Designed and produced for The British Ecological Society by The Book on the Wall Company, Ryarsh, Kent. Telephone: 01732 872626. Concept, design and illustrations: Bill Stotesbury. Artwork: James Rowland. Project coordinator: Karen Devine. Content: Libby John, Jim Jones, Margaret Palmer, Katie Pollard, Mark Smith and Rob Wolton.

Hedges and safety

Developing school grounds for science

Creating a hedge

Maintaininga hedge

Full risk assessments are required for fieldwork andfor constructing and maintaining hedges.

Remember that the ground beneath a hedge can be hazardous, branches can be sharp and some hedgeplants and their berries are poisonous.

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Curriculum concepts

The seasons

Varietiesof leaf

Hedges form one of the mostwidespread wildlife habitats in the UK. They are home to both commonand rare species.

Hedges as islands and corridorsHedges provide food and shelter for many wild animals offarmland. They provide corridors along which plants canspread and animals can move around with some protectionfrom predators.

Most UK bats usehedgerows to move aroundthe landscape at night.Hedges provide safety andare navigation aids andrich feeding grounds. Evensmall gaps can make batsturn back. Common lizards,hedgehogs and dormiceare among many otherspecies that depend heavily on hedges for theirsurvival in farmland. Watch how butterflies,bees and other insectsclosely follow the warmthand shelter of hedges.

Most UK bats usehedgerows to move aroundthe landscape at night.Hedges provide safety andare navigation aids andrich feeding grounds. Evensmall gaps can make batsturn back. Common lizards,hedgehogs and dormiceare among many otherspecies that depend heavily on hedges for theirsurvival in farmland. Watch how butterflies,bees and other insectsclosely follow the warmthand shelter of hedges.

Studying hedges provides a practical opportunity to learn about the principles of ecology and the relationship between people and their environment.

Hedges have been a part of the UK landscape for so manyyears that they are an important habitat for many organismsand have become essential for the survival of some species.

Hedges are often biodiversity hotspots within less diverseurban and rural landscapes. They can be used to demonstrate field sampling techniques.

Developing school grounds for science

Hedgerows are an important habitat for invertebrate predators of crop pests. These predators include spiders, hoverflies, lacewings, ladybirds, ground beetles and parasitic wasps. During the winter, when the fields are bare, theyfind safe places to hide in the bottom of the hedgerows, moving out into thefields in the spring. When aphids or other pests are scarce, they move backinto the hedgerow to feed.

A long-established hedgerow is part of ahistoric landscape.

Hedges can therefore be studied at twoscales. An individual hedge can be surveyed, measured and located usingGPS. The hedge can then be located onGoogle Earth to show its importance as acomponent of the wider landscape.

GPS Molecular ecology Taxonomy, the science of classification, began with scientistsnoting the features of plants and animals that could be observed easily.

Modern taxonomy uses molecular techniques that can compare DNAsamples and other chemicals foundwithin plants, to determine how closely related species might be.

Such techniques have helped ecologists to understand a little moreabout the diversity of life.

Bats & moths

Cuckoo spitis produced byfroghopper larva to protect the bug from predators.

Yellowhammer

Hoverfly

House sparrow

Earthworms

Stinging nettles and peacock butterfly

Thrush and snail

Bluetits

Dragonflies

Woodmouse

Holly leaf-miner

Privet hawkmoth

larva

Song thrushnestlings

Gatekeeperbutterfly

Blackbird

When planting a new hedge usea variety of native species appropriate to the local soil andclimate. Hazel, holly, hawthornand blackthorn are good hedging species, particularly incombination with dog rose andhoneysuckle.

Planting should be done in winter and saplings should beindividually protected againstaccidental damage and grazingby stock, deer and rabbits.

Avoid cutting hedges more than once every two to threeyears, except where necessary for road safety or to keeppaths clear. This will be sufficient to keep them tidy whileallowing them to grow densely. Birds are protected by law,so management must not take place in the nesting season.

The best time to trim a hedge is January or February, afterberries and nuts have been eaten and before tender newgrowth appears.

If there is space, allow some saplings to develop into maturetrees. One hawthorn will produce as many berries as 200 metres of regularly cut hedge.

Hedge cafeteria

Sparrowhawk

Primary consumers such as butterfliesand moths are on the the menu for secondary consumers like bats, mice andbirds such as bluetits and blackbirds.These, in turn, are eaten by other predatory animals, including owls,kestrels, foxes and sparrowhawks. The hedge is more than a café, howeverbecause animals and plants live theretoo, making their homes and nests amongits roots, branches, leaves and flowers.

98% of this bird’s dietconsists of small birds.

Bats make up a third of all

terrestrial mammal species in theUK and are the only mammals thatcan truly fly. They find their foodthrough echolocation at night.

This fly lays itseggs on the holly

leaf. The larvaeburrow into theleaf to eat andgrow safely,

protected by the leaf.

Dragonflies hunt alonghedge lines, preying on

insects as large as butterflies.

Bluetits eat most things! They favour invertebrates, especially caterpillars

and spiders, but will also feed on pollen,nectar and sap in the spring, and seedsand berries in the winter.

This mouse is one of the most commonhedgerow mammals, with a very broaddiet. Hazelnuts are found throughout the UK in hedges and are food for manyspecies, including woodmice and humans.

Earthworms are essential to thehealth of the soil beneath thehedge, burying and consumingorganic matter.

The thrush is famous for itssong. It bashes snails againststones to crack their shells.

Nettles might sting but they are important foodand protection for many species, including thebeautiful peacock butterfly.

House sparrows are much scarcer now than they used to be because there are fewer thick hedges for

them to shelter in, modern houses have fewer places for them to nest in, and it is often harder

for them to find the seeds and insects they feed on.

Hedges provide a seasonally changing menu of food resources for the animals that live in and near them, as well as those just passing through.

Spring: Flowering shrubs and trees are animportant source of nectar and pollen forinsect pollinators like bumble bees andhoverflies.

Summer: Summer greenery is food forleaf-munching caterpillars, which in turnfeed insectivores like bluetits.

Autumn: Berries provide much-neededenergy for small mammals and migrantthrushes and other birds.

Ant

Shrew

CREDITS:With thanks to Gail Bromley and Kew Gardens, Durham HedgerowPartnership, Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust and Roy andMarie Battell for supplying many of the images used.

Field maple

Hazel

Beech

Hornbeam

Ivy

Holly

Blackthorn

English elm

Dog-rose

Hawthorn

Winter: The many insects and other invertebrates sheltering in crevices in stemsand twigs are a rich food supply for birds.

Typical hedge habitat

Ground beetle

Moth

Spider

Ladybird

Kestral

Chaffinch

Shrew

Ant

Hoverfly

Parasiticwasp

Lacewing

Hedgerow cut-away by Tony Harris

Bluebells, red campion and greater stitchwortare typical flowers foundin hedges

John Morrison