AESME Lot 7: Impacts of Agri-Environment Management on Upland Hay Meadows

The aims of the project are: - to provide an updated assessment of the impact of agri-environment schemes and in particular Environmental Stewardship on upland hay meadows - to assess the effectiveness of techniques designed to introduce and/ or increase the frequency of wildflower species in upland hay meadow swards These will be achieved through a resurvey of the condition of a sample of sites for which there are existing data. The effectiveness of enhancement techniques such as seed introduction and green hay spreading will be investigated by including a sample of receptor meadows subject to such interventions through specific partner projects that have utilised scheme capital payments.