More butterflies and bees through sine mowing
On the Hondsbossche Zeewering in 2022, a study was conducted on the effect of sine mowing on vegetation composition and the presence of diurnal butterflies and bees. To compare, a quarter of the dike length was mowed in the original way and 75% with sine mowing. The pilot started in 2016.
Sinus management on the Hondsbossche seawall shows both positive and negative results. The experiment shows significantly more diurnal butterflies and bees in the sinus-managed dike sections than in the control dike sections. The species richness of typical bee species of dune and coastal areas also increases. Probably the new dune area on the sea side of the barrier is also to blame for this.
Attention to sine wave management
Sinus management itself does still require continued attention. In the first four years of the experiment (2016-2019), the grass clippings in the sinus areas were not removed. This resulted in considerable undesirable overgrowth of vegetation. The overgrowth decreased from 2020 when the grass clippings were removed. During the trial period, the amount of plant species in the different dike sections remained constant.
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