Dobbin and Stoney Meadows Ecological Report

CONTENTS


l. FOREWORD


2. INTRODUCTION


3. DOBBINS MEADOWS


4. STONEY MEADOWS


5. EVALUATION


APPENDIX

l Methodology
2 Species Lists


BIBLIOGRAPHY


LIST OF FIGURES

1A Vegetation Map of Dobbins Meadow OS Fields 8028 and 7534
1B Vegetation Map of Stoney Meadows OS Fields 3544,4738 and 5046
2 The National Distribution of Twin-Striped Cranefly


LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS

1 Ragged Robin
2 Common Spotted Orchid
3 Greater Tussock Sedge
4 Twin-Striped Cranefly


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to Mrs Warren for allowing access to the land. Thanks to Sarah Montgomery for arranging the survey. Thanks also to Rhodri Thomas for photographs and general advice and to Alison Foster/Angie Johnson for assisting with production of the report.



FOREWORD
Centuries of farming have made the Peak District what it is today, a place of such special value that its importance has been recognised by designating it a national park, one of Britain’s best-loved landscapes. The wildlife of the park makes a particularly important contribution to the character of this landscape, whether it is the expanses of ‘wild’ open moorland, flower-rich meadows or the call of the curlew. Farming and nature together have created a truly “living landscape”.

Much of the wildlife which we take for granted in the Peak District, such as flower-rich limestone dale grassland, ponds with Great Crested Newts, or extensive cottongrass bogs, is actually very uncommon or absent elsewhere in Britain. For other habitats and species, such as heather moorland and Red Grouse, Britain is the most important country in the world. Our conservation responsibilities therefore extend far beyond the bounds of the national park.

Many wildlife habitats depend on maintaining the traditional way in which the land has been farmed, much of our important wildlife has flourished because of traditional farming activities. However, the last 50 years has seen radical changes in farming at an unprecedented pace encouraged by successive government policies. This in turn has led to loss of wildlife and habitats on a massive scale. Since the 1930’s it is estimated that in Britain we have lost:

· over 97% of our flower-rich grasslands
· 30-50% of our ancient woodland
· over 30% of our moorland
· over 140,000 miles of hedgerow
· birds such as Lapwing, Grey Partridge and Skylark have declined by 50-75%
· nearly half of our species of butterfly are declining or near extinction
· nearly 40% of our rarest plants have suffered substantial declines.

The most important habitats are usually those which have been managed traditionally for a very long period of time. They are an important part of our history and, once destroyed, are often irreplaceable.
In the Peak District our aim is to work closely with farmers, to help them look after the special character of the national park and its wildlife. In doing so it is important to protect both the rare and the more commonplace plants, animals and wildlife habitats which make the national park special. Lapwing, for instance, have declined by over 50% in Britain since the late 1970’s due to agricultural change. The national park has become a poorer place with the decline of this increasingly uncommon bird, and would be poorer still if it disappeared completely. It is only by working closely with the farming community that we can ensure the things we take for granted today do not become the memories of tomorrow.
This report has been compiled by the Board's Ecology Service to explain why your land is important for wildlife. I hope that you will find it interesting and informative, and that it explains why we value your help in managing the land sympathetically for wildlife. If you have any comments on the report, or wish to know more about the wildlife on your land, our Ecology Service will be pleased to help.

I would like to thank you for your support in helping to conserve the unique wildlife of the Peak District National Park.



MARTIN DOUGHTY
CHAIRMAN


2. INTRODUCTION

These two fields at Knouchley Farm represent a type of wildlife habitat which is fast disappearing from our countryside. At one time such wet, sedge-fen meadows would have been common, but extensive drainage has resulted in the loss of a large proportion of such sites throughout Britain.

Both fields support a variety of marshland plant communities with a number of wetland plant species which are now uncommon in the Peak Park, and this vegetation will also support a correspondingly uncommon collection of insects which frequent this type of habitat. Dobbins Meadow is also the only known site in the Peak District for the harvest-mouse, uncommon in northern Britain and declining nationally.


3. DOBBINS MEADOW

Meadows such as this are now very uncommon in the Peak District and are of great value to wildlife. Many of the plants which grow here, and especially those which can only grow in damp ground, are becoming increasingly uncommon throughout the country. In time gone by wildflowers such as cuckooflower, ragged-robin and marsh marigold could be found in damp corners of most farms, but nowadays, when most of these places have been drained, there are fewer and fewer places in which they can live

Marsh marigolds, also known as “May blobs” or kingcups, have brilliant yellow flowers like giant buttercups. They are very popular with a variety of insects, which are attracted by the large bright flowers to feed on the nectar. In folklore, farmers were said to hang marsh marigolds over the byres of their cattle on May day to protect them from the evil doings of witches.

Ragged-robin (photograph 1) is an attractive plant of wet ground. It is a tall slender herb with ragged pink flowers. It gets its name from the ragged look of its divided petals. The plant is restricted to marshes and wet grasslands. It is a poor competitor and soon lost from the sward if there is an increase in the availability of nutrients. Plants with robin in their name were often associated with goblins and it was considered unlucky to pick this plant.

Several plants found here are scarce in the Peak District, including marsh arrowgrass, fen bedstraw, common spotted orchid, southern marsh orchid and spiked sedge.

It is not just the individual plant species which are important in fields such as this. The fact that these plants combine to form a number of different plant communities, which make up a complex mosaic of vegetation, add greatly to the conservation value of the field.

A particularly important aspect of this meadow is that it is the only known site for the harvest-mouse in the Peak District. This little mouse, the smallest British rodent, has greatly decreased in numbers in recent years and is now rare in most parts of the country. It lives in thick vegetation where it climbs about looking for seeds and insects to eat. In the summer it needs tall vegetation in which it can build its summer nest, where it might raise several litters of young. These nests, slung between the stalks of tall grasses or other plants in order to keep them away from predators such as stoats and weasels, are constructed from bits of grass formed into a ball about l0 cm across.


4. STONEY MEADOWS

Like Dobbins Meadow, this field supports a number of plant communities and is even more botanically interesting, with an exceptional total of over l00 species of plant. The vegetation forms a mosaic of different grassland and marsh communities. Marsh communities, in particular, are now extremely scarce within the Peak Park. Extensive areas are dominated by lesser pond sedge, indicataive of calcareous groundwater conditions along the flood-plain of the Stoke Brook. Such types of marsh are particularly rare in the Peak District, and this is possibly the most extensive and diverse area of this habitat within the national park.

Perhaps the most attractive of all the wild flowers which grow here are the orchids notably, the common spotted orchid and the southern marsh-orchid. These two species belong to a group of orchids which are closely related. These species often hybridize with each other as at this site and it is difficult, even for the expert, to put a name to them.

Common spotted orchids (photograph 2) are striking plants with narrow lance shaped leaves and a spike of dense pink flowers. The flowers are visited by a wide variety of insects including bumble bees and hoverflies which gather the sugary nectar from the spur formed by the petals. In doing so they are responsible for pollination of the plant. Common spotted orchids are restricted to unimproved grasslands and nationally its population has declined as a result of agricultural improvement.

The southern marsh orchid can be a tall, handsome plant, to 70 cm high, with a long spike of up to l00 pink to magenta flowers. They can be found in flower in June and July. It is restricted to a handful of sites in the Peak District.

A number of plants of greater tussock sedge (photograph 3) occur at the eastern end of the field. This plant, which in the right conditions can live for a very long time and eventually produce enormous tussocks as big as an armchair, is now also confined to a handful of sites in the Peak District. It is also indicative of the calcareous groundwater conditons. Wood club-rush, another locally uncommon plant, is also present.

A great many species of insects are drawn here to feed, and to lay their eggs on the multitude of different wild flowers and grasses. Most insects are very restricted in their requirements; some butterfly caterpillars depend on only one kind of plant, so the more different kinds of plant there are in a field the more kinds of insect you will get. The nationally rare twin striped cranefly (photograph 4 and figure 2) has been recorded here, for example.

5. EVALUATION

This site is particularly valuable for its varied marsh and fen vegetation, which is particularly uncommon in the Peak Park, and includes one of the largest areas of pond-sedge fen in the Peak District. It is also the only known site in the Peak District for the harvest-mouse. There are many plant species here which are now becoming uncommon, both in the Peak Park and nationally. These are generally wetland species, or species of unimproved grassland, and include: southern marsh-orchid, ragged robin, wood club-rush, greater tussock-sedge, yellow-rattle, marsh-marigold, quaking-grass, marsh arrow-grass and fen bedstraw.

Overall this marsh may be the finest of its type remaining in the Peak District, and is of considerable nature conservation value.

These meadows are also of great value to insects and other invertebrates and abundant butterflies have been recorded on the site, the light grazing and varied plant communities providing excellent habitat.



APPENDIX 1. METHODOLOGY

The aim of the survey is to assess what types of vegetation are present, how extensive they are and what particular species are found there. This in turn enables us to provide better aadvice about how to manage the area for the benefit of wildlife. The survey has been done as follows:

i) Visually distinct communities are recorded on a sketch map. A community is defined as an assemblage of plants which exhibits the same dominant species and key plants (e.g plants which indicate special environmental conditions).

ii) For each community a list of plants is compiled. Each species is assigned a DAFOR rating according to its frequency in the sward. DAFOR scores are a subjective visual assessment of the occurrence of a plant throughout the area. (D = dominant, A = abundant, F = frequent, O = occasional, R = rare).

iii) A brief description of the community is then made, with reference to the type of vegetation, management and any other notable features. For example, grassland communities are readily categorised according to the tolerance of the majority of plants to soil conditions.
a) Acidic grassland, swards largely composed of those species tolerant of acidic, nutrient poor soils;
b) Calcareous grassland, refers to swards with a high proportion of plants which are tolerant of alkaline conditions. These soils tend to be shallow and well drained, supporting a range of lime loving plants.
c) Neutral grasslands, are those swards in the middle range, being neither acid or alkaline. Species here tend to have less exacting requirements for growth than those characteristic of the two extremes and such communities may contain a large number of species.

iv) Each community is assigned to a category within the National Vegetation Classification (NVC). This classification is based on a comprehensive survey of all vegetation types within the British Isles. This enables assessment of the vegetation in a national context.

Within any site the boundaries between vegetation types is not always distinct. Mosaics of vegetation and transitions between communities are common.




Finally, the site is assessed for its overall conservation value. This is based on a number of criteria:

i) The richness of the vegetation, the number of different species present.

ii) The diversity of the sward, the number of species present and their abundance. Thus, a site which supports a large number of species, many of which are frequent, will have a high diversity and thus a high conservation value.

iii) The presence of rare and interesting species. An individual plant may be important on a site for a number of reasons. For example, it may be nationally rare or rare within the Peak National Park. Other plants may be of interest where they occur in a habitat not normally associated with this species or where geographically the species is at the edge of its national distribution.

iv) A community may be of high ecological value if it is a good example or an unusual example of a particular vegetation type, either nationally or within the context of the Peak National Park.

In brief, those fields of low ecological interest tend to be relatively poor in species and often dominated by grasses rather than herbs. The species of grass present are usually those most competitive and productive, such as rye grass (Lolium perenne). Herbs are present but they tend to be those more robust species which are able to withstand the competition of the productive grasses on the site. Such herbs are common and occur in a wide range of vegetation types. In contrast, fields of high ecological interest contain the more unusual plants. These tend to be less competitive and often have very specific habitat requirements, such as soil and drainage conditions. Such plants are often more sensitive to changes in agricultural practices and therefore tend to be restricted to traditionally managed areas of land.


APPENDIX 2. SPECIES LIST

Species list for Dobbins Meadow (Fields 8028 & 7534)


Grasses
Cocks-foot
Common couch
Creeping bent
Creeping soft grass
Crested dogs-tail
False oat-grass
Meadow fescue
Meadow foxtail
Quaking-grass
Perennial rye-grass
Red fescue
Reed canary-grass
Rough meadow-grass
Sweet-grass
Tall fescue
Timothy
Yorkshire fog


Sedges & Rushes
Carnation sedge
Common sedge
Compact rush
False fox-sedge
Glaucous sedge
Hard rush
Jointed rush
Lesser pond-sedge
Soft rush
Spiked sedge
Star sedge


Ferns & Horsetails
Field horsetail
Marsh horsetail
Wood horsetail


Trees & Shrubs
Ash
Bramble
Elder
Elm
Rose
Willow



Herbs
American willowherb
Black knapweed
Bog stitchwort
Broad-leaved dock
Burdock
Bush vetch
Cleavers
Common mouse-ear
Common sorrel
Common spotted orchid
Creeping buttercup
Creeping cinquefoil
Creeping thistle
Cuckooflower
Dandelion
Fen bedstraw
Germander speedwell
Goats-beard
Greater birds-foot trefoil
Greater plantain
Great willowherb
Hedge woundwort
Hoary willowherb
Hogweed
Intermediate lady’s-mantle
Lesser celandine
Marsh arrowgrass
Marsh bedstraw
Marsh marigold
Marsh thistle
Marsh willowherb
Meadow buttercup
Meadow cranesbill
Meadowsweet
Meadow vetchling
Ragged-robin
Red clover
Ribwort plantain
Rosebay willowherb
Selfheal
Smooth lady’s-mantle
Southern marsh orchid
Square-stalked St John’s-wort
St John’s-wort


Tufted vetch
Water avens
Water figwort
Water forget-me-not
Wavy bitter-cress
White clover
Wild angelica
Yellow-rattle


Species list for Stoney Meadows (OS fields 3544, 4738 & 5046)

Grasses
Annual meadow-grass
Cocks-foot
Common couch
Creeping bent
Crested dogs-tail
False oat-grass
Meadow fescue
Meadow foxtail
Perennial rye-grass
Plicate sweet-grass
Quaking-grass
Red fescue
Rough meadow-grass
Small sweet-grass
Sweet vernal-grass
Tall fescue
Timothy
Tufted hair-grass
Yorkshire fog


Sedges & Rushes
Common spike-rush
Compact rush
False fox-sedge
Glaucous sedge
Greater tussock-sedge
Hairy sedge
Hard rush
Jointed rush
Lesser pond-sedge
Soft rush
Spiked sedge
Star sedge
Toad rush
Wood club-rush


Ferns & Horsetails
Field horsetail
Marsh horsetail
Wood horsetail


Trees & Shrubs
Ash
Beech
Elder
Elm
Hawthorn
Holly
Lime
Rose
Sycamore
Willow
Herbs
American willowherb
Autumn hawkbit
Black knapweed
Bog stitchwort
Broad-leaved dock
Brooklime
Bush vetch
Common field-speedwell
Common figwort
Common mouse-ear
Common nettle
Common ragwort
Common sorrel
Common spotted orchid
Creeping buttercup
Creeping cinquefoil
Creeping thistle
Crosswort
Cuckooflower
Curled dock
Daisy
Dandelion
Fools water-cress
Garlic mustard
Germander speedwell
Greater birds-foot trefoil
Greater plantain
Great willowherb
Ground-ivy
Hedge woundwort
Herb-robert
Hoary willowherb
Hogweed
Hybrid orchid
Ladys-mantle
Large bitter-cress
Lesser stitchwort
Marsh-bedstraw
Marsh marigold
Marsh thistle
Marsh willowherb
Meadow buttercup
Meadow cranesbill
Meadowsweet
Meadow vetchling
Oxeye daisy
Ragged-robin
Red clover
Redshank
Ribwort plantain
Rosebay willowherb
Selfheal
Smooth ladys-mantle
Spear thistle
Square-stalked St John’s-wort
Southern marsh orchid
Thyme-leaved speedwell
Tormentil
Tufted vetch
Water avens
Water cress
Water forget-me-not
Water mint
Wavy bitter-cress
White clover
Wild angelica
Wood avens
Wood dock
Yellow-rattle


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, P. & Shimwell, D., 1981, Wild Flowers of The Peak District, Moorland Publishing Company Ltd.

Clapham, A.R. (editor), 1969, The Flora of Derbyshire, Bemrose & Sons Ltd.

Grigson, G., 1975, The Englishmans Flora, Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd., Suffolk.

Grime, J.P., Hodgson, J.G., Hurst, R., 1988, Comparative Plant Ecology, Oxford University Press.

Moss, C., 1913,Vegetation of the Peak District, University Press, Cambridge.

Perring, F.H. & Walters, S.M., 1990, Atlas of the British Flora, Botanical Society of the British Isles.

Press, J.R. et al, 1981, Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Britain, The Readers Digest Association Ltd., London.