Llyn Padrig

View of Llyn Padrig from the surrounding field

Llyn Padrig is an SSSI site on Anglesey, the wetland has formed in a former lake basin and is now a basin mire. Wetland plant communities have encroached into the lake, but there is still an area of open water present at the site. The site has no public access but luckily the university is granted special permission to visit the site, which is great news for us as we got to experience an amazing wetland. There are a range of habitats surrounding the lake including a wet woodland (with willow and birch), a floating fen and also an area which is becoming terrestrialised.

The willow scrub plants encroaching the lake

We took 3 soil samples for the site, one near the lakes edge, one from the floating fen and one the terrestrialised area. From each of the 3 sites we analysed the pH and conductivity and also collected a sample to take back the lab to test further.
Managment is required to keep the site as it is, CCW has a number of management strategies in place including grazing. Which helps keep scrub at bay, it should also be noted that the dung supplies an important food source to many invertebrates. In the past drainage of the site saw the water level drop by around 2m, which is bad considering that one of the main characteristics of a wetland is a high water table!! It is therefore important to make sure that no further drainage ditches are dug.

Wildlife
Heres a list of some of the wildlife that can be found at the site...

Typha (Cat tails at lake edge)

• Sphagnum
• Bogbean
• Cinquefoil
• Bottle Sedge
• Common Cotton Grass
• Typha (Cat tails)
• Calliergin Cuspidatum
• Greater Spearwort
• Alder
• Grey Willow
• Birch
• Water Starwort