Bolshayne Fen

Last updated

Bolshayne Fen (grid reference SY222938 ) is a wetland in southeast Devon, England. It has an area of 1.62 hectares.

Contents

The site was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest on 25 September 1992.

Site Description

This site contains an unusually large and intact valley fen, supporting rich marsh vegetation of a type known only at two other sites in Devon and which is now nationally scarce. The fen occupies a single field at an altitude of 40 m, through which runs a small stream called Nanny's Water, which is a tributary of the River Coly. Its soils consist of deep waterlogged peaty loam above Triassic mudstones, with Cretaceous Greensand on the valley sides above. During winter it periodically floods.

Vegetation

The vegetation is mainly of a mosaic of yellow iris Iris pseudacorus , branched bur-reed Sparganium erectum and rushes Juncus spp., while greater tussock-sedge Carex paniculata is locally dominant. Other conspicuous plants include meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria , marsh-marigold Caltha palustris , ragged robin Lychnis flos-cuculi , watermint Mentha aquatica and southern marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa . Also present are four species which are local in Devon: wood club-rush Scirpus sylvaticus , marsh valerian Valeriana dioica , fen bedstraw Galium uliginosum and common spike-rush Eleocharis palustris . The stream is bordered for most of its length by alder Alnus glutinosa , with a ground flora dominated by ramsons Allium ursinum .

Other biodiversity interest

Brown trout Salmo trutta fario and eel Anguilla anguilla are known to occur in Nanny's Water. The site supports a varied reptile fauna, including grass snake Natrix natrix and adder Vipera berus . It also supports a number of bird species including water rail, which rarely breeds in Devon but has been recorded during the summer at this site. During the winter snipe and woodcock commonly feed within the fen, and grey heron and barn owl occur.

Coordinates: 50°44′19″N3°06′14″W / 50.73858°N 3.10390°W / 50.73858; -3.10390

Related Research Articles

Redgrave and Lopham Fens

Redgrave and Lopham Fens is a 127 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Thelnetham in Suffolk and Diss in Norfolk. It is a national nature reserve, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of the Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Reed bed Habitats formed by reed colonies in floodplains and estuaries

A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As reedbeds age, they build up a considerable litter layer that eventually rises above the water level and that ultimately provides opportunities for shrubland or woodland invasion.

South Milton Ley is a 162,000 square metres wetland in the South Hams, Devon, England. It was notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1976. Part of the site is managed as a nature reserve by the Devon Birdwatching and Preservation Society.

River Brue River in Somerset, England

The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some 50 kilometres (31 mi) west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth century. The river provides an important drainage route for water from a low-lying area which is prone to flooding which man has tried to manage through rhynes, canals, artificial rivers and sluices for centuries.

Yanal Bog is a 1.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern edge of the North Somerset Levels, just north of the village of Sandford, North Somerset. It was notified as an SSSI in 1988.

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors SSSI is a 1083 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England notified in 1967. It is close to the villages of Edington and Catcott.

Wet woodland

A wet woodland is a type of plant community. It is a biodiversity habitat in the United Kingdom as part of the British National Vegetation Classification system.

Purple moor grass and rush pastures One of UKs natural habitats

Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the South West of England, especially in Devon.

Possil Marsh

Possil Marsh is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, of both flora and fauna, within the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The reserve was once part of an extensive system of lochs and marshes which extended throughout much of lowland West Central Scotland. However, centuries of drainage and reclamation have resulted in the elimination of much of this system. Due to its geographic position, the marsh is particularly vulnerable from industrial and residential development. The reserve contains a monument for the High Possil meteorite, which fell there in 1804.

Shrub swamp

Shrub swamps — also called scrub swamps or buttonbush swamps — are a type of freshwater wetland ecosystem occurring in areas too wet to become swamps, but too dry or too shallow to become marshes. They are often considered transitional (“mid-successional”) between wet meadows or fens and conifer or hardwood swamps.

Sound Heath

Sound Heath, also known as Sound Common, is an area of common land in Sound, near Nantwich in Cheshire, England, which includes heathland, grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats. The majority of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve.

Railway Stell West is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Sedgefield district of County Durham, England. The site consists of a length of ditch alongside the East Coast Main Line railway, 3 km east of the town of Newton Aycliffe.

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods

Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 17.7-hectare (44-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aldermaston in Berkshire. An area of 8 hectares is a nature reserve called Decoy Heath, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Cefn Blaenau

Cefn Blaenau is a 23-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in a small upland valley in Carmarthen and Dinefwr, Wales. It was designated an SSSI in 1989, primarily for its flush and spring vegetation as well as the diverse mosaic of unimproved pasture, ‘ffridd’ land, marshy grassland, wet heath, acid grassland, broadleaved woodland, streams, and small rock outcrops. These habitats, which are well represented at this site, have been greatly reduced in north Carmarthenshire due to land improvement, agricultural intensification, and afforestation. Only about 140 hectares of flush and spring vegetation remain in the county.

Tamar–Tavy Estuary

The Tamar–Tavy Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering the tidal estuaries of the River Tamar and the River Tavy on the border between Cornwall and Devon in England, UK. Part of the Tamar estuary also forms the Tamar Estuary Nature Reserve, owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. The site was designated in 1991 for its biodiversity and varying habitats that support many wader and wildfowl species, as well as the special interest of its marine biology.

Blo Norton and Thelnetham Fens

Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fens are a 21.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Blo' Norton Fen is in the parish of Blo' Norton in Norfolk and Thelnetham Fen is in Thelnetham parish in Suffolk. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and part of the Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation, Thelnetham Fen is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Blo' Norton Fen by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP).

Llyn Bodgylched

Llyn Bodgylched is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Anglesey, North Wales, to the west of Beaumaris. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since January 1968 in an attempt to protect its fragile biological elements, mainly a swamp. The site has an area of 16.37 hectares and is managed by Natural Resources Wales.

Bewick and Beanley Moors

Bewick and Beanley Moors is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. The moors are asserted to be of national importance by Natural England for the extent, quality and diversity of upland types including heaths, fens, wet grassland, flushes, mires and blanket bogs, together creating an extensive mosaic habitat supporting an exceptional community of amphibians. The moors are important, too, for their relict juniper woodland and scrub.

Fallowlees Flush is the name given to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in mid-Northumberland, England. The steeply sloping site has calcium-rich springs supporting vegetation rare in the county.

Bishop Monkton Ings Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Bishop Monkton Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated east of Bishop Monkton village in North Yorkshire, England. It consists mostly of marshy, calcareous grassland, with some broadleaved woodland, and some fen alongside the two watercourses which run through the site. This varied wetland forms a habitat for a variety of plants, including the semi-parasitic marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris).