quat. Res., 16, 80-96.

7. Several local scale sites can illustrate variance in landscape
through space and time.

8. English uplands: Cultural landscapes
What is traditional management?
Is traditional management relevant to
sustaining biodiversity?

9. Case study area: Ribblesdale
100 km British National Grid Squares
Ribblesdale Area Map
Ribblehead catchment area between the
mountains of Ingleborough (724m) and
Pen y Ghent (694m)
Ingleborough National Nature Reserve

12. Wife Park
core

13. Pollen-vegetation relationship
Grasses (P= 0.001) Sedges (P=0.001)
50.0
100.0
45.0
90.0
80.0 40.0
70.0 35.0
Grass pollen % NAP
Sedge % pollen nap
60.0 30.0
50.0 25.0
40.0 20.0
30.0 15.0
20.0 10.0
10.0 5.0
0.0 0.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Sedges vegetation % cover
Grass % vegetation cover
Herbs (P=0.015) Heaths (P=0.2(ns) P=0.001 (2 outliers removed))
45.0 50.0
45.0
40.0
40.0
35.0
Heaths percentage NAP
35.0
Herb pollen % nap
30.0
30.0
25.0
25.0
20.0
20.0
15.0
15.0
10.0
10.0
5.0 5.0
0.0 0.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0
Herb vegetation % cover Heaths % vegetation cover to 50m

14. Wife Park Age-depth Model
14C dates at 20cm and 40cm and SCP curve rise in 1950’s peak c. 1979
Wife Park age-depth model
depth (cm)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
2000 Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]
600BP SUERC-27859 : 230±30BP
Wife Park SCP curve 68.2% probability
Radiocarbon determination
1640AD (35.8%) 1670AD
400BP 1780AD (26.0%) 1800AD
1940AD ( 6.4%) 1960AD
SCPs (as a percentage of pollen)
95.4% probability
1900 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
200BP 1630AD (44.7%) 1690AD
1730AD (39.5%) 1810AD
1930AD (11.3%) 1960AD
5
0BP
-200BP
10
1800
Depth (cm)
15
20 1400CalAD 1600CalAD 1800CalAD 2000CalAD
Calibrated date
1700
Years cal.AD
25
30
1600 35
1500 Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]
900BP SUERC-27860 : 700±30BP
68.2% probability
Radiocarbon determination
800BP 1270AD (61.7%) 1300AD
1370AD ( 6.5%) 1380AD
700BP 95.4% probability
1400 600BP
1260AD (76.3%) 1310AD
1350AD (19.1%) 1390AD
500BP
400BP
1300
1100CalAD 1200CalAD 1300CalAD 1400CalAD 1500CalAD
1200 Calibrated date

15. Wife Park summary pollen data
Percentage of total land pollen
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1408 1451 1495 1538 1582 1625 1669 1712 1756 1799 1830 1883 1937 1961 1977 1982 1988 1995 2001 2007
0-1
2-3
4-5
6-7 Coniferous
Depth (cm)/Time years AD
8-9 trees
10-10.5 Broadleaved
12-12.5
trees
Shrubs
14-14.5
16-16.5
Heaths
18-18.5
20-20.5 Herbs
22-22.5
24-24.5 Wild grasses
26-26.5
28-28.5
Grass pollen
annulus >8μm
30-30.5
Sedges
32-32.5
34-34.5
36-36.5
38-38.5

16. Wife Park summary pollen data (nap)
Percentage of total non arboreal pollen
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1408 1451 1495 1538 1582 1625 1669 1712 1756 1799 1830 1883 1937 1961 1977 1982 1988 1995 2001 2007
0-1
2-3
4-5
6-7
Depth (cm)/Time years AD
Heaths
8-9
10-10.5
12-12.5
Herbs
14-14.5
16-16.5
18-18.5
Wild grasses
20-20.5
22-22.5
24-24.5 Grass pollen
26-26.5 annulus >8μm
28-28.5
30-30.5 Sedges
32-32.5
34-34.5
36-36.5
38-38.5

17. Wife Park possible management impacts in pollen data
Percentage of total land
pollen
Fluctuations in and loss of
CAP sedge abundance –
Depth (cm)/Time years AD
influence of drainage?
Decline in timber trees reported in Manor of
Newby records from end of 17th Century after a
period of poor commons management
Enclosure began (stinted pastures) - sheep and
cattle
End of Monastic period (sheep ranching and stud farms)

18. Conclusions 1
No period of stasis in management
Large shifts in biodiversity/structural
diversity occurred prior to 50 years ago.
Shrub land and woodland was part of the
pre-enclosed landscape and was part of
the traditional resource now lost –
adaptation.
Wetlands or wet grasslands have been lost
since 1900s. Amelioration of prior drainage
schemes may need to be implemented on
the slopes as well as the mountain tops.
We should not assume that traditional is
sustainable – just adaptable – to limits!

19. Conclusions 2
Need to improve understanding of the
variation of traditional management
through time and the consequent impacts
on ecosystems.
Traditional managers can have valuable
knowledge – but it can be time limited!
For example – most of the farmers in
the uplands of the UK today have had
training in the agricultural colleges of
the 1960’s and 1970’s when land
improvement and drainage schemes
were the norm.

20. h.e.shaw@lancaster.ac.uk
i.whyte@lancaster.ac.uk
Acknowledgements: Research funded by the Leverhulme Trust
Conference attendance supported by UKRC
Travel Bursary scheme
Thanks to farmers, land owners, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales
National Park Authority and Yorkshire Dales Wildlife Trust for land
access.
POLLANDCAL and LANDCLIM networks