Extensive Management of Sheep Grazing in Upland Sown Grassland: Long-Term Effects on Plant Species Composition

Changes in the Common Agricultural Policy have led to the development of agri-environment schemes to deliver environmental goods from grasslands. These schemes encourage more extensive grazing systems, and change the emphasis from animal output to issues such as increasing biodiversity. Lower stocking densities are expected to promote the development of a heterogeneous habitat and associated compositional changes in plant species. The long-term effect of more extensive sheep management, combining cessation of fertiliser and lower grazing intensity, on botanical composition and animal output in upland sown grassland has been studied at 3 sites (Marriott et al., 2002) since 1990. We describe changes in vegetation at one site between 1990 and 2004