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Friends of Troopers Hill Forum - www.friends-forum.org.uk

Messages are welcome on any subject relating to Troopers Hill Local Nature Reserve; the surrounding area of St George and Crews Hole or any of Bristol's Parks and Green Spaces.


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Viewing Page 1 of 1 (Total Posts: 8)


Author Comment    
Ian

BS5


Feb 1, 07 - 1:55 PM
LOSS OF HABITAT

Sorry to moan but I am concerned at the loss of undergrowth on the Troopers Hill Road side of the Hill towards Crews Hole Road. The removal of blackberry and other seemingly "unwanted" undergrowth has already reduced the sightings of Wrens early in the morning that frequented this area of bramble. Was a survey done before such drastic and dramatic removal of vegetation undertaken to acertain the effect on wildlife?
Animals that benefit from bramble:
Hundreds of creatures use brambles at different times of the year.
Insects visit the flowers for pollen and nectar, including bumblebees, honey bees, hoverflies, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies and lacewings.
Spiders spin webs to catch the bounty of visiting insects.
Moths such as buff arches, peach blossom and fox moths lay their eggs on bramble as it is their larval foodplant.
Blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches, starlings, robins, pheasants, foxes, mice and other small mammals eat the fruits.
Robins, wrens, thrushes, blackbirds, warblers and finches will nest in bramble and small mammals use it for protection from predators.
Roger



Feb 1st, 2007 - 6:46 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

The management of Troopers Hill LNR is, quite correctly, geared towards maintaining and to some extent restoring what is a unique envoironment.

Bramble is not limited to this LNR and is abundant in many areas. Any work carried out is subject to observation for nesting birds at appropriate times of the year.

Whilst some bramble may have been removed, it will not be totally eradicated and those species that use bramble during thier lifecycle will still be adequately supplied.

Maybe you would like to, if you dont allready, come along to see the 'bigger picture' of what is the management of Troopers Hill LNR, there is a list of meetings and workparties etc on the main website.
Rob

BS5


Feb 1st, 2007 - 7:12 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

Ian,
Don't apologise for moaning, that's what this forum is here for!
You are right in what you say about bramble, but there are also a lot of insects in particular that benefit for areas of open grass land and heathland. There is a lot of bramble in Bristol and a lot around Troopers Hill. What you won't find anywhere else in Bristol is the acid grassland and heathland that makes up the open areas on the hill. These areas in turn support insects that aren't found anywhere else in Bristol (and in one case nowhere else in Great Britain!
If you look at the 'Photo Survey' page on our website you will see by looking at Photo 20 that in 1994 there was only one hawthorn tree in the area that I think you are talking about. Since then the bramble has spread to take more of the grassland. Other areas of bramble are also spreading and left to its own devices would have taken over the whole hill eventually. The acid grassland, heathland and the life it supports would then be lost.
In terms of surveys there was an invertebrate survey done last year which is on the 'Hill Wildlife' page. Clearing bramble is part of the report's recommendations. These recommendations are being included in a new Management Plan that we are putting together with Bristol Parks. This means that areas that are cleared now will be kept clear. The whole point is to make sure that we don't loose the grassland and heathland habitiat which is Troopers Hill's main feature.
Susan

BS5


Feb 1st, 2007 - 7:17 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

Ian,

Good to hear from you. We definitely need feedback to be a successful neighbourhood group.

Just to add a tiny bit to Roger's and Rob's comments
The birdlife expert, John Tully, who led a number of our Dawn Chorus walks, explained how birds need the mix of open space and woodland for habitat and food.

All the best,

Susan
Ian



Apr 12th, 2007 - 8:28 AM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

The cleared area doesn't seem to be be responding very well. I've been watching for signs of growth so far it's bramble 1 others 0. There are also fewer sightings of Wrens in the mornings so they have moved off somewhere. The Blackbird and Song Thrush now compete for the one remaining tree first thing in the morning in that area and I've also noticed that the Broom doesn't look too healthy either. What little that flowered was giving a pretty poor display - hopefully it will recover.
Rob

BS5


Apr 12th, 2007 - 9:14 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

The bramble regrowth is as we expected, returning the area to heath will take some time and requires an ongoing commitment from Bristol Parks to keep the bramble in check until it has been eliminated. This commitment is what we now have through the new Management Plan.
The 'unhealthy' broom is that which was surrounded by bramble until we cleared it at our work parties. The bramble was killing it. I don't expect these individual plants to recover. What I hope will happen is that new plants will grow between them. The old plants will then be removed. Again the bramble needs to be kept in check.
Liz



Apr 13th, 2007 - 10:56 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

Ian, take heart! There are plenty of wrens in the brambles at the edge of Troopers Hill Wood. They frequently pop over the fence into my garden. I was brought up in a rural area in the 60's and 70's and I never thought I'd be saying "plenty of wrens" especially in the burbs! But there you go!

You should really get along to a couple of FOTH meetings and see what it's all about. Some of it took me a bit by surprise, like pulling out little oak trees (my fave!) but they are holm oak and aren't native and would crowd out native things if we let them.

Rob has written a wonderful management plan, which is somewhere on this site. There's loads of detail there and it might reassure you we just don't go out randomly on a Saturday and hack down bits of undergrowth.

I realise we must have pruned a bit of the hill you particularly liked, and I know how that can feel. I went looking for catkins last weekend and a really nice tree (I thought!) has been felled. I wasn't too happy until I asked why. It seems it was in a bad state and it is hoped it will grow again from the stump.

You sound like you've known the hill for some years. We'd love to hear your reminiscences some time, if only on this forum.

Liz
Rob

BS5


Apr 15th, 2007 - 8:59 PM
Re: LOSS OF HABITAT

Thanks Liz,

I must add that over the weekend I spoke to several people on the hill who are not active members of FoTH or who come to the occasional meeting or event. Everyone was very pleased to see the work being done. Comments included 'it looks much tidier' and 'I am very pleased, it will bring the whole area up'.


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