Clearing rhododendron on the River Avon, Devon скачать в хорошем качестве

Clearing rhododendron on the River Avon, Devon

This short video shows rhododendron clearance on the River Avon in Devon, at a site where the non-native shrub had spread to cover a ~0.6 ha area of moorland. Being a non-native species that grows in dense stands, rhododendron out-competes many of our native species and provides very poor habitat for native invertebrates and other wildlife. The rhododendron at this site had also suffered from previous outbreaks of the plant disease Phytophera and the clearance work provided the added benefit of reducing future disease risk. The SHRImP project was able to fund clearance of the Western bank alongside the access road to the dam, which is also a popular public footpath. The shrubs were cut, burnt and chipped on-site and the stumps were treated with the herbicide glyphosphate to prevent regrowth. A number of native trees have been planted to replace the rhododendron and will provide some shade cover where required. In time, these will establish to create the desired balance of light and shade that will benefit fish spawning and rearing within this stretch of the River Avon. This work was carried out as part of the South Hams River Improvement Project with funds from the Catchment Restoration Fund.