Using the ecosystem service framework to select grazing or mowing as a preferred vegetation management option

Ecosystem services and how these are affected by vegetation management for conservation are being investigated. The ecosystem service framework is integrated into decision making to increase biodiversity, ecology and cultural services. The current study uses a rapid assessment of the effects of grazing or mowing on a suite of ecosystem services attributable to saltmarsh. Our rapid assessment found grazing to be the preferred option over mowing. Grazing to manage vegetation is a well established method of maintaining or enhancing diversity on saltmarsh. Paucity of data regarding decisions and effects on ecosystem services is recognised. Exclosures are being used to measure changes in vegetation structure and assemblage to validate our findings with regard to ecologically based ecosystem services. The current study is part of a larger effort to maximise ecosystem services delivered by the Upper Mersey estuary, Cheshire, through management of vegetation in the habitats found there