| Tayside Biodiversity - Tayside
Biodiversity Action Plan - Urban -
Businesses with Land |
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 |
DEFINITION
The term “businesses with land” is used to describe a wide variety
of commercial interests. These range from large national/international employers
to small family run businesses. The common denominator is that all these businesses
have land attached to them ranging in area from a simple boundary fence line
to large areas of landscaped or bare ground.
This land will include a variety of landscape types, for example:
Woodland;
Heath/Scrub;
Designed Landscape;
Grassland;
Wetland. |
Businesses with attached land provide a challenge to integrate industry with
the environment in areas traditionally regarded as not being people or wildlife
friendly. Individual businesses can greatly benefit from improving their surroundings
and at the same time provide wildlife havens amidst an increasingly fragmented
urban environment. The larger industrial areas will also benefit from enhanced
surroundings, but they also have the opportunity to provide important wildlife
corridors to link these fragmented habitats. |
|
CURRENT STATUS
AND EXTENT OF HABITAT
Currently there are approximately 105 industrial estates in Tayside: 49 in Perth
and Kinross, 46 in the City of Dundee and 10 in Angus. These industrial areas
are of varying size - the smallest, Balmossie Mill in Dundee, covers an area
of 0.12 hectares, whilst the largest, Baldovie, also in Dundee, covers an area
of 66.4 ha.
In addition to those businesses located within defined industrial areas, there
are a large number of business parks and standalone business premises throughout
the region with surrounding land which fits the criteria of this Action Plan.
Woodland and Copses
Many trees on business land are non-native by virtue of being within a designed
landscape. The Acer species and flowering cherry are among those most commonly
encountered. Although not supporting the invertebrate biodiversity of native
species these trees are still valuable habitats. They provide shelter and nest
sites for birds, feeding and flyways for bats, shelter for buildings and landscape
features for people to enjoy.
Hedges and Hedgerow Trees
Any new hedges planted in a commercial landscape tend to include quick-growing
non-native species, but a mixed hedge using native species such as Hawthorn Crataegus
monogyna, Blackthorn Prunus spinosa, Dog Rose Rosa canina, Holly Ilex aquifolium,
and Hazel Corylus avellana will add to the visual diversity and provide much
needed shelter and food for birds and invertebrates. The bushy growth of hedges
containing native species can provide an effective filter against air pollution
if sited alongside busy roads and they make effective shelters and screens for
buildings and industrial sites. In maturity they can also act as a barrier and
in the case of using Hawthorn and Blackthorn, an aid to property security.
Where there are already hedges in the commercial landscape these should be retained
wherever possible. A mature hedge will only need trimming once every two years
and may already act as important flyways for bats and some bird species who use
them as song-posts, feeding and nesting sites.
In either new hedge planting or in the retention of a mature hedge, native tree
species should be allowed to grow up as standards within the hedge to provide
a treeline in the landscape. This greatly enhances the visual benefits of the
hedge and again provides nesting sites and flyways for a number of species.
Heath/Scrub land
Many industrial areas have adjacent or nearby areas of little-used or abandoned
(brown field) land. Over time this often reverts to a wild state with initial
colonising species frequently represented by Gorse Ulex europaeus, Broom Sarothamnus
scoparius, and Elder Sambucus nigra. This scrub/heath land is a valuable habitat
for songbirds providing food and nesting sites. Such open ground can also be
high in invertebrate interest with some beetles relying on undisturbed rocky
or sandy soil. Small mammals will also benefit from this habitat - as in turn
will their predators.
In many cases it should be possible to retain elements of this important habitat
even when commercial use resumes.
Designed Landscape
This is the most frequently encountered habitat found around business units,
particularly within planned industrial estates. It invariably consists of short
mown grass, non-native trees and shrubs set in a chipped mulch with gravel or
tarmac paths. This type of landscape is of very little benefit for most wildlife.
With imagination and a change in management designed landscape can, however,
be both formal and wildlife-rich. Native trees and shrubs should be selected
to give a mixture of berries and fruits, pollen-rich flowers and shelter for
a diverse variety of species. Areas of lawn or grassland should be managed to
encourage wildflowers and native grass species. These do not have to be unsightly
if areas close to pathways and building entrances are close-mown with scalloped
edges. Ponds can be incorporated which offer not only visual benefits with attractive
pond-edge planting, but also a rich habitat for amphibians and invertebrates.
Ideally they should be utilised as part of a water runoff management or Sustainable
Urban Drainage Scheme.
Grassland
Grassland areas surrounding businesses are typically short mown amenity mixtures
which lack diversity. Ideally grassland areas should be managed to maximise biodiversity
with creation of wildflower meadows where appropriate achieved via a general
reduction in mowing frequency. As more species colonise the grassland invertebrates,
birds, small mammals and their predators will benefit. In addition to this, the
quality of life of employees, clients and suppliers can be enhanced from the
greater variety of flowers and insect life once the meadows are established.
This will, in many cases, stimulate greater awareness of biodiversity which can
lead to enthusiasm for individual projects.
Wetland
Existing streams flowing through or alongside industrial sites are all too frequently
used as convenient dumping grounds or are forced to flow through culverts. When
new commercial or industrial sites are being planned, the culverting of burns
should be avoided where ever possible and existing culverts opened up and enhanced
where feasible.
Creation of ponds should be encouraged, whether free standing or linked into
the existing or planned drainage system. A series of rain water holding ponds
around an industrial estate would not only provide an excellent habitat for a
wide variety of species, but would offer a valuable contribution to the wider
problem of water runoff from built up areas. Management of waterways will be
important to ensure that they are not polluted with either rubbish or industrial
waste. This will require a management framework to be delivered and implemented
by local authorities, SEPA and businesses. |
KEY
SPECIES
P = UK Priority species C = UK species of conservation concern
| Mammals |
Pipistrelle bat spp. |
Pipistrellus pipistrellus
and |
P |
| |
Pipistrellus pygmeus |
|
| Brown long-eared bat |
Plecotus auritus |
C |
| Daubenton’s bat |
Myotis daubentoni |
C |
| Hedgehog |
Erinaceus europaeus |
C |
| Stoat |
Mustela erminea |
C |
| Weasel |
Mustela nivalis |
C |
| Birds |
House martin |
Delichon urbica |
C |
| Sand martin |
Riparia riparia |
C |
| Swallow |
Hirundo rustica |
C |
| Swift |
Apus apus |
|
| Kestrel |
Falco tinnunculus |
C |
| Tawny owl |
Strix aluco |
C |
| Barn owl |
Tyto alba |
C |
| Yellowhammer |
Emberiza citrinella |
C |
| Goldfinch |
Carduelis carduelis |
C |
| Amphibians
and Reptiles |
Common frog |
Rana temporaria |
C |
| Common toad |
Bufo bufo |
C |
| Slow worm |
Anguis fragilis |
C |
| Invertebrates |
Peacock butterfly |
Inachis io |
|
| Red admiral butterfly |
Vanessa atalanta |
|
| Garden tiger moth |
Arctia caja |
|
| Common blue damselfly |
Enallagma cyathigerum |
|
| bumble bees |
|
|
| beetles |
|
|
| Plants |
Willow |
Salix spp |
|
| Oak |
Quercus robur |
|
| Ash |
Fraxinus excelsior |
|
| Hazel |
Corylus avellana |
|
| Hawthorn |
Crataegus monogyna |
|
| Blackthorn |
Prunus spinosa |
|
| Nettle |
Urtica dioica |
|
| White clover |
Trifolium repens |
|
| Valerian |
Valeriana officinalis |
|
| Red campion |
Silene dioica |
|
|
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