In keeping with other types of grassland, periods of intensive sheep-grazing and the resulting eutrophication reduces the floristic diversity of calcareous grasslands – with true calcicole species declining in frequency while species that favour eutrophic conditions increase. Since the 1990s, the problems associated with eutrophication have been exacerbated by the deposition of atmospheric nitrogen, offsetting any gains made by the reduced levels of sheep-grazing in the aftermath of the foot and mouth pandemics and the changes in CAP payment subsidies.
