Sparkford Wood

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Sparkford Wood
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Field adjacent to the Haynes International Motor Museum (geograph 2653624).jpg
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Somerset
Area of Search Somerset
Grid reference ST613275
Coordinates 51°02′44″N2°33′12″W / 51.04554°N 2.55342°W / 51.04554; -2.55342 Coordinates: 51°02′44″N2°33′12″W / 51.04554°N 2.55342°W / 51.04554; -2.55342
Interest Biological
Area 8.4 hectares (0.084 km2; 0.032 sq mi)
Notification 1954 (1954)
Natural England website

Sparkford Wood (grid reference ST613275 ) is an 8.4 hectare (20.7 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Sparkford in Somerset, notified in 1954.

Ordnance Survey National Grid System of geographic grid references used in Great Britain

The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, distinct from latitude and longitude. It is often called British National Grid (BNG).

Hectare metric unit of area

The hectare is an SI accepted metric system unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides, or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is about 0.405 hectare and one hectare contains about 2.47 acres.

Sparkford village in the United Kingdom

Sparkford is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Weston Bampfylde.

Sparkford Wood is a broadleaved semi-natural woodland situated on heavy fertile soils. It dates from at least the 18th Century and its survival amongst the prime agricultural land of south-east Somerset makes it unique. The ground flora, which includes abundant Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scriptus), varies in conjunction with differences in soils which range from mildly calcareous to acid. The woodland has a large population of homostyle Primroses (Primula vulgaris) which have been the subject of some classic genetic studies. These plants are unique in that they represent a self-fertile form of a normally self-sterile species, and they are of international significance in providing research opportunities. [1]

Flora inventory of plant species in a given region

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna. Flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms gut flora or skin flora.

<i>Primula vulgaris</i> species of plant

Primula vulgaris, the common primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and parts of southwest Asia. The common name is primrose, or occasionally common primrose or English primrose to distinguish it from other Primula species also called primroses.

Related Research Articles

Coppicing

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, known as a stool. New growth emerges and after a number of years, the coppiced tree is harvested and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree.

Sweet Track ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England

The Sweet Track is an ancient trackway, or causeway in the Somerset Levels, England, named after its finder, Ray Sweet. It was built in 3807 BC and is the second-oldest timber trackway discovered in the British Isles, dating to the Neolithic. It is now known that the Sweet Track was predominantly built over the course of an earlier structure, the Post Track.

<i>Equisetum sylvaticum</i> species of plant

Equisetum sylvaticum, the wood horsetail, is a horsetail native to the Northern Hemisphere, occurring in North America and Eurasia. Because of its lacy appearance, it is considered among the most attractive of the horsetails.

Aspen parkland vegetation zone

Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretching from central Alberta, all across central Saskatchewan to south central Manitoba and continuing into small parts of the US states of Minnesota and North Dakota. Aspen parkland consists of groves of aspen poplars and spruce interspersed with areas of prairie grasslands, also intersected by large stream and river valleys lined with aspen-spruce forests and dense shrubbery. This is the largest boreal-grassland transition zone in the world and is a zone of constant competition and tension as prairie and woodlands struggle to overtake each other within the parkland.

Chancellors Farm

Chancellor's Farm is a 34.2-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest just north of Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1984.

Cheddar Wood

Cheddar Wood is an 86.9-hectare (215-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1967.

Edford Woods and Meadows

Edford Woods and Meadows is a 54.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, between Nettlebridge, Holcombe and Stoke St Michael, Somerset, notified in 1957.

Cheddar Complex

The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1952.

Postlebury Wood

Postlebury Wood is an 87 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Trudoxhill in Somerset, notified in 1987.

Barle Valley

Barle Valley is a 1,540 acres (620 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest within Exmoor National Park, situated in the counties of Devon and Somerset through which the River Barle flows. It was notified in its current form under the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1988. The site includes the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and the Knaplock and North Barton SSSI which has been notified since 1954.

Great Breach and Copley Woods

Great Breach and Copley Woods is a 64.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 1 km south of Compton Dundon and 5 km south-east of Street in Somerset, England, notified in 1972.

Longleat Woods

Longleat Woods is a 249.9 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Frome in Somerset, notified in 1972.

Ruttersleigh

Ruttersleigh is a 97 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Buckland St Mary and Staple Fitzpaine on the north-facing slope of the Blackdown Hills. in Somerset, notified in 1991.

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands

Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands is a 26.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Stoke St Mary in Somerset, notified in 1963.

Stockwood human settlement in United Kingdom

Stockwood is a residential area and council ward in south Bristol, between Whitchurch and Brislington, and just to the north of the Somerset town of Keynsham.

Nagshead SSSI

Nagshead is a 120.12-hectare (296.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and is located near Parkend, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and was notified in 1972. It lies within the Forest of Dean Forest Park and is part held as a reserve by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The SSSI is a relatively small area of the much larger nature reserve of RSPB Nagshead, which is a 1,250 acres (510 ha) site owned and managed by the RSPB and the Forestry Commission. The SSSI lies to the east of the Nagshead Plantation and consists of two units of assessment by Natural England.

Dingle Wood

Dingle Wood is a 9.95-hectare (24.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). The wood is located within the Forest of Dean Forest Park and the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Shorn Cliff and Caswell Woods

Shorn Cliff And Caswell Woods is a 69.2-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1986. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

<i>Melica uniflora</i> species of plant

Melica uniflora, commonly known as wood melick, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae that is native to much of Europe, and to parts of South West Asia and North Africa.

References

  1. "Sparkford Wood" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2006-08-21.