KIDNEY VETCH LINKS AYRSHIRE GOLF COURSES FOR SMALL BLUE CONSERVATION
An ambitious wildlife conservation project to reinstate the UK’s smallest butterfly back onto the western coast of Scotland has been launched by the Ayrshire Sustainability Group. Stretching from Irvine in the north, to Girvan in the south, the project aims to create a semi-continuous corridor of Kidney Vetch along with other native wild flower species in which the Small Blue butterfly and the many other pollinating invertebrates that inhabit Ayrshire can thrive.
The Small Blue (Cupido minimus) is the UK’s smallest resident butterfly. With a wingspan often not exceeding 16mm, its small size makes it vulnerable to local climatic and habitat changes. Although it is classed as not threatened, the Small Blue’s status throughout the UK is declining, with the main colonies being located in the south of England and northwest of Scotland where its only food plant, Kidney Vetch, grows within calcareous grasslands and coastal sand dune systems.
The conservation project, which is being supported by seven Ayrshire golf clubs, local businesses and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, has been implemented following the release of a colony of Small Blue butterflies at Gailes Marsh Reserve adjacent to Dundonald Links. It is hoped that by increasing Kidney Vetch at each of the participating sites, this isolated colony will be able to expand and establish itself along the coastline once again.
“The Small Blue was last seen in Ayrshire in 1982,” explains Bob Taylor, Senior Consultant Ecology & Environment at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI). “As such, the Group was keen to see the re-establishment of these iconic butterflies across Ayrshire and hopes that last year’s release at Gailes Marsh, and this year’s planned release at Dundonald Links will enable the species to expand along the coastline once again.”
Key to establishing a viable population is the creation and management of good quality, varied grasslands that provide shelter for the adults and where early successional conditions are appropriate for the establishment of Kidney Vetch.
“By working with other golf courses and local companies, we hope to establish a chain of connected environments which will enable the initial colony to thrive and expand,” explains Amanda Dorans, Greenkeeper at Dundonald Links. “The success of the project was dependent on finding a source of high quality Kidney Vetch seed, and we are pleased to have been supported by Germinal who donated enough seed to create a suitable environment at the Dundonald Links and Royal Troon.”
Gill Smart, Local Reserves Manager for the Scottish Wildlife Trust observed: “Progress with the Small Blue would have been impossible without the enthusiasm, knowledge and good contact within our Sustainability Group. The Small Blue butterfly would literally get nowhere without the willingness of Ayrshire’s links courses to sow and care for Kidney Vetch.”
Steve Isaac, Director – Golf Course Management at The R&A commented: “The Small Blue project is an important piece of collaborative work which demonstrates how golf can drive other businesses to deliver environmental and social benefits to communities. The R&A is delighted to support this project and we look forward to seeing the results of habitat restoration to encourage the recovery of local populations of the Small Blue butterfly.”
Speaking on behalf of Germinal, Alistair Eccles, Technical Sales Representative for Germinal in Scotland explained that Kidney Vetch is very short-lived and a poor competitor “It is however an essential part of creating the right environment to support the full life-cycle of the Small Blue.
“The successful establishment of a habitat rich with Kidney Vetch requires open ground conditions, a lack of competition and quality seed of a known local provenance. We were therefore delighted to be able to support the conservation project, and look forward to keeping up to date with the colony’s progress as it hopefully spreads along the Ayrshire coast.”
In a field on a low standing hill outside of Hillsborough, County Down are a criss cross of lines marked on the grass dividing the field into neat rectangles. Look a little closer and you can see that the grass is greener/yellower or longer/tuftier in some of these rectangles. These are the long term slurry plots at AFBI Hillsborough and represent a unique experimen.
For over forty years, scientists have been routinely adding cattle or pig slurry to these plots and monitoring the effects on soil and grass health. Most recently, this has disclosed that slurry, far from killing earthworms, increase their presence up to five times that of the non-treated plots. “There is a perception that slurry is bad for earthworms because farmers see dead worms on the surface after spreading,” commented Dr Archie Murchie, lead author of the study published in Applied Soil Ecology. But this is just part of the story, it seems that the worms then recover and benefit from the increased food. “It is a bit of a good news story for farming, normally slurry gets a bit of a bad rap,” said Dr Murchie, “and whilst it is true that you will get some dead earthworms, the increased organic matter and nutrients in the soil are good for worms in the long-run.”
What is more, even the inorganic fertiliser was of benefit. The interesting thing was that the deeper dwelling grey worms preferred the inorganic fertiliser plots, whilst the red worms, preferred the slurry. “We don’t fully understand the reasons why this is so or the different contributions of each earthworm species to soil fertility yet, but put simply – different worms prefer to eat different food,” said Dr Murchie. Aristotle called earthworms the intestines of the soil, so a healthy earthworm population contributes to nutrient recycling, soil drainage and also provides food for many farmland birds.
There were two downsides though: one was that pig slurry application had increased the level of copper in the soil, which is not good for earthworms. The other observation (unconnected to slurry input), was the presence of the invasive New Zealand flatworm which eat earthworms. “Although this study showed that cattle slurry in particular benefited earthworms, we should not be complacent about the health of the soil,” said Dr Murchie. “Soil is an important living entity and effective soil management is essential for productivity”.
Slurry is good for worms