Page 34 - ALG Issue 1 2020

Bringing arable plants back
from the brink
Not all weeds are the same; some are beautiful, increasingly rare species that have trailed after humans and their crops for millennia. Pheasant’s- eye, Corn Buttercup and Red Hemp- nettle and many others with similarly evocative names were once an exuberantly colourful part of the arable landscape in the UK – that is areas that are cultivated for growing crops. These so-called arable plants are annuals that follow the same lifecycle of the crop, even to the extent of being accidentally harvested along with
the crop and unwittingly re-sown the following year by the farmer. However, changes in agricultural land use such as the increased use of herbicides and fertilisers, seed cleaning technology, development pressures and changes in agricultural farming practices, have taken their toll on these fascinating plants, so much so that they are now the most threatened group of plants in the UK. These farmland flowers have declined by a staggering 96% in the last 200 years, and are now critically endangered, and seven species are now extinct.
This has had a knock-on effect for
the myriad of farmland species that depend on them. They provide a source of seed for many species of farmland bird including Cirl Bunting and
Linnet, valuable nectar and pollen for pollinators, and places to live for many other beneficial insects such as rove beetles, which are voracious predators of various insect pests.
The challenge of addressing these declines in arable plants is being
taken on by the Colour in the Margins project, which is working with farmers to demonstrate best practice in arable margin conservation and the public to connect people with their local arable landscape and raise the profile of arable plants.
Colour in the Margins is part of Back from the Brink, one of the most ambitious conservation projects ever undertaken. Its aim is to save 20 species from extinction and benefit over 200 more through 19 projects that span England, from the tip of Cornwall
to Northumberland. It is the first time ever that so many conservation organisations including Plantlife have come together with one focus in mind – to bring back from the brink of extinction some of England’s most threatened species of animal, plant and fungi. This groundbreaking work
has been recognised with Back from the Brink picking up the Best Heritage Project Award in the 25th Birthday National Lottery Awards.
Work on the ground for these species is occurring across England and one of the sites is at Plantlife’s Ranscombe reserve in Kent, an historic landscape famous for its rare wild flowers, where the endemic grass Interrupted Brome, considered extinct in the wild, now flourishes and Plantlife is trialling
the reintroduction of Pheasant’s-eye, abundant enough during the 18th century to be picked and sold as a cut flower called ‘Moroccan Red’ but is now classified as endangered.
Arable plants are not just restricted
to farmland; they can pop up in allotments and gardens too, particularly where there has been a long history
of cultivation, as there has been at many allotment sites. Richard Moyse, Ranscombe’s Reserve Manager, has been successfully growing arable
plants in his own allotment. He says: “Just from simply digging it over and leaving some areas un-weeded, up from the seed bank has popped Common Fumitory, which seems to like growing amongst our onions, Dense-flowered Fumitory, Common Poppy, Small Toadflax, Sharp-leaved Fluellen, Field Pansy, Common Field Speedwell, Red
Just from simply digging it over and leaving some areas un- weeded, up from the seed bank has popped Common Fumitory, which seems to like growing amongst our onions
Dead-nettle and Field Forget-me-
not. These arable weeds are easy to maintain, provide additional colour, sources of nectar for pollinating insects, help divert pest species away from your crop and provide seed food for birds. And you never know, you may uncover a rare gem such as Weasels-snout which just turned up out of the blue one year on a neighbouring allotment to ours. It’s beautiful – like a small version of a snapdragon.”
34 Allotment and Leisure Gardener