References
- Andrieu, N., Josien, E. & Duru, M. 2007. Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use practices assessed at the farm level. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 120: 359–369.
- Archaux, F., Bergès, L. & Chevalier, R. 2007. Are plant censuses carried out on small quadrats more reliable than on larger ones? Plant Ecology, 188: 179–190.
- Bennie, J., Hill, M.O., Baxter, R. & Huntley, B. 2006. Influence of slope and aspect on long-term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 94: 355–368.
- Blackstock, T.H., Rimes, C.A., Stevens, D.P., Jefferson, R.G., Roberston, H.J., Mackintosh, J. & Hopkins, J.J. 1999. The extent of semi-natural grassland communities in lowland England and Wales: a review of conservation surveys 1978–96. Grass and Forage Science, 54: 1–18.
- Bühler, C. & Roth, T. 2011. Spread of common species results in local-scale floristic homogenization in grassland of Switzerland. Diversity and Distributions, 17: 1089–1098.
- Ceulemans, T., Merckx, R., Hens, M. & Honnay, O. 2013. Plant species loss from European semi-natural grasslands following nutrient enrichment – is it nitrogen or is it phosphorus? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 22: 73–82.
- Critchley, C.N.R. & Poulton, S.M.C. 1998. A method to optimize precision and scale in grassland monitoring. Journal of Vegetation Science, 9: 837–846.
- Critchley, C.N.R., Fowbert, J.A. & Wright, B. 2007. Dynamics of species-rich upland hay meadows with agricultural management practices. Applied Vegetation Science, 10: 307–314.
- Diekmann, M., Kiihne, A. & Isermann, M. 2007. Random vs non-random sampling: effects on patterns of species abundance, species richness and vegetation-environment relationships. Folia Geobotanica, 42: 179–190.
- Diekmann, M., Jandt, U., Alard, D., Bleeker, A., Corcket, E., Gowing, D.J.G., Stevens, C.J. & Duprè, C. 2014. Long-term changes in calcareous grassland vegetation in North-western Germany – No decline in species richness, but a shift in species composition. Biological Conservation, 172: 170–179.
- Gordon, J.E. & Newton, A.C. 2006. Efficient floristic inventory for the assessment of tropical tree diversity: a comparative test of four alternative approaches. Forest Ecology and Management, 237: 564–573.
- Greenwood, E.F. 2012. Flora of North Lancashire. Lancaster: Palatine Books.
- Gustavsson, E., Lennartsson, T. & Emanuelsson, M. 2007. Land use more than 200 years ago explains current grassland plant diversity in a Swedish agricultural landscape. Biological Conservation, 138: 47–59.
- Habel, J.C., Dengler, J., Janišová, M., Török, P., Wellstein, C. & Wiezik, M. 2013. European grassland ecosystems: threatened hotspots of biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22: 2131–2138.
- Hédl, R. 2007. Is sampling subjectivity a distorting factor in surveys for vegetation diversity? Folia Geobotanica, 42: 192–198.
- Hejcman, M., Sochorová, L., Pavlů, V., Štrobach, J., Diepolder, M. & Schellberg, J. 2014. The Steinach Grassland Experiment: soil chemical properties, sward height and plant species composition in three cut alluvial meadow after decades-long fertilizer application. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 184: 76–87.
- Hill, M.O., Mountford, J.O., Roy, D.B. & Bunce, R.G.H. 1999. Ellenberg indicator values for British plants. ECOFACT, vol.2, technical annexe. ITE Monkswood, Huntingdonshire. London: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
- Hodgson, J.G., Grime, J.P., Wilson, P.J., Thompson, K. & Band, S.R. 2005. The impacts of agricultural change (1963–2003) on the grassland flora of Central England: processes and prospects. Basic and Applied Ecology, 6: 107–118.
- Homburger, H. & Hofer, G. 2012. Diversity change of mountain hay meadows in the Swiss Alps. Basic and Applied Ecology, 13: 132–138.
- Hunt, R., Hodgson, J.G., Thompson, K., Bungener, P., Dunnett, N.P. & Askew, A.P. 2004. A new practical tool for deriving a functional signature for herbaceous vegetation. Applied Vegetation Science, 7: 163–170.
- Hutson, M.A. 1999. Local processes and regional patterns: appropriate scales for understanding variation in the diversity of plants and animals. Oikos, 86: 393–401.
- JNCC (Joint Nature Conservation Committee). 2004. Common standards monitoring guidance for lowland grassland, version February 2004. Peterborough: JNCC. ISSN 1743-8160.
- Kalusová, V., Le Duc, M.G., Gilbert, J.C., Lawson, C.S., Gowing, D.J.G. & Marrs, R.H. 2009. Determining the important environmental variables controlling plant species community composition in mesotrophic grasslands in Great Britain. Applied Vegetation Science, 12: 459–471.
- Kent, M. 2012. Vegetation description and analysis: a practical approach, 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Klimek, S., Kemmerman, A.R., Hofmann, M. & Isselstein, J. 2007. Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands: the relative importance of field management and environmental factors. Biological Conservation, 134: 559–570.
- Krause, B. & Culmsee, H. 2013. The significance of habitat continuity and current management on the compositional and functional diversity of grasslands in the uplands of Lower Saxony, Germany. Flora, 208: 299–311.
- Lajer, K. 2007. Statistical tests as inappropriate tools for data analysis performed on non-random samples of plant communities. Folia Geobotanica, 42: 115–122.
- Lepš, J. & Šmilauer, P. 2007. Subjectively sampled vegetation data: don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Folia Geobotanica, 42: 169–178.
- Magurran, A.E., Baillie, S.R., Buckland, S.T., Dick, J.M., Elston, D.A., Scott, E.M., Smith, R.I., Somerfield, P.J. & Watt, A.D. 2010. Long-term datasets in biodiversity research and monitoring: assessing change in ecological communities through time. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25: 574–582.
- Marriott, C.A., Bolton, G.R. & Fisher, J.M. 2003. Changes in species composition of abandoned sown swards after imposing seasonal cutting treatments. Grass and Forage Science, 58(1): 37–49.
- Maskell, L.C., Smart, S.M., Bullock, J.M., Thompson, K. & Stevens, C.J. 2010. Nitrogen deposition causes widespread loss of species richness in British habitats. Global Change Biology, 16: 671–679.
- Met Office. 2016. [online]. [Accessed 1 February 2017]. Available at: <http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcw4rg5df>.
- Meyer, S., Bergmeier, E., Becker, T., Wesche, K., Krause, B. & Leuschner, C. 2015. Detecting long-term losses at the plant community level – arable fields in Germany revisited. Applied Vegetation Science, 18: 432–442.
- Natural England. 2013a. Higher level stewardship: environmental stewardship handbook, fourth edition, NE 350. [online]. [Accessed 1 February 2017]. Available at: <http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/2827091>.
- Natural England. 2013b. Entry level stewardship: environmental stewardship handbook, fourth edition, NE382. [online]. [Accessed 1 February 2017]. Available at: <http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/2798159?category=35001>.
- Oksanen, R., Blanchet, F.G., Kindt, R., Legendre, P., Minchin, P.R., O'Hara, R.B., Simpson, G.L., Solymos, P., Henry, M., Stevens, H. & Wagner, H. 2013. Vegan: community ecology package, R package version 2.0–10. [online]. [Accessed 15 January 2017]. <http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan>.
- Pakeman, R.J., Alexander, J., Brooker, R., Cummins, R., Fielding, D., Gore, S., Hewison, R., Mitchell, R., Moore, E., Orford, K., Pemberton, C., Trinder, C. & Lewis, R. 2016. Long-term impacts of nitrogen deposition on coastal plant communities. Environmental Pollution, 212: 337–347.
- Pavlů, L., Pavlů, V., Gaisler, J., Hejcman, M. & Mikulka, J. 2011. Effect of long-term cutting versus abandonment on the vegetation of a mountain hay meadow (Polygono-Trisetion) in Central Europe. Flora, 206: 1020–1029.
- Peco, B., de Pablos, I., Traba, J. & Levassor, C. 2005. The effect of grazing abandonment on species composition and functional traits: the case of dehesa grasslands. Basic and Applied Ecology, 6: 175–183.
- Poschlod, P., Bakker, J.P. & Kahmen, S. 2005. Changing land use and its impact on biodiversity. Basic and Applied Ecology, 6: 93–98.
- Preston, C.D., Pearman, D. A. & Dines, T.D., eds. 2002. New atlas of the British flora: an atlas of the vascular plans of Britain, Ireland, The Isle of man and the channel Islands. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- R Development Core Team. 2014. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. [online]. [Accessed 1 February 2017]. <https://www.R-project.org>.
- Reitalu, T., Sykes, M.T., Johansson, L.J., Lönn, M., Hall, K., Vandewalle, M. & Prentice H.C. 2009. Small-scale plant species richness and evenness in semi-natural grasslands respond differently to habitat fragmentation. Biological Conservation, 142: 899–908.
- Rodwell, J.S., ed. 1992. British plant communities volume 3: grasslands and montane communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Rodwell, J.S., Morgan, V., Jefferson, R.G. & Moss, D. 2007. The European context of British lowland grasslands. JNCC Report 394. Peterborough: JNCC. ISSN 0963 8901.
- Ross, L.C., Woodin, S.J., Hester, A.J., Thompson, D.B.A. & Birks, J.B. 2012. Biotic homogenization of upland vegetation: patterns and drivers at multiple scales over five decades. Journal of Vegetation Science, 23: 755–770.
- Silvertown, J., Tallowin, J., Stevens, C., Power, S.A., Morgan, V., Emmett, B., Hester, A., Grime, P.J., Morecroft, M., Buxton, R., Poulton, P., Jinks, R. & Bardgett, R. 2010. Environmental myopia: a diagnosis and a remedy. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25: 556–561.
- Smith, I.R., Wells, D.A. & Welsh, P. 1985. Botanical survey and monitoring methods for grasslands. Grassland habitat network handbook No. 1, NCC, Peterborough. [online]. [Accessed 1 February 2017]. Available at: <http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/Pub85_Botanical_survey_&_monitoring_methods_for_grasslands_PRINT.pdf>.
- Snoo, G.R., Naus, N., Verhulst, J., Ruijven, J., Schaffers, A.P. & Güsewell, S. 2012. Long-term changes in plant diversity of grasslands under agricultural and conservation management. Applied Vegetation Science, 15: 299–306.
- Stevens, C.J., Duprè, C., Dorland, E., Gaudnik, C., Gowing, G.J.G., Bleeker, A., Diekmann, M., Alard, D., Bobbink, R., Fowler, D., Corcket, E., Mountford, J.O., Vandvik, V., Aarestad, P.A., Muller, S. & Dise, N.B. 2010. Nitrogen deposition threatens species richness of grasslands across Europe. Environmental Pollution, 158: 2940–2945.
- Stewart, G.B. & Pullin, A.S. 2008. The relative importance of grazing stock type and grazing intensity for conservation of mesotrophic ‘old meadow’ pasture. Journal for Nature Conservation, 16: 175–185.
- Stoate, C., Báldi, A., Beja, P., Boatman, N.D., Herzon, I., van Doorn, A., de Snoo, G.R., Rakosy, L. & Ramwell, C. 2009. Ecological impacts of early 21st century agricultural change in Europe – a review. Journal of Environmental Management, 91: 22–46.
- Suding, K.N., Collins, S.L., Gough, L., Clark, C., Cleland, E.E., Gross, K.L., Milchunas, D.G. & Pennings, S. 2005. Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102: 4387–4392.
- Taylor, I., 1986. A botanical survey of mesotrophic grasslands in Lancashire, unpublished Nature Conservancy Council report.
- Van den Berg, L.J.L., Vergeer, P., Rich, T.G.C., Smart, S.M., Guest, D. & Ashmore, M.R. 2011. Direct and indirect effects of nitrogen deposition on species composition change in calcareous grasslands. Global Change Biology, 17: 1871–1883.
- Van den Berg, L.J.L., Jones, L., Sheppard, L.J., Smart, S.M., Bobbink, R., Dise, N.B. & Ashmore, M.R. 2016. Evidence for differential effects of reduced and oxidised nitrogen deposition on vegetation independent of nitrogen load. Environmental Pollution, 208: 890–897.
- Wesche, K., Krause, B., Culmsee, H. & Leuschner, C. 2012. Fifty years of change in Central European grassland vegetation: large losses in species richness and animal-pollinated plants. Biological Conservation, 150: 76–85.