Decade of decline for wildlife: Unique countryside survey charts loss of plant species in woods, meadows and farmland

A UNIQUE government census of Britain's countryside has proved that the nation's wildlife suffered widespread decline through the 1980s. In woods, crop fields and semi-natural pastures scientists recorded a drop in the number of wild plant species between 1978 and 1990.

Just as significantly, the scientists found the richness and variety of species declining in hedges, verges and stream banks. These 'linear features' are vital for many plants and animals remaining in the intensively farmed lowlands. They provide shelter, food and corridors to move along.

The Countryside Survey 1990 was not intended to find the causes. But the intensification of farming through the 1980s with the attendent use of machinery, fertiliser and pesticides is a prime suspect, along with air pollution due to the burning of coal, petrol and gas.

The survey brings together more than 15 years of work by dozens of scientists in several government research laboratories, led by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology and the Institute of Freshwater Ecology. It charts what Britain's countryside is used for, what crops and natural vegetation grow on it and what changed over the past decade.

An important theme is that the rapid, wholesale loss of semi-natural habitats such as wild-flower meadows and bogs, which happened in the 1970s, has slowed down or halted. But the loss of wildlife diversity goes on.

John Gummer, Secretary of State for the Environment, yesterday compared it to the 10-year census of the United Kingdom's human population. It was an important first for Britain which should be celebrated. 'This has been a mammoth task,' he said.

'We now know what has happened in our countryside - next we need to know why.' As a result of the survey he has commissioned research into the impact on wildlife of the decline in hedgerows and ponds.

The scientists investigated soil and watercourses as well as recording which of 1,200 plant species were living in more than 10,000 plots scattered across fields, along hedgesides, stream banks and road verges.

The broad picture for the state of the countryside was produced by computer processing of infra-red images from the Landsat satellite. The nation's entire area was divided into 17 colour-coded categories, including suburban and urban land, deciduous and coniferous woodland and three different types of moor and heath. This new and extraordinarily colourful computer-generated map of Britain splits the country up into pixels measuring just 25 metres by 25 metres.

On the ground, the finest detail and the monitoring of change came from 40 surveyors who worked their way across 508 sample squares, each covering one square kilometre. These were chosen to give a reliable cross section of the British countryside, from the highlands of Scotland to the prairie-like landscape of arable East Anglia.

Wild plant species growing on plots within these squares were recorded back in 1978; the plots were revisited in 1990.

In 1984, the squares were mapped in detail to show buildings, crops, woods and individual trees, roads and field boundaries within them. They were mapped again in 1990.

Colin Barr, the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology scientist who managed the survey, said no other nation had attempted such a comprehensive census of its countryside. There could be no mistaking the overall decline in wild plant species.

Other research on British birds, butterflies and plants have linked declines and extinctions to air pollution and intensive farming.

But the new survey highlights how widespread the loss of variety and richness among plants - the base of the food chain - has been.

The lowlands of Britain changed more than uplands during the 12 years. Broadleaved (deciduous) woodland increased by 1 per cent between 1984 and 1990, but conifer woods expanded by 5 per cent.

All woodlands except those in mainly arable (crop) landscapes lost plants, but ground cover species characteristic of disturbed ground and grassy habitats increased. That suggests woods are becoming more open.

Road verges rich in meadow species became less common, and this may be because these are mown less frequently as councils try to save money.

Against the overall trend, the number of plant species on moorland increased. Moorlands are inherently poor in species and the new arrivals may be coming in partly because of ground disturbance and acid fall-out from air pollution fertilising the soil.

Within the countryside, the area covered by buildings and roads increased by 4 per cent between 1984 and 1990. The survey found that more than 7 per cent of Britain was covered in bracken, although the fern may now be in decline.

The falling off in the diveristy of plants may continue or it may already have been reversed due to changes in agricultural policy and a decline in some types of air pollution. 'This is a benchmark against which to measure the efficacy of our policies,' Mr Gummer said. The next countryside census on a similar scale is not due until 2000.

Leading environmental and conservation groups, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Council for the Protection of Rural England and Friends of the Earth, said the Government had to make urgent changes to halt the decline.

'There isn't a lot of good news here,' one person told the Secretary of State as he presented the survey to an invited audience in London.

(Graphic and map omitted)