Transhumance, shielings and soil fertility – land-use legacies in Menstrie Glen, Scotland

Sebastian Wolfrum and Ian Simpson

Landscape History, 2023, vol. 44, issue 2, 37-59

Abstract: Whilst transhumance has been researched as a livestock and land management system, its legacy on soil- nutrient levels is unknown. This study addresses changes in soil chemistry associated with historical transhumance grazing management with the aim of establishing if soil-nutrient levels can shed new insights into land-use legacies originating from past transhumance in Scotland. The study is focused on one aspect of transhumance, the shielings associated with milking livestock formerly operating in the uplands of the Scottish Midland Valley. A literature review is presented focusing on the history, functioning and geographic distribution of transhumance systems in Scotland set within a global context. This is followed by a detailed examination of two shieling sites in Menstrie Glen in the Ochil Hills. Their relationship to topography is considered, with vegetation survey and chemical analyses for plant macronutrients of soils collected in the vicinity also carried out. Underpinned by theories integrating biogeochemical fluxes and agropastoral activities it is established that there is moderate enrichment of local nutrient levels still evident at the Menstrie Glen shieling sites today. Review of historical and environmental sources suggests that local nutrient levels reflect temporal dynamics of shieling establishment, functioning and abandonment with limited evidence to suggest this was driven by population pressure and adaptation to Little Ice Age climate change. The analyses lead to insights about wider ecological impacts of different forms of land use in the face of climate change and population pressure, carrying implications for land use in Scotland and the challenges facing extant transhumance systems in countries where both these issues are pressing today.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/01433768.2023.2284547

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