Arable plant species disappearing

 

Some of the most well-loved flowers of the British countryside are disappearing from arable fields, conservationists warned today.

Cornflowers, corn marigolds, pheasant's eye and, in some areas, poppies are becoming increasingly threatened species in the face of more intensive agriculture, plant charity Plantlife said.

The conservation group is urging farmers to help arable plants, which it says are the most threatened wildflowers, through simple steps such as providing strips of land at the edge of fields managed to allow the plants to germinate and grow.

But it warns against simply sowing commercial wildflower seed crops, which contain non-native seed for plants such as cornflower and do not have the genetic diversity, local variety or correct flowering times of wildflowers.

Cath Shellswell, of Plantlife, said many arable plant species are struggling, with corn buttercups and cornflowers now incredibly rare, while in Wales poppies are now considered rare in some areas.

"There's various reasons for their decline, the first is changing farming practices - we've intensified farming.

"We're more efficient at cleaning seed to take out all the seeds you wouldn't want to plant.

"And we tend to use more herbicides, which are there to target problem species, lots of weeds we don't want to encourage, but it also affects these flowers as well."

An increase in winter planting of crops and in some areas a switch away from arable farming are also taking their toll on wild plants, she said.

Many of the arable wildflowers are important for wildlife, with hoverflies relying heavily on daisy species and plants such as poppies providing an important source of pollen for bees.

Arable plants also provide seed food for birds such as skylark and yellowhammer and some, such as the poppy, are culturally important.

Ms Shellswell said: "Arable plants are some of our most well-loved but also some of our most threatened flowers.

"The red poppies that help us remember our fallen soldiers are iconic and part of our cultural history, yet many arable plants have all but vanished from the countryside."

Plantlife has produced guides for farmers wanting to help boost wildflower species in the countryside, with recommendations such as ploughing margins around fields to be left unsown to allow wildflowers to come through.

Areas with crops around the edge of fields that are not sprayed with herbicide can also allow wild plants to flourish.

The guides include advice on dealing with weeds and managing areas under agri-environment schemes, which pay farmers to look after the countryside for the benefit of wildlife.

While the charity warns against simply sowing commercial wildflower seed mixes, it does say that the seeds of arable plants can remain in the soil for many years, waiting for suitable conditions in which to germinate and grow.

Rough marsh-mallow seeds, for example, can remain viable in the soil for up to 180 years.

Plantlife hopes its guidelines will help farmland flourish with arable plants again.

PA

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
From the blogs

Barking Blondes: Oh no! Not another dog book!

Have you ever picked up a box of 100 books? This week has found the two of us lugging around the eq...

Question Time with Mathew Jonson

Mathew Jonson has been a hero of mine for quite some time now. His timeless piece, Marionette, was o...

Dish of the Day: Lily Vanilli’s recipe for making a human brain cake

A slight deviation from style this week and admittedly a bit weird, but at least I can finally say I...

Something For The Weekend in London: May 24-26

We love London for its multiculturalism, so we’re all about that cross-cultural life this weekend by...

       

Day In a Page

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub
The Last Word: Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally

The Last Word

Golf must end the hypocrisy before its halo slips totally