Ráðunautafundur - 15.02.1989, Page 17

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Table 2. Categories of semi-natural vegetation (Bunce and Barr, 1988).
Category (and % of total) Dominant Species
Bog (32%) Eriophorum angustifolium Trichophorum cespitosum Molinia caerulea Sphagnum moss
Moorland (37%) Calluna vulgaris Vaccinium myrtillus Nardus stricta
Upland Grassland (31%) Agrostis tenuis Festuca ovina Pteridium aquilinum
Much of this vegetation is found above the 240 m contour and within the areas
initially designated as Less Favoured Areas (LFA’s). In conjunction with this
rangeland are areas of improved in-bye land with both types of land forming a
closely integrated system. The proportion of rangeland to improved land varies
considerably between individual farms and this has been influenced by the
considerable but also variable land improvement which has been carried out over the
last 40 years. Government, and latterly European Community financial incentives
have been largely responsible together with research and development of appropriate
techniques which in Wales has been largely centred on the Welsh Plant Breeding
Station (WPBS) (now Institute of Grassland and Animal Production), and the
experimental husbandry farm at Pwllpeirian and in Scotland on the Hill Farming
Research Organisation (now Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, MLURI).
In Wales the average proportion of rangeland on individual farms is only about
40% of that found in Scotland (Munro and Davies, 1988) but again this varies
considerably. Nevertheless the implications are that the combination of land
improvement and associated increased stocking rates have resulted in a decline in
extent and change in composition of rangeland which is most noticeable in Wales.
For example, the increased stocking of rangeland has contributed to the decline of
Calluna vulgaris (heather) and the growing inbalance of the sheep:cattle ratio - (as
sheep populations rise and cattle populations decline) - has probably contributed to
the spread of the invasive weed bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) at a rate of 1-3% per
annum (Taylor, 1985). High sheep populations on rangeland may also be contributing
to increased erosion in certain areas of Snowdonia in North Wales.
Major questions are now being asked as to the future directions agriculture will
take. Surplus food production within the European Community has allowed serious
consideration of alternative systems of land-use (Figure 1).