Ok, here we go... forgive the structure of this post, I have cobbled it together in a rush...Butterfly Gardener wrote:Please do comment Felix. If i'm doing something wrong I need to know so that I can stop.
Nutrient enrichment caused my dog fouling is becoming a real problem in certain areas.
Britians doggy population deposits almost 50,000 tons of excrement per year and certain SSSI's are being significantly degraded by vegitative changes caused by nutrient enrichment.
One only has to look at the vegetation around the car parks and adjacent to the footpaths of some of Dorset's heathland sites to see this in action. Some declines of the grayling in habitats close to urban areas have been attributed, at least in part, to nutrient enrichment of the habitat caused by canine deposits, encouraging the growth of lush grasses and bracken.
There is a school of though that believes that nature reserves and SSSI's should be just that, and the 'nature' should come first and foremost, even if that means placing significant constraints on public access.
At the risk of incurring the wrath of responsible dog owners everywhere certain large conservation organisations/NGO's are considering banning dogs from certain (if not all) of their nature reserves/SSSI's.
Not only is nutrient enrichment through dog fouling a real problem in certain habitats (why do you think so many footpaths on heathland sites are flanked by lush green grass?) but for some ground nesting bird species the mere presence of dogs, on leads or otherwise, can be enough to deter them from the very habitat that is apparently being protected for their use. This latter issue has been backed up by large studies in recent years following the inexplicable loss of breeding (ground nesting) birds from large reserves popular with dog walkers.
We are all competing for the same limited resources in this country, but none more so than habitat-specialist wildlife. Is it time that organisations that allege to exist for the benefit of wildlife really began putting the wildlife first?
Felix.