Index to the management of coastal vegetated shingle

Varying degrees of management intervention are required to conserve successional stages of shingle structures. Though unlike other coastal habitats (notably saltmarshes, sand dunes and sea cliffs, included in the Guide "Coastal Habitat Restoration, towards good practice") where grazing provides a significant determinant of the plant and animal communities, which develop; it has a relatively limited role on vegetated shingle. Minimum management is required to maintain scrub or woodland communities on shingle but heath, grassland and pioneer communities may require more active management. Calluna vulgaris heath on the other hand may require low-level grazing management to maintain age and species diversity.

Some limited grazing does take place on the most stable structures and may help to prevent the growth of course grassland and scrub, but this is only relevant to a small number of sites. However, many of the plant communities supported on shingle are unique to this substrate and this must be taken into account for the management of vegetated shingle. The presence of lichen heath is indicative of remote areas with limited public access (e.g. Orfordness, Annex 06; lee slopes of Chesil Beach). To allow the development of lichen or moss-rich heath, access should be restricted to such areas, thus protecting the fragile structure of these communities. In particular whilst pioneer communities of vegetated shingle can begin to recover naturally from damage within a few years, as long as the seed bank remains intact and further damaging activities are halted, more mature communities will not.

Coastal defence structures and operations affect many sites. These activities can be highly damaging to the nature conservation interests.