Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter Autumn 2016 Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter No. 33 Contacts Contents Society News ......................................................................3 Newsletter Commissioning Editor: Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mags Cousins, email: [email protected] Mosses SSSI and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Secretary: Penny Wysome, 2 Christine Ave., Mags Cousins .................................................................4 Wellington, Telford, TF1 2DX. Tel. 01952 242617, The vulnerability of peatbogs to climate change email: [email protected] and air pollution Membership Secretary: Peta Sams, 2 Amblecote, Simon Caporn, Richard Payne & Bjorn Robroek ......7 Grove Lane, Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, SY3 0HW. Myosotis – how not to forget Enquiries to: [email protected] Mags Cousins .................................................................9 Vice-county Recorder: Sarah Whild, 9 Albert Conserving England’s only population of Nuphar Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 2HT. pumila, Least Water-lily Email: [email protected] Mags Cousins ...............................................................12 Watch out, Carnivores about! Past copies of the newsletter are available as pdfs A poem by Ruth Dawes ..............................................14 from the Shropshire Botanical Society website: : Where have all the tresses gone? http://www.shropshireecology.co.uk/botanical_ Ruth Dawes ...................................................................15 society.html Women botanists of the past in Shropshire Any opinions expressed in this newsletter are those Alex Lockton ................................................................17 of the various authors, and are not necessarily Obituaries -Pamela Green, Shirley Burton ........20 those of the Society. Ordnance Survey maps reproduced under licence No. 100040428. Front Cover photos Top left: Myosotis ramosissima Top right: Myosotis discolor Bottom: Myosotis sylvatica (all photos by Dan Wrench) Our thanks to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the Field Studies Council for their generous support of our society. Both organisations support the work of the society in recognition of the importance of the contribution we make to understanding Shropshire botany. 2 Society News The sun continues to shine as I write this Winter meeting introduction to the autumn newsletter in the 30th Winter Meeting, 2-4 pm, Saturday December 10th anniversary year of the society. This is a cause 2016, at our usual venue Preston Montford Field for celebration and thanks to all the dedicated Centre, Montford Bridge, Shrewsbury, SY4 1DX. botanists, recorders, authors and supporters Dr Tim Rich will be giving a talk entitled: over the years who have contributed so much to our knowledge and enjoyment of the botany “Collecting Seeds the Difficult Way!” of Shropshire, despite the busy-ness of modern Tim is an independent botanist and botanical life. Those of you who attended the Spring AGM author, and has specialist interests in the taxonomy meeting will be aware that Prof Ian Trueman and ecology of Brassicaceae, Sorbus, Hieracium and stepped down as Chair and was unanimously Taraxacum. elected as the first President of the society in thanks and recognition of his enormous You can’t have your cake…… contribution to the society. Sarah Whild was Botanical Society members will be sad to hear that given Life Membership in honour of services to Ruth Dawes, after many years of stalwart effort, has botany in the County. Special thanks are due to retired from her responsibility to provide delicious Sarah for stepping in as acting Chair whilst we sort cakes for the Christmas meeting. She is due an something out. enormous vote of thanks from those of us who Several different people have asked for an index for appreciated the cakes, and the gentle persuasion all the newsletters to make it easier to find articles, with which she approached potential bakers. Her especially those on identification. If anyone would organisation was amazing and both cakes and like to volunteer to help make an index, please fiendish quiz have been an integral part of the contact Dan Wrench on [email protected]. annual Christmas meeting and we would like Ruth This edition has some top tips for the identification to know how grateful we are for all her hard work of Myosotis. There are also details of an important over the years. study this year to find out more about the Nuphar The BotSoc committee would like to propose our pumila Least Water-Lily at the only England own non-competitive botanical bake-off. We population in Cole Mere SSSI, Shropshire. There is would like to invite offers of cakes from members news of the amazing £4.9 millon Marches Mosses and challenge you to bake your favourite recipe. BogLIFE fund award to extend the restoration Interesting plant based ingredients would be very work of the Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and welcome; Latin names for these are optional! Cadney Mosses SAC. In order to replicate some semblance of Ruth’s You will notice that there is no longer a list of organisation, volunteers can e-mail or phone members with a reminder about when your me with offers: Penny Wysome, 01952 242617, subscription is due at the back of the newsletter. [email protected]. Members will receive an email reminder, or if we don’t have an email address for you, a note posted Other dates for your diary with your newsletter. Please tell us your current The following indoor meetings will both take email address by emailing: [email protected]. place at Preston Montford Field Studies Centre, Sad news that two of our stalwart members, Pam Montford Bridge, Shrewsbury, SY4 1DX Green and Shirley Burton, have passed away; we offer our sincere condolences to family and friends. Spring Meeting and AGM: Saturday April 8th 2017 Winter Meeting: Saturday December 9th 2017 Field Meetings dates and locations will be issued with the Spring 2017 newsletter. 3 Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Mags Cousins The SAC is the third largest lowland peatbog in the The majority of the habitat of Fenn’s is classified UK (949.2 ha) and it straddles the border between as either Degraded or Active Raised bog habitat Shropshire and Wrexham County Borough in - one of the few ‘Priority EU habitats’ for which Wales. Natural England manages the main body the UK has ‘special responsibility’. The habitat of the National Nature Reserve under a joint is characterised by a largely ombrotrophic (rain agreement with Natural Resources Wales (NRW), fed) raised bog complex on peaty substrates with whilst Shropshire Wildlife Trust manages Wem an elevated surface (dome) which has its own Moss. The main body of the bog (which I will water level well above the local groundwater level. refer to henceforth as Fenn’s - but not including Many of the areas classified as degraded bog on Wem Moss!) was drained in the past to enable peat the site now relate to areas of pasture, woodland cutting, agricultural improvement and afforestation and conifer plantation which were previously and was rescued from near-destruction in 1990 part of the rand (sloping margin) and lagg (outer by the Nature Conservancy Council. Since then transition zone) of the peat bog. Lagg is an massive strides have been taken to repair the essential part of an active raised bog, a halo of fen damage and bog plants and animals have started and carr vegetation where acidic water draining off to return and peat forming Sphagnum mosses are the bog domes meets mineral-rich water draining growing again. Fortunately Wem Moss was not off adjacent mineral soils. commercially cut for peat and has retained a more For the degraded and raised bog habitat the plant intact bog flora but has suffered dreadfully from communities defined (but not exhaustively) by the drying out due to drainage of surrounding land. National Vegetation Classification (NVC) found on Aerial view of Fenn’s 4 the SAC include: nationally in response to disturbance and damage of lowland raised bogs but is quite widespread across M18 Erica tetralix – Sphagnum papillosum raised Fenn’s and has benefited from restoration works so and blanket mire far. M2 Sphagnum cuspidatum/recurvum (fallax) Utricularia minor Lesser Bladderwort, a bog pool community carnivorous plant, used to be common in the 1930s M3 Eriophorum angustifolium bog pool on Fenn’s Moss but declined due to peat cutting. It community has increased more recently in areas which were flooded after damming, It is an aquatic plant of M15 Scirpus cespitosus – Erica tetralix wet heath acidic nutrient poor bog pools, and traps water M20 Eriophorum vaginatum blanket and raised fleas in bladders made from modified leaves to mire supplement its diet. M25 Molinia caerulea – Potentilla erecta mire In areas where past disturbance and drying has W6 Alnus glutinosa – Urtica dioica woodland been greater, the vegetation is often dominated by Molinia caerulea Purple Moor-grass, often with birch and sometimes willow and pine scrub. Much of the ombrotrophic dome has been lost Many of the expected habitats which would have due to peat extraction, and although generally the occurred at the edge of the bog, (rand and lagg), surface is above the surrounding land, collapse and namely marsh, fen, swamp and wet broadleaved compaction of the peat, and canalisation of the woodland, are only present in small areas as lagg stream to within the peat body, have resulted a result of marginal drainage and agricultural in enriched water affecting some of the peat. Until improvement. recent restoration works, the drainage water was taken through a ditch system right across the centre of the bog affecting the chemistry of the peat that the mineral rich water came into contact with. Disturbance of the lagg zone and conversion to agriculture and forestry has further exacerbated hydrological problems through interception, evapo-transpiration and shading. For the most part, however, the peat body remains hydrologically intact, and the residual peat is on average 3metres deep, but in some areas exceeds 8m, which provides good potential for rewetting and restoration of active peat forming processes. Fenn’s still supports a wide range of characteristic acid peat bog vegetation including twenty one species of Sphagnum moss, including S. cuspidatum, S. subnitens, S. papillosum, S. magellanicum and S. capillifolium, which represent successional stages in the development of a raised mire. Other characteristic species of acidic, low nutrient bogs include the two Cotton-grasses Eriophorum vaginatum and E.angustifolium, also Drosera rotundifolia Round-leaved Sundew, Vaccinium oxycoccos Cranberry, Narthecium ossifragum Bog Asphodel, Rhynchospora alba White Beak-sedge and Andromeda polifolia Bog- rosemary. This species is only found on raised bogs where there is a high water table with consistent water-logging. As a consequence it has declined Andromeda polifolia Bog-rosemary 5 Needless to say Fenn’s is also extremely important for a large range of specialist fauna, especially invertebrates, for example the attractive day flying Window-winged Caddis Fly Hagenella clathrata, an RDB1 species. Marches Mosses BogLIFE project The bog continues to face a range of issues that need significant investment, so a consortium of partners led by Natural England submitted a bid to the EU LIFE fund for a five year project entitled “Marches Mosses BogLIFE”. The outcome of the bid was hanging in the balance post Brexit but Peat cuttings and cotton-grasses on Fenn’s eventually was awarded an amazing £4.9 million. Fortunately Treasury announced over summer that they will underwrite live LIFE projects if necessary The transformation of an abandoned area of once the UK has left the EU, which means that peatland and Furber’s former scrapyard to restore the financial future of this and other projects the habitats and create a brand new visitor facility looks much more secure. Key partners in the bid is made possible by Shropshire Wildlife Trust were Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) and NRW embracing the challenge and purchasing the with sources of match funding from the Heritage site. Unfortunately with the scrapyard comes Lottery Fund (HLF), Esmee Fairburn Trust and contaminated land, 150,000 tyres, large areas of others. hard standing and even an empty coffin. For 25 years Natural England made every effort to work Over the next five years the project will tackle: with the previous operator of the site without any • conifer, tree and scrub removal to reduce progress, so SWT taking ownership is a massive interception, evapo-transpiration and shading; step forward for the rehabilitation of the area. Any development will have to be careful to keep • raising water levels by bunding, adding and disturbance to a minimum to avoid releasing the adjusting dams; contaminants. • improving water quality by diverting the poor Marches Mosses BogLIFE aims to involve 150 quality water of Bronington Manor Drain to the volunteers and 6 trainees in many different aspects edge of the bog; of the project, so there will be ample opportunities • speeding up active bog processes and for you to get involved, particularly with survey, experimental remedial works including Molinia monitoring and visitor engagement. If you are control trials and lagg restoration; interested to know more contact: • monitor recovery and disseminate best practice Pete Bowyer, Reserve Manager, Fenn’s, Whixall & guidance about the restoration techniques; Bettisfield Mosses NNR, Natural England, Manor • removal of land contamination related to the House, Moss Lane, Whixall, Shropshire, SY13 2PD, purchase of Furber’s scrapyard, adjacent to the Office Tel. 01948 880362, email: peter.bowyer@ NNR; naturalengland.org.uk. • trialling the development of a Site Nitrogen Action Plan to tackle aerial deposition of nitrogen; • removal of moss gathering licenses; • and community engagement work - Shropshire Wildlife Trust are leading the development of a Stage 2 Heritage Lottery Fund bid. This involves extensive consultations with the local community and other stakeholders. 6 The vulnerability of peatbogs to climate change and air pollution Simon Caporn, Richard Payne & Bjorn Robroek Peatlands are the world’s largest soil carbon pool, with a trend towards fewer species in warmer supporting a unique biological community and regions. Air pollution - nitrogen and sulphur provide important ecological, economic and deposition - was also an important influence on the protective functions such as groundwater recharge bog species composition. At the Cranberry beds, and pollutant removal. Maintaining these critical the plant community was found to be similar to functions depends upon protecting the integrity of bogs in warm regions receiving moderate to high the whole ecosystem. Peat cutting, drainage, and nitrogen deposition (such as Netherlands, Belgium, land conversion are all clear threats to peatlands. northern Germany, Denmark) but contrasted with But, peatlands are also highly vulnerable to the communities of the other sampled UK bogs ‘unseen’ threats such as changes in precipitation, (in north Wales, Cumbria and Scotland) which temperature, and nutrients. had more in common with sites in cleaner, oceanic regions of mainland Europe (such as Norway, In the spring of 2010, through the EU Biodiversa southern Sweden). programme, we set up a research project called PEATBOG (Pollution, precipitation and In order to examine more closely the influences of temperature impacts on peatland biodiversity climate and pollution we built an experiment on and biogeochemistry) to learn more about the the Cranberry Beds allowing us to manipulate two diversity of peat bogs across Europe and to better factors (Figure 1). Firstly, we used clear acrylic understand the effects on bogs of past and current environmental factors like air pollution and to predict the potential impact of future changes in climate. The research was ambitious, calling on the expertise of researchers from across several European Universities and addressed questions at very different scales – such as: Why are bogs different across Europe? and: How are biological species and processes on individual bogs affected by experimental manipulations of temperature and water table? In Britain, a local Shropshire site - the Cranberry beds, part of Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR - came under research scrutiny, chosen for Figure 1: The PEATBOG climate change chambers on the being representative of an intact ombrotrophic edge of the Cranberry Beds (2010-2013), showing the plastic bog in an area of fairly high atmospheric nitrogen walls to elevate temperature and (in the foreground) the pollution enabling comparisons with bogs in pumping pipes to lower water table. cleaner parts of the UK further north and west. All the UK sites were also part of a larger survey shelters to warm small 2 x 2 m plots by 1-2° C of the flora across European bogs (with help from (mean annual temperature). Secondly, the peat Italian Luca Bragazza) which involved travel to 56 in the plots was hydrologically isolated from the bogs in the peat-forming regions of Europe and surrounding bog using plastic piling so that we detailed quadrat surveys of the vascular plants, could pump out and lower the water table during bryophytes and lichens. This unique snapshot a six week summer period. To investigate the of the condition of the flora of European bogs interaction of climate effects with air pollution, identified climate (rainfall and temperature) as the manipulation experiment at the Cranberry the main driver of differences in species richness, beds was replicated at the less polluted coastal 7 the vascular plants continue to dominate over the bryophytes (Figures 2 and 3). In contrast, at the similar experiment on Cors Fochno we saw no significant decline in Sphagnum due to warming and drought. It is possible that the history of nitrogen deposition in Shropshire has made the vegetation vulnerable to change in a warmer and drier environment. Continued monitoring of the dynamics of vegetation change will help us understand these changes. The combination of relatively short-term manipulation experiments to alter climate combined with large-scale regional comparisons across different climate and Figure 2: Typical flora in a control chamber, with a good coverage of bryophytes, mainly Sphagnum and pollution zones provide two very complementary Aulocomnium palustre. In the centre are air temperature and approaches to research the potential impacts of water table probes. environmental change on peatlands. Results from the vegetation studies outlined here suggest that plant communities, particularly the Sphagnum flora of bogs are vulnerable to warming and periodic drought that are predicted to be more common in the future. Simon Caporn (Manchester Metropolitan University), Richard Payne (University of York), Bjorn Robroek (University of Southampton) Acknowledgements: Thanks to Dr James Rowson and project leader Professor Nancy Dise. Excellent support was provided by Dr Joan Daniels MBE Figure 3: Typical flora in a warmed chamber, showing an increased dominance of vascular plants (especially Erica and Peter Bowyer of Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield tetralix, Vaccinium oxycoccus and Eriophorum vaginatum) Mosses NNR. and a fall in the cover of bryophytes which has not recovered after removal of the warming covers. site at Cors Fochno bog, a few miles north of Aberystwyth. Since 2010 we have monitored plant species composition of the experimental plots using fixed position quadrats and pin-touch plant cover measurements and discovered important changes in response to the warming and drying treatments. At the Shropshire site after two years, there was a very clear decline in Sphagnum moss cover in the warmed plots, which was even worse in the combined warmed plus summer-drought treatment. At the same time, vascular plants increased, mainly due to increased growth of Erica tetralix Cross-leaved heath and Vaccinium oxycoccus Cranberry. Even though the warming and pumping treatments stopped after the 2013 season we have seen no following recovery and 8 Myosotis – how not to forget Mags Cousins Seven species of Myosotis have been recorded in The species do have distinctive characteristics and Shropshire, three of which are axiophytes (Ax): there are not many of them, so you would think it would be easier to remember how to tell them Myosotis in Shropshire Ax apart. So if you don’t wish to be taunted by their Myosotis arvensis Field Forget-me-not English name ‘Forget-me-not’ any longer here are Myosotis discolor Changing Forget-me-not Yes some handy tips for identification, kindly provided Myosotis laxa Tufted Forget-me-not by Polly Spencer-Vellacott, (Vice-county Recorder, Myosotis ramosissima Early Forget-me-not Yes Flintshire) who gave a workshop on this group at Myosotis scorpioides Water Forget-me-not the BSBI Recorders Conference in September this Myosotis secunda Creeping Forget-me-not Yes year. Myosotis sylvatica Wood Forget-me-not Tabular key using floral features based on descriptions in Stace, 2010, Rose, 2006 and Streeter, 2009 M. M. M. arvensis M. sylvatica M. discolor M. secunda M. laxa ramosissima scorpioides Changing Creeping Tufted Field F-m-n Wood F-m-n Early F-m-n Water F-m-n F-m-n F-m-n F-m-n Hairs on Hooked/ curled Appressed calyx Appressed Appressed Hairs on above but Patent Spreading Patent-hairy or patently Appressed stem patent hairy below 2.5-5 x as Less than Length of Pedicel 1.2- 1.5-2x as long 1-2 x as long Pedicel shorter than fruiting long as 2 x as long pedicel at 2x as long as as fruiting as fruiting calyx fruiting as fruiting fruiting fruiting calyx calyx calyx calyx calyx Corolla size ≤5mm ≤8mm ≤3mm ≤ 2mm ≤8mm ≤6 mm ≤5mm Corolla Cream to Blue Blue from start Blue Sky-blue colour yellow at first shorter than longer than shorter than longer than Corolla-tube calyx (corolla calyx (corolla calyx (corolla calyx (corolla length cup-shaped) flat) cup-shaped) flat) Broad, forming Narrow, forming isosceles Calyx teeth equilateral triangle triangle Length of Longer than Exceeding style at Shorter than calyx-tube calyx-tube calyx-tube flowering Dry, woods, As Early but but also Dry, sandstone also damp Habitat Dry Wet Wet, acidic Wet garden or limestone places and escape dune slacks Perennial Annual/ with Perennial Annual to biennial to rhizomes with Perennial, Life form perennial, perennial, Annual to 25cm and/or stolons, to to 45cm tufted to 30cm tufted, to stolons, to 50cm 45cm 60cm 9 For the three species of wet habitats M.scorpioides, M.secunda, M.laxa, the allusion to the nursery rhyme involving the three bears is based on original idea by another serious botanist, Kate Thorne. Just think; bear size= length of scientific name; ears=petals; nose=calyx teeth; fur=hairs on the stem. Other delightful aids to identification are the video References keys posted on http://bsbipublicity.blogspot.co.uk/ Rose, F. 2006 The Wildflower Key. complete with soothing music. Stace, C. 2010 New Flora of the Biritish Isles, Third For subspecies and hybrids you can always refer Edition. to the Plant Crib by A. J. Silverside (August 1997) available from the BSBI identification pages of the Streeter, D. 2009 Collins Flower Guide (Britain and website; http://bsbi.org/identification. There have Ireland). no confirmed hybrids recorded in Shropshire to date so it would be advisable to get any you suspect checked. In any case and as always, don’t forget to submit your records to Sarah Whild (Vice-county Recorder for Shropshire) [email protected]. 10