These are the species rich, dry grasslands of more lowland and/or deeper neutral pH soils. They are usually cattle or pony grazed pastures, hay meadows and they also occur as grass verges or as old pasture that is now part of a park, school ground or cemetery. These are places which when given a chance, are in high summer, awash with colour and alive with insects.  Once common and the agricultural mainstay of British pastures, species-rich neutral grasslands are now rare. Species-rich neutral grasslands are usually permanent, unploughed grasslands, managed through livestock or hay production and free from intensive fertiliser or herbicide application. On verges and in parks, cemeteries, school grounds and gardens, they are maintained by either mowing, or if they are lucky, wildflower ‘cut and collect’ management. The low nutrient status of the soil and traditional management techniques allow a wide diversity of grasses, sedges, flowering plants, mosses, liverworts and grassland fungi to co-exist. Low intensity, traditional management is key to the survival of these floristically diverse grasslands. However, between 1930 and 1997 it is estimated that a 97% loss in semi-natural lowland grassland occurred in England and Wales. Today less than 2000ha has been recorded as surviving in Wales. Although, many species-rich neutral grasslands have been lost, in RCT we are fortunate to still have a healthy network and County-wide distribution of these wonderful habitats. It is a very characteristic grassland habitat in the south of the County Borough (the so-called Border-Vale), while further north it is more associated with valley bottoms and lower valley sides. RCT has regionally important concentrations occur in both the Cynon and Taff valleys. The habitat is less characteristic of the Rhondda where acidic pastures are the mainstay.  

 

Using the National Vegetation Classification most of our best neutral grasslands are ‘black knapweed and crested dog's-tail' MG5 mesotrophic (neutral) grassland. This is the classic flower rich meadow of children’s books and plate mats. MG5 grasslands are home to wide variety of grass species including red fescue, crested dog’s-tail, yellow-oat grass, common bent-grass, and quaking grass. The more obvious feature of these grasslands is their flower-rich appearance. The two classic indicator species are bird’s foot trefoil and common knapweed. The sprawling low growing, yellow and red pea-flowers of trefoil, and the cornflower blue of knapweed are often the first indications of a wildflower grassland. Other characteristic species include red clover, rough hawkbit, devil’s bit scabious, ox-eye daisy, and common spotted orchid, and on sites with some moderate alkaline input cowslip, field scabious and greater knapweed, and on mildly acid soils species such as tormentil and betony. Short grazed MG5 can be extremely important as grassland fungi habitat, with on the best sites a diversity of brightly coloured waxcaps, and earth tongues. 

 

Where grasslands have been modified by low level agricultural improvement or just poor management, the closely related NVC community ‘rye grass and crested dog's-tail' MG6 grassland can often be of ecological importance. Often hidden in the short turf of horse pastures black knapweed, bird’s-foot trefoil and other indicators of important grassland are frequently still present. Experience shows that with sympathetic management such grasslands can become even more species-rich remarkably quickly. Conversely where grazing or hay management is abandoned, tall ‘false oat grass’ MG1 grassland can establish, but again these apparently species-poor grasslands can often support key wildflowers, which with sympathetic management can quickly increase. This phenomenon is seen on many of the Council’s wildflower grass verges, where cut and collect management actively recovers MG5 grassland from previously rank MG1 communities.  

 

Therefore, there is a significant resource of ‘sleeping’ species rich neutral grassland habitat in RCT, which with modest changes in management (such as periodic resting from horse grazing or conservation grazing or road verge ‘cut and collect’ management) has an exciting potential to realise a significantly increased area of wildflower habitat. This resource of grassland habitat exists because of undisturbed soils, mycorrhizal fungi communities and stored seedbanks that, for some species, can persist for decades. When management conditions are right these factors drive a floristic renaissance. This resource of ‘sleeping’ neutral grassland urgently requires nature conservation recognition because it offers a huge future potential to massively improve wildflower and grassland fungi habitat extent and connectivity. This feature may be a particularly ‘Valleys’ asset, a product of the historic low intensity agriculture practice of the area.  However, because its value has gone unrecognised it is also extremely vulnerable to other land use pressures, such as tree planting. 

 

Species-rich neutral grassland are fantastic invertebrate habitats, with charismatic species such as violet-oil beetles, long-horned and broad-banded nomad bees, cone-head bush crickets, common blue and dingy skipper butterflies, day flying six-spotted burnet, burnet companion, and mother shipton moths and on spring evenings ghost moths and lumbering, whirling cockchaffers. Invertebrates provide food for linnets and blackbirds and seeding flower heads for charms of goldfinches and bullfinch, all of which nest in adjacent hedgerows. Slow worm and common lizards forage or bask on the grassland edges, buzzards hunt voles and worms and bats feed over grasslands at night. 

 

Sympathetic management is key to maintain neutral grasslands. Without management these grasslands rapidly succeed into bramble scrub and the young oak woodland which is so readily planted by autumnal jays. Conservation grazing is ideal for pastures, and cut and collect management for hay meadows, parks, cemeteries, school grounds and grass verges. The avoidance of herbicides and fertiliser application is essential.