Managing Open Pavement

Recognizing Open Pavement

Open pavement has flowering plants and ferns largely confined to the grikes. There is a visual contrast between the smooth white clints and the deep, dark grikes. Any trees and shrubs present may be stunted by grazing, as well as by restricted space for root growth and impoverished soil conditions. These factors create dwarfed and bonsai-like trees.

Pavements are 'open' in landscape terms with their large expanses of bare rock and because they are open to grazing, being set amidst sheep and cattle pastures. Open pavement usually grades into limestone pasture or heathland.

Features of a well-managed open pavement

• a scattering of native trees and shrubs,
• flourishing native wild flowers and ferns growing beyond the grikes and onto the clint tops, with successful seed or spore production (especially grazing-intolerant species such as Bloody Cranes-bill, Meadow Rue and Baneberry),
• an abundance of vegetation to shelter butterflies, spiders, snails, and other invertebrates,
• transitions from pavement vegetation to other valuable habitats such as scrub, woodland, heath and species rich grassland.

How to manage open pavement

Restoration Management

Rehabilitation of heavily grazed pavements by total stock exclusion, for a limited period of five to ten years, may be the most effective way of giving the nature conservation interest of these pavements a much needed boost. This is likely to require temporary fencing, and a photographic review at the outset and after five or ten years, to provide a simple record of the success of the restoration.

 

Where numbers of rabbits are significant and their grazing is restricting the abundance and variety of plants, rabbit control may be necessary.

Maintenance Grazing

Where pavements are considered to be in good condition a maintenance management regime should be implemented. Cattle are the preferred grazers because they are reluctant to venture on to the pavement, but the pattern of land use may favour the continuation of sheep grazing. The optimum long-term stocking level to maintain the interest of open pavement is less than 1 ewe per hectare (or cattle equivalent based on 5 ewes = 1 cow).