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Showing posts with label cors goch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cors goch. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 April 2014
The Mawndir Mon Project
Seeing as the LIFE project has come to an end, I was fearful that the Anglesey fens may start to deteriorate once more! However, a £73,000 grant from Natural Resources Wales will fund scrub removal from three sites Cors Erddreiniog, Cors Goch and Cors Bodeilio, each of which I visited during the LIFE conference. Its good to see that these habitats will be maintained as not only are they rich in biodiversity, they also help improve drinking water quality of the Cefni reservoir as well as reducing flood risk! Let's hope more funding will come for these amazing habitats.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Life Conference: Cors Goch
Day 1 of the Life Conference starts at the amazing Plas Menai in Caernarfon. The first thing to do upon arrival is to get myself a cup of tea, and a question pops into my head... does being a wetlander always require such early mornings?
After an interesting morning of talks from many people who work with the Life Project (and plenty more cups of tea) it was time for lunch, then a short coach trip to the first site...
Cors Goch
Cors Goch is a beautiful patchwork of wetland, heath, meadow and rocky outcrops making it home to a huge variety of species. The wetland at the site is characterised as calcareous fen land, as the supply of water to the fen is calcium rich due to the surrounding limestone rock. The underlying the drier heathland at the site is sandstone rock making it more acidic than the lowland fen.
The site was formed thousands of years ago when glacial movement created a basin where a lake once lay. The land surrounding the lake was then colonised by vegetation, which naturally, over time began to decompose and form peat. As the peat continued to accumulate the area of which the lake covered began to decrease until eventually it was filled, which is what we can see at the site today.
Wildlife
Plant species are in abundance at the fen site and include Great pond sedge, Bottle brush sedge, Common Reed, Black bog rush, Blunt-flowered rush and the carnivorous Butterwort, but don't worry it doesn't eat humans (I hope).
The drier heathland areas are inhabited by Hawthorn, Blackthorn and also to the despair of the site manager Bracken which is slowly encroaching down toward the fen.
These plants all provide cover for many vertebrates including numerous species of bird such as Sedge Warblers, Hen Harrier and also the Yellowhammer. Other vertebrates include Foxes and Stoats. The fen site which is supplied by calcium rich water that supplies the fen allows it to become is a perfect environment for a host of invertebrates including species of Frog and Toad, both Palmate and Crested newt species have been spotted at the site. There are species of Dragonfly's and Damselfly's, and the Medicinal Leech inhabits the waterlogged areas of the site.
After an interesting morning of talks from many people who work with the Life Project (and plenty more cups of tea) it was time for lunch, then a short coach trip to the first site...
Cors Goch
The site is owned and managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) protected under the RAMSAR convention.
Cors Goch is a beautiful patchwork of wetland, heath, meadow and rocky outcrops making it home to a huge variety of species. The wetland at the site is characterised as calcareous fen land, as the supply of water to the fen is calcium rich due to the surrounding limestone rock. The underlying the drier heathland at the site is sandstone rock making it more acidic than the lowland fen.
 |
| Looking down at Cors Goch from surrounding limestone |
Wildlife
Plant species are in abundance at the fen site and include Great pond sedge, Bottle brush sedge, Common Reed, Black bog rush, Blunt-flowered rush and the carnivorous Butterwort, but don't worry it doesn't eat humans (I hope).
The drier heathland areas are inhabited by Hawthorn, Blackthorn and also to the despair of the site manager Bracken which is slowly encroaching down toward the fen.
These plants all provide cover for many vertebrates including numerous species of bird such as Sedge Warblers, Hen Harrier and also the Yellowhammer. Other vertebrates include Foxes and Stoats. The fen site which is supplied by calcium rich water that supplies the fen allows it to become is a perfect environment for a host of invertebrates including species of Frog and Toad, both Palmate and Crested newt species have been spotted at the site. There are species of Dragonfly's and Damselfly's, and the Medicinal Leech inhabits the waterlogged areas of the site.
Becoming a Wetlander
If you asked me a month ago what a wetland was the only word that would've popped into my head would've been swamp. But NO wetlands come in many varieties.... who'd have known?
Identifying a wetland is not as simple as it might seem. When a botanist wants to identify a plant there are various keys that can be used to differentiate between plants, but a key for identifying wetland types? Don't be ridiculous. Even the definitions are pretty vague.
The Ramsar Convention defines a wetland as...
"Areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters"
That makes things a lot clearer doesn't it? Yep, didn't think so.
The best way for me to get my head round the many different types of wetlands is to experience them first hand.
My first experience of a wetland was at the Life Conference at Plas Menai. Over the 3 day conference we visited CORS GOCH, CORS ERDDREINIOG, CORS BODEILIO and CORS GEIRCH (Handy tip: WEAR WELLIES).
Identifying a wetland is not as simple as it might seem. When a botanist wants to identify a plant there are various keys that can be used to differentiate between plants, but a key for identifying wetland types? Don't be ridiculous. Even the definitions are pretty vague.
The Ramsar Convention defines a wetland as...
"Areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters"
That makes things a lot clearer doesn't it? Yep, didn't think so.
The best way for me to get my head round the many different types of wetlands is to experience them first hand.
My first experience of a wetland was at the Life Conference at Plas Menai. Over the 3 day conference we visited CORS GOCH, CORS ERDDREINIOG, CORS BODEILIO and CORS GEIRCH (Handy tip: WEAR WELLIES).
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