At last, the rain shelters are deployed, and our experimental drought is underway.
This just happens to coincide with some of the finest Irish weather in decades, so we may have to irrigate the control plots!
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
€2.6m for AranLIFE project
We are thrilled to be partners in the AranLIFE project! Official press release from today:
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| Photo: Patrick McGurn |
€2.6 Million announced by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the AranLIFE Project
Wednesday 10 July 2013: The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht today confirmed the provision of €2.6 million funding for Aran Islands conservation under the EU's LIFE+ programme. The AranLIFE Project will run for four years from 2014, working with local farmers to support traditional island farming practices and maintain the islands’ significant natural and cultural heritage.
The AranLIFE Project is an integrated project between the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Heritage Council, the European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism, Institute of Technology Sligo, Teagasc, and the farming communities of the three Aran Islands. Additional funding is provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Galway County Council and Fáilte Ireland. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which has overall responsibility for offshore Islands is the Coordinating Beneficiary or lead applicant for the project.
The communities of the Aran Islands have lived in and farmed the islands for centuries. Their traditional farming practices have been central in creating the iconic Aran landscape, and maintaining its natural heritage, which draws visitors from all over Ireland and the world. The islands are of such high value for nature that over 75% of the land area has been legally designated as Natura 2000 sites under European legislation. However, working with these designations, the small nature of island farms and the high labour input required means that farming on the islands faces many challenges. While many farmers clearly wish to continue practices handed down over generations the early impacts of a reduction in farming activity are becoming evident, in the form of undergrazed pastures and overgrown fields. Traditional knowledge and practices are also being used less and the AranLIFE project will assist and encourage farmers to reverse this trend. These changes are affecting the Islands’ significant natural heritage, including its limestone pavement and orchid-rich grasslands, and will affect the social and economic fabric of the islands.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley T.D., said that ‘the traditional practices of the Aran Islands are a vitally important part of our natural heritage. I welcome this funding as it will ensure the longevity and sustainability of the rich and valuable landscape of these traditions into the future, and also enhance the valuable tourist product of these islands for visitors from all over the world."
The AranLIFE project has been set up to tackle some of these challenges over the next four years, working closely with the farming communities, increasing awareness of the natural heritage of the islands, leading to an improvement in the condition of the Nature 2000 sites, and turning the designations from a challenge to an opportunity.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Our research at European Grassland Federation 2013
Proceedings of the 17th Symposium of the European Grassland Federation (Eds. Áslaug Helgadóttir, Alan Hopkins)
This was another excellent EGF conference at a wonderful location in Akureyri, Iceland. The scientific programme was as impressive as the social programme, which featured waterfalls, geysers, choirs, horse exhibitions, and 'cured shark'. Cured shark is certainly an acquired taste, and was considered by one participant as tasting like 'a baby's nappy' (or what they imagined a baby's nappy would taste like...).
Here, I provide the titles, abstracts and contact details of the four contributions that we made to EGF2013. Of particular interest was the growing frequency of research into multi-species mixutres of grasses and legumes. The opening talk by my good friend and long-time collaborator Andi Lüscher was a tour de force of this theme, and his paper will be published in Grass and Forage Science in due course. I also provide the abstract of his talk.
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
Public dissemination of our research on grassland production
Science for Environment Policy is a free news and information service published by Directorate-General Environment, European Commission. It provides quality environmental research for evidence-based policy.
The June 2013 issue featured our recently published research:
A recent study has revealed that grassland plots planted with a mixture of several agricultural plant species produced a greater yield than plots planted with a single species. The findings provide valuable evidence for scientists, farmers and policymakers who strive to increase the productivity of grassland, while reducing input of nitrogen fertilisers."
This publication was based on our recent journal article:
Finn, J. A., Kirwan, L., Connolly, J., et al. (2013) Ecosystem function enhanced by combining four functional types of plant species in intensively managed grassland mixtures: a 3-year continental-scale field experiment. Journal of Applied Ecology. 50: 365-375.
Doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12041
UPDATE: Open Access version at: http://hdl.handle.net/11019/438
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