Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an
ecosystem associated with thin
basicsoil, such as that on
chalk and
limestonedownland.[1] Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and
hardy, and include
grasses and herbs such as
clover. Calcareous grassland is an important habitat for insects, particularly
butterflies and ants,[2] and is kept at a
plagioclimax by
grazinganimals, usually sheep and sometimes cattle.
Rabbits used to play a part but due to the onset of
myxomatosis their numbers decreased so dramatically that they no longer have much of a grazing effect.
The
machair forms a different kind of calcareous grassland, where fertile low-lying plains are formed on ground that is
calcium-rich due to shell sand (pulverised
sea shells).
Gibson, C.W.D. (1995). Chalk grasslands on former arable land: a review. Bioscan (UK) Ltd, Oxford.
Gibson, C.W.D. & Brown, V.K. (1991). The nature and rate of development of calcareous grassland in southern Britain. Biological Conservation, 58, 297-316.
Mugnai M, Frasconi Wendt C, Balzani P, Ferretti G, Dal Cin M, Masoni A, Frizzi F, Santini G, Viciani D, Foggi B, Lazzaro L. (2021). Small-scale drivers on plant and ant diversity in a grassland habitat through a multifaceted approach. PeerJ 9:e12517
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12517
Price, Elizabeth (2002), Grassland and heathland habitats, New York: Routledge, p. 208,
ISBN978-0-415-18762-6
Smith, C.J. (1980). The Ecology of the English Chalk. Academic Press, London.