Available online
Description
Every landscape has a history which records the interaction between the earth and sky - the geology and the climate. Between these two, living organisms also exert their effects - man and his domes...ticated animals not least. The chalk downlands with their characteristic community of flowers are the result of an interplay of these factors - particularly man, and the animals he introduced. This programme describes the plant community and the grazing by sheep, and especially rabbits, which determines what we see. The history of the rabbit in the United Kingdom and in Australia is described and the effects of myxomatosis in both places illustrated. The 'knock-on' effects of myxomatosis in the UK are illustrated particularly as they affected chalk grassland. To enjoy such grasslands we need to understand how they are generated and maintained and so be able to conserve them, though of course conservation does not mean preservation. The film was shot in the Chilterns and employs some aerial photography.
Every landscape has a history which records the interaction between the earth and sky - the geology and the climate. Between these two, living organisms also exert their effects - man and his domes...ticated animals not least. The chalk downlands with their characteristic community of flowers are the result of an interplay of these factors - particularly man, and the animals he introduced. This programme describes the plant community and the grazing by sheep, and especially rabbits, which determines what we see. The history of the rabbit in the United Kingdom and in Australia is described and the effects of myxomatosis in both places illustrated. The 'knock-on' effects of myxomatosis in the UK are illustrated particularly as they affected chalk grassland. To enjoy such grasslands we need to understand how they are generated and maintained and so be able to conserve them, though of course conservation does not mean preservation. The film was shot in the Chilterns and employs some aerial photography.
| Module code and title: | S101, Science: a foundation course |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S101; 21 |
| First transmission date: | 31-07-1979 |
| Published: | 1979 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Roger Jones |
| Contributor: | Peggy Varley |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Chalk downlands; Chilterns; Grasslands; Myxomatosis |
| Subject terms: | Conservation; Rabbits; Grassland ecology |
| Footage description: | Aerial shots of a Chiltern grassland landscape Peggy Varly (voice over) introduces the programme. Close up shots of some of the flowers found in typical Chiltern chalk grassland field. The following flowers are seen: pyramid orchid, scabious, basil, marjoram, clustered bellflower, wild carrot, yellow ragwort, and white candytuft. Peggy Varley (voice over) explains briefly why these particular flowers appear there and goes on to describe each of them in turn. Varley examines several more plants from this grassland and explains that some are so exclusive to this environment that they can be used as indicator species. Shots of wild carrot, greater knapweed, hawkbit, yelllow rockrose, eyebright, sandwort, salad burnet, and forget-me-nots. Over shots of wild rabbits grazing, of aerial dews of Chiltern grassland, and close-ups of some of the plants, Peggy Varley gives a brief history of the rabbit population in Britain, shots of a rabbit doe in a warren giving birth to her young and of a fox killing a rabbit. Varley describes the effect of the introduction of rabbits to Australia, particularly on the grasslands grazed by sheep. Shots of 19th century Australian immigrants, of a kangaroo, and of Australian landscapes showing particularly the erosion damage which resulted from overgrazing by rabbits. Varley goes on to describe steps taken in Australia to control the rabbit population. Fencing, trapping and poisons were all tried without much effect until myxomatosis was introduced. This devastated the rabbit population. Shots of rabbits being hunted, of rabbits with myxomatosis, and of a field littered with dead rabbits. Several still shots of British meadow illustrate the damage done by rabbits in Britain in the early 1950s. Commentary by Varley. Varley describes some of the knock-on effects which emerged when myxomatosis was introduced in Britain to reduce the rabbit population. Shots of rabbits, of foxes and their young and of new vegetation which grew up in meadows now longer grazed by rabbits. To sum up the programme, Peggy Varley discusses the importance of controlled grazing by rabbits or sheep in order to preserve the chalk grassland environment. Shots of meadows and scrubland. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/73032 |
| Production number: | FOUS021B |
| Videofinder number: | 1196 |
| Available to public: | no |
