Boleybrack Red Grouse Habitat Management Project Heather Burning Plan September 2015 to February 2016

Transcription

1 Boleybrack Red Grouse Habitat Management Project Heather Burning Plan September 2015 to February 2016 Introduction It is widely accepted that ling heather (Calluna vulgaris) is the staple diet of Red Grouse. The carrying capacity of any upland grouse habitat is related to the nutritive value of the heather and also the cover it provides. Heather grows through four distinct age classes known as; Pioneer, Building, Mature and Degenerate. A balance of these age classes is necessary if a sizable grouse population is to become sustainable. The edible parts of heather are the green shoots and to a lesser extent the flowers and seed capsules. Young heather in the pioneer phase, one to two years after burning or cutting, has a nitrogen and phosphorous content more than twice that of 10-year old plants in the mid building phase. The food quality of heather degenerates further in the mature and degenerate phases. In general Red Grouse require tall heather for shelter or nesting (20-30cm) and prefer 10-30cm heather for foraging. Essentially, the quality and age diversity of heather will largely dictate the distribution and density of the associated Red Grouse population. Regeneration of heather Heather can regenerate in three ways: From seed: Up to 100, 000 seeds are produced per plant and in the order of one million per square metre in the season. The seeds are shed in the autumn and retain their viability in damp soil or litter for up to 10 years. Fluctuating temperatures and exposure to light, as in the area cleared by burning, stimulates germination. A fire may destroy seeds on the surface but many that lie buried survive. From buds: With grazing or cutting which removes only part of the branch system, shoots may sprout from several levels. After burning, a dense cluster of shoots develops from dormant buds near the base of the stems. Regeneration after burning is best when the branches have had six to ten year s growth and declines to a minimum in the degenerate phase. Layering: This occurs in the degenerate phase. Adventitious roots and new shoots develop when collapsed branches lie prostrate among damp peat and moss. The heather may return to a relatively young phase, but the regeneration cycle will exceed 25 years, usually much longer than from seed or after burning. Burning small patches of heather at regular intervals is used as a management tool to maintain heather in a phase when the biomass of young nutritious shoots is at a maximum, and to create a diversity of heather structure. Heather regenerates more successfully after autumn fires. Best practice in heather burning has been developed, particularly in Scotland. Key elements of this include: When managing for sheep and red grouse, burning should be carried out in the building phase when the heather is 20-30cm high, but patches should be allowed to grow to 40cm as nesting and roosting cover. It is estimated that the interval since the last burn on a particular patch should be between years. The fire should be hot enough to consume most of the heather above ground, but not kill the basal buds and rootstock, nor destroy the seed bank. Regeneration can therefore take place either from seed or vegetatively. Burning is usually down-wind, but if a hotter fire is required to remove old woody stems, slower back-burning into the wind is practiced. It is also best to burn across and down the slope. To provide a mosaic of different aged heather for both food and cover within each grouse territory, it is desirable to have many small burns of ha in extent rather than extensive ones. The 1

2 heather should ideally be burnt in strips approximately 20 metres wide but no more than 40 metres wide and parallel to a previous burn, but not using its entire length. Blanket bog, steep slopes and other areas unsuitable for burning should be left to encourage greater habitat diversity. Under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act burning in Ireland is only allowed between 1 September and the end of February. Weather conditions in the uplands may permit burning on only a few days a year. Burning within 1 mile of a wood is also restricted under section 39 of the Wildlife Act. In accordance with the requirements of this section, written notice will be given of any proposed burning, at least 7 days in advance, to the District s Gardai Sergeant, and Coillte. In all SACs burning and cutting are a notifiable action and the National Parks and Wildlife Service must formally approve any such action beforehand. During prior consultation with the NPWS, it was agreed that the Boleybrack Red Grouse Habitat Management Project should be subject to appropriate assessment; therefore this burn plan is being submitted for Appropriate Assessment Screening. Heather regeneration can also be encouraged by cutting with brush cutter, a swipe, a flail or forage harvester. The litter if collected in the autumn, provides a source of heather seed for reseeding areas which have lost their heather cover in a severe burn or as a result of severe grazing. Cutting can also be used to create firebreaks or to assist livestock into deeper vegetation. Why burn heather? At the outset, the Boleybrack team decided against burning in this commonage area, in order to ensure maximum support from commonage holders. The protection of blanket bog habitat, for which Boleybrack was designated as an SAC, was another consideration. It was agreed to use strimming with brush cutters as means of removing degenerate heather and stimulate regeneration of young nutritious heather. At that time, the management team agreed to review the outcome of strimming annually and whether burning will be required in the future. By January 2011, it was apparent that results from heather management using strimming are much less than satisfactory. Strimmed areas from management year 1 are only recently beginning to produce signs of heather recovery. Therefore, on the 17 th February 2011, trial controlled burning was carried out on Boleybrack Mountain in compliance with the Burn plan submitted to NPWS and appropriate assessment carried out by William Cormacan, Divisional Ecologist with NPWS. 2 small plots on the southern slopes of Boleybrack were completed on the day. In the season controlled burning was undertaken by Gamekeeper John Carslake along with members of Glenfarne Gun club and various other assistants. This was also undertaken in accordance with a specially prepared burn plan and appropriate assessment. The total amount burnt was approximately 3.47 hectares comprised of 43 individual plots. In the season controlled burning of an estimated 3.51 hectares (51 individual plots) was carried out. This was also undertaken in accordance with a specially prepared burn plan and appropriate assessment. Burning stimulates seed germination and encourages shoot regeneration. After fire, regeneration from the root stock is the principal cause of heather re-growth from stands of young heather but seed germination is the principal cause from stands of old heather. As before, the areas to be targeted in this trial are principally the stands of old heather where they occur at suitable locations. Where not to burn The Boleybrack Habitat Project Area is located within a SAC so, only areas that have been approved by NPWS as being suitable for burning may be burned. Sensitive areas should not be burned. Doing so may permanently damage the environmental interest of the land. Sensitive areas include: Areas close to woodland or deep scrub shall not be burned except approved and supervised by Coillte. Active blanket bog, springs, mires, & flushes shall not be burned. 2

3 A buffer of at least 20m shall be maintained between active blanket bog habitat and any burning areas. Areas where there is soil erosion including peat hags and areas of exposed peat shall not be burned. Areas where the soil is very thin shall be avoided. Steep hillsides and gullies with slopes steeper than 1 in 3 shall not be burned. Areas that are already heavily grazed will not be considered for burning. Areas within 5 metres of water courses shall be deliberately excluded from burn areas because of the increased risk of bank erosion that might result after heavy rain. Areas where bracken is present or areas close to (within 15m) where bracken is growing shall not be burned as burning can lead to bracken spread. Equipment and Training Heather burn organisers shall have regard to this burning plan together with the recommendations contained in The Muirburn Code and The Heather and Grass Burning Code. The UK s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recommends that trained and suitably equipped personnel be present before burning starts. All persons assisting at heather burning shall have received appropriate training and shall be familiar with this burning plan. Heather burners shall be supplied so that the heather may be ignited in a controlled and safe manner. All burns shall be controlled / managed by one lead burner. All present shall take instruction from this Burn Coordinator. The Burn Coordinator shall be experienced in identifying flame lengths, fire intensity, and rate of spread. Fire beaters and fire damping equipment shall be supplied with some spares present to allow for breakages, etc. All persons assisting at heather burning shall wear suitable / appropriate Personal Protective Equipment, usually consisting of flame resistant clothing and head cover. An appropriately equipped First Aid kit & qualified Occupational First Aider shall be on site before burning begins. Adequate bottled water shall be on site before burning begins and its consumption by persons assisting the operation shall be controlled by the burn co-ordinator. The burn co-ordinator shall have contact details for emergency services, Coillte, NPWS Ranger or other nominated persons, etc, together with a fully charged mobile phone, that has adequate service coverage at the burn sites. Radios may also be used in areas of poor coverage. Before a day s burning Before any burning takes place, NPWS approval shall be received in writing. Local sheep farmers with sheep on the Boleybrack Mountain shall be made aware of this plan and shall be notified close to the proposed burn day. Commonage owners shall be made aware of this plan and shall be notified close to the proposed burn day. The local community shall be made aware of the proposed burn day. The Gardai, Coillte, CAMP West WRCC (West Regional Control Centre as it is now known), Chief Fire Officer with Leitrim County Council and the local Fire Service shall be supplied with a copy of this plan and written notification that control burning of heather is planned. 3

4 NPWS - A Notifiable Action Form shall be submitted to and signed off by Tim Roderick (District Conservation Officer), NPWS. The Burn Coordinator shall have regard to the weather forecast (Rain, Wind direction and strength) and shall have a list of definite persons who will be available to assist with the heather burn. The Burn Coordinator shall ensure that all relevant / necessary equipment is available / in working order and will be on site at the appointed time and day. If the area to be burned has tall and woody heather, fire breaks shall be formed around the area. Just Before Burning Begins Just before burning is started, the Burn Coordinator shall; Phone Martin Joyce (086) of Coillte to announce the start of control burning in accordance with this approved plan. Phone Tim Roderick (087) , & John Mathews (086) , NPWS to announce the start of control burning in accordance with this approved plan. Phone 999 and ask for the fire service. The Burn Coordinator shall explain that control burning in accordance with this plan is about to start. A further call shall be made to local Fire Brigade (Roger Connolly, ) to notify him that control burning is about to start. Phone the Gardai at Manorhamilton ( ) to announce the start of control burning in accordance with this approved plan. After Burning has concluded After burning has been stopped and the Burn Coordinator is fully satisfied that all fires are fully out, he / she shall; Phone Martin Joyce of Coillte to announce that all burning has stopped and that all fires are out. Phone Tim Roderick, & John Mathews, NPWS to announce that all burning has stopped and that all fires are out. Phone 999 and ask for the fire service. The Burn Coordinator shall explain that all control burning has stopped and that all fires are out. A further call shall be made to local Fire Brigade (Roger Connolly) to notify him that all burning has stopped and that all fires are out. Phone the Gardai at Manorhamilton to announce that all burning has stopped and that all fires are out. Planning how to burn In selecting areas for burning, consideration was taken of the habitat type, quality & height. 7 general areas have been selected for controlled burning and/or opportunistic flash burning and these are displayed on map attached. When selecting plots for burning within these areas, details should be taken of the date, time, wind direction and strength, persons present, average peat depth, (plant) species present, central grid reference, length and width of plot, and burn details including any comments or issues relevant to that particular burn plot. In addition, consideration was taken of the need for opportunistic flash burning, whereby small plots of c. 30m x 70m are burnt when conditions allow. These flash burns will only be carried out within the general area outlined on the attached map. The areas on Boleybrack which may be burned have been determined in consultation with NPWS. 4

5 The maps shall show the area available for burning between September 2014 and February A burning rotation period of 20 years is anticipated. This means that a maximum of 1/20 th of the total permitted available area (Wet & Dry Heath habitat) may be burned each year, although as figures indicate, the actual amount burnt will be considerably less than this. The rotation shall start with the oldest heather. The burn rotation period shall be determined in the future when heather recovery has been examined. Lighting a fire: large controlled fire Before a fire is started, careful note shall be taken of the wind direction. Burning shall not be allowed after extremely dry conditions. Before the fire is started, the exact extents of the proposed burn area shall be pointed out on the ground, by the Burn coordinator. Trip hazards within and adjacent to the proposed burn area shall be pointed out to all present. The planned fire shall never be allowed to become any wider than 50m. It shall start having a width of 20m to 25m and shall be allowed to increase to 40m or 50m, if conditions are favourable. Burn widths shall be limited to a maximum of 10m to 15m per person attending, allowing spare persons for rotation and resting of duty burn assistants. Length of large controlled fires is anticipated to be an average of 200m. The burn shall be guided across slopes. Ideally, wind should be steady but not strong, Force 2 3 is ideal. The stronger the wind, the shorter the burn will be kept. Burning shall not be allowed if there is no wind or gusty conditions. Under the Burn coordinator s command, the face of the burn shall be narrowed down from either end, until it is finally quenched entirely at the pre arranged location. Sensitive areas shall be protected by burning away from them. After the fire has been quenched, the burn coordinator shall appoint a squad member to stay with the quenched fire to ensure the fire remains out. Lighting a fire: Flash burn. Before a flash burn fire is started, careful note shall be taken of the wind direction. Burning shall not be allowed after extremely dry conditions. Before the fire is started, the exact extents of the proposed burn area shall be pointed out on the ground, by the Burn coordinator. Trip hazards within and adjacent to the proposed burn area shall be pointed out to all present. The planned fire shall never be allowed to become any wider than 40m. It shall start having a width of 30m and shall be allowed to increase to 40m, if conditions are favourable. Burn widths shall be limited to a maximum of 10m to 15m per person attending, allowing spare persons for rotation and resting of duty burn assistants. Length of flash burn fires is anticipated to be an average of 100m. The burn shall be guided across slopes. Ideally, wind should be steady but not strong, Force 2 3 is ideal. The stronger the wind, the shorter the burn will be kept. Burning shall not be allowed if there is no wind or gusty conditions. Under the Burn coordinator s command, the face of the burn shall be narrowed down from either end, until it is finally quenched entirely at the pre arranged location. Sensitive areas shall be protected by burning away from them. After the fire has been quenched, the burn coordinator shall appoint a squad member to stay with the quenched fire to ensure the fire remains out. 5

6 Training for Heather Burning Control burns during the season shall be carried out by the professionally qualified Gamekeeper, and assistants from NPWS, Glenfarne Gun club, Coillte, other NARGC members and commonage shareholders/farmers under the supervision of the Gamekeeper. An on-site safety briefing is provided by the Gamekeeper to all in attendance at the start of a burning day. Methodology The areas permitted for controlled burning at Boleybrack SAC are selected within the areas of blue and pink hatching in the map below. These general areas selected are of wet and dry heath habitat only and do not include areas of Blanket bog. The proposed burn plots will vary in length from 50 to 200metres, with an anticipated average width of 40-50m. The total amount of heather planned for burning shall not be more than 10 hectares. 6