Increasing knowledge of the AONB

There is still much that we don't know about the nature, history and economy of the North Pennines.   

There are many organisations working to improve our collective knowledge and the AONB Partnership Staff Unit has begun to increase its role in gathering the information and data which will lead to better decision making and improved use of resources.

Highlights:

• We conducted a bumblebee survey of Teesdale meadows with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust
• We completed our three-year water vole survey and produced a new distribution map for the North Pennines
• We are leading on the National Peat and Carbon Survey - funding has been secured and the project is underway

Some of our achievements this year:

• In partnership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, we carried out four bumblebee surveys in Teesdale between May and August 2010. Nine species were recorded, three of them are locally scarce
• We were delighted to find that the rare moss carder bee, which is listed in the Biodiversity Action Plan, was recorded on a number of occasions and found to be closely associated with species-rich hay meadows
• Our study into soil fertility – involving botanical assessments and soil samples from 12 sites - revealed that traditional hay meadow plants flourish best under low soil nutrient conditions
• We are supporting and managing six university projects aimed at finding out more about our peatlands, how they function and how they respond to management

          They address the following questions:
          - How much peat is being lost from bare and eroding areas?
          - Do restoration techniques reduce erosion rates?
          - How can remote sensing imagery be used to map vegetation and land use?
          - What are the effects of grazing intensity on peatland carbon balances?   
          - How is the carbon budget of a managed moorland affected by drain blocking?

• Also through our Peatscapes project, we sponsored a review of peatland hydrology which forms part of the IUCN UK Peatland Programme's Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands. The review is being led by Dr Jillian Labadz of Nottingham Trent University
• We also worked on a joint project with Natural England to gain a better understanding of the amount of carbon stored in the peatlands of the North Pennines
• Long term vegetation monitoring plots have been set up on seven peatland sites
• We ran successful public participation surveys for cuckoo and violet oil beetle, which showed records for the rare oil beetle rise from one to seven in the North Pennines
• Our three-year water vole survey was completed and a new distribution map produced for water voles in the North Pennines. The East Allen, Alston Moor and Upper Teesdale areas have been designated as National Key Sites for water voles
• We developed and secured funding for a 10-year trial to identify ways of stabilising spoil heaps in sensitive areas such as Scheduled Ancient Monuments
• We commissioned a report on the calaminarian grasslands of the North Pennines to complement the minewater project work undertaken in 2009-10 in partnership with the Environment Agency