Good piece from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social ... I've written more here on Molinia and specifically Dartmoor 🧵 www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/molinia - ThreadSky

tonydartmoor.bsky.social • 16 days ago

Good piece from @georgemonbiot.bsky.social ... I've written more here on Molinia and specifically Dartmoor 🧵

https://www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/molinia

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thinkgov.bsky.social•16 days ago

Fascinating article. Is this analysis relevant to Bodmin moor?

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

I'm afraid I don't know Bodmin that well. But the principles are the same everywhere.

jojomo0.bsky.social•15 days ago

So interesting to understand what is happening in the peat bogs. Most of us knew that peat extraction has been very damaging but I was unaware of the detail. The solution does not seem to be too difficult to instigate, or am I being naive?

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•15 days ago

The principles are simple. The cost is high though. But then it's not really a "cost" - it's a saving if you think what these places do for us.

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

The key is to understand what has caused the grass to dominate in areas of deep peat—in a nutshell, it's because the peat is in an appalling condition.

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

On Dartmoor, the peat is drying and eroding because the water table has fallen due to historical cutting ("extraction"), burning, and excessive grazing. This was noted as far back as the early 70s.

https://cdn.fieldstudiescouncil.net/fsj/vol3.4_80.pdf

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

Molinia does well on dried peat that is regularly burned/grazed. It is deep-rooted and can reach water, and any competition is removed. Atmospheric nitrogen has also given it an extra boost.

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

On the central high moor, its dominance is unlikely to be due to falling livestock numbers in the 2000s as some commoners regularly claim. It had a hold before this ... here's a picture from the Dartmoor Archive taken near Cut Hill in August 1992

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

The way we deal with Molinia is to rewet and restore the peat and regain balance to the blanket bogs.

tonydartmoor.bsky.social•16 days ago

This also has many other benefits, carbon, flood control and so on. It also increases the peat's resilience to fire - as seems to be the case in the recent fire near at Cut Hill.

18thcenturyboy.bsky.social•15 days ago

Public access under "right to roam" is sure to improve the conditions for regeneration dramatically (not).

anamca.bsky.social•15 days ago

Very interesting, thanks. I have to bite my tongue with a farming friend who blames all of Dartmoor’s ills on reduced grazing, your explanation makes far more sense to me.

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