Ptyxis Ecology - Our Botany Blog

The colours of spring - mosses and flowers

2009-04-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Seems like we've been waiting a long time for spring in Northumberland. It sort of seems to be happening now. If I didn't know any better I could even have been tempted to say it was warm today. Here are a few random pictures from recent botany trips.

Ceratodon purpureus is a very common species but a colourful sight when it is in fruit. Many mosses fruit in spring before the vascular plant growing season gets going.

If you zoom in and look closely you should be able to see the 'struma' just below the capsules on at least some stalks. A struma is a bump on one side of the top of the seta (stalk) just below the capsule, that looks a bit like an Adam's apple.

Here is a colouful patch of mosses on a sandy edge of the River South Tyne, near where we live. The red one is Bryum pallens which is often frequent in places like this, which are contaminated with heavy metals from past mining activity. To the right of the top of the big red patch is a patch of yellow-green Philonotis fontana. The leaves of this species look opaque or matt compared to the green species to the right, which has shiny leaves. This 'matt' appearance usually means that the leaf surface has lots of tiny bumps on it so the light does not get reflected back off the surface. It took me about 5 years to be able to see the difference between matt and glossy leaves in the field, but now it seems straightforward, and I wonder why I couldn't see it before. It is a really useful character for field identification if you can spot the difference. The third species with the shinier green leaves and a hint of red underneath is Bryum pseudotriquetrum or Bryum bimum.

Always nice to see elm flowers for various reasons. One of the first flowers of spring. Nice to see elms surviving, even if we don't have many large trees any more. And as it flowers at a time of year when I'm mainly looking for bryophytes, I like to see it as it is one of the best tree species for epiphytes.

These mountain pansies are from a heavy metal contaminated (Calaminarian) grassland by the river South Tyne. This is one of the special habitats of our area and a UK BAP habitat.

Alpine penny-cress is one of the specialities of this habitat and was also in full flower today (sorry for the rubbish photo). The two other special vascular plants you find here, spring sandwort and thrift, look like they are about to come into flower in the next few days. Apart from woodland ground flora, this habitat must be the most flowery habitat around this part of the world so early in the season. It should start to be at its best in about 2 weeks time.

John

Ptyxis makes the top 100!

2009-02-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

Got an email the other day saying we've been included in a list of the top 100 botanical blogs on an American website http://www.online-college-blog.com/index.php/uncategorized/top-100-botany-blogs/.

There's quite a mixture of subjects covered by the other blogs including some bryophyte ones, which is good to see.

John

Blink and you'll miss it!

2009-01-27T10:28:00.001-08:00

On one of the wettest days of a very wet summer/autumn last year, I spent an afternoon looking for mosses and liverworts in Druridge Bay - see http://www.druridgebay.org.uk/. This was part of the 'Bioblitz' event orgainsised by Northumberland BAP. When the weather is so foul it can be dispiriting doing this kind of thing and it was a real shame for the event, as it meant that (unsurprisingly) very few punters turned up.

However, our dedication (or bonkersness) paid off as we found a very rare moss! Aloina rigida is a nationally scarce species that has never been recorded in Northumberland before. The map below (from the NBN website) gives an over optimistic impression of how common it is, as most of the dots relate to records made prior to 1950. So, not only is it scarce, it has also suffered a big decline in Britain. The next nearest previous records to Northumberland are near Edinburgh and in Durham where it has been seen twice, in 2001 and sometime before 1820!

Distribution of Aloina rigida in Britain & Ireland.

As you can see very well from the picture below, it grows in bare, stony places. The picture is from Michael Luth's excellent CD called 'Bilder von Moosen' (pictures of mosses). Ok, where it grows is not actually 'bare', it is sparsely vegetated. These kind of very open habitats are undervalued but very interesting ecologically. Many specialist species of mosses, liverworts, lichens and invertebrates thrive in these areas. One of the few positive changes to nature conservation policy in recent years has been the recognition of these habitats now as UKBAP habitat, 'open mosaics on previously developed land' as they are now officially called.

If you ignore the stalk (seta) of the spore capsule, these plants grow to no more than about 2mm high, so they are not exactly 'showy'. They are also ephemeral in nature, adapted to be able to colonise new areas quickly and probably not lasting on sites for very long as they become more thickly vegetated. As the nearest recent populations are quite a distance away from Druridge Bay the spores that gave rise to the plants we found must have travelled a very long distance by wind to get there.

John

Winter buds

2009-01-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

One of my most memorable experiences from when I was first leaning my botany was doing a 1-day training course on winter tree identification given by Nick Bertrand. Before then I had no idea that you could use characteristics of twigs (especially the buds) to identify trees in winter. I remember getting really enthused for botany after that and I also remember enjoying showing off what I had learned to my fellow MSc students in Oxleas Wood in SE London.

Some of the characteristics that are useful are: shape of buds (rounded, pointed, conical, needle-like, etc.); number of bud scales; arrangement of buds on the twig (opposite, alternate, clustered); pattern of bud scales (opposite, herringbone, random); colour of buds (can either be very useful or very misleading!); shape of leaf scars; etc. Once you get familair with these characteristics it is fairly straightforward to identify most British species to Genus, although it is more tricky to go to species level in a couple of genera. In some ways, it is easier to identify trees in winter than at other times. Winter is a good time to do your first visit when surveying a woodland, as when the trees are naked it is much easier to assess the structural characteristic of the wood and see signs of past management. The most difficult time of year for tree identification is early spring between the time when buds start to elongate and young leaves are in the process of forming.

Here are some pictures of buds from a few species that I took yesterday down the track from our house to show some of the variety.

Ash is probably the most easily recognised tree in winter. The large terminal buds are sooty-black and conical - nothing else has buds anything like this. Note that the lateral buds are much smaller and opposite.

Willow is the only genus that has buds with only one bud scale. Lime buds looks a bit similar but have two scales. The willow buds can vary quite a bit in colour (brownish-yellow, orangey, brownish-red or purplish) on different trees of the same species, at different times of year or even on the same tree. Apart from one or two species, the others are difficult to tell apart from the buds. Most willows have alternately arranged buds.

Hawthorn have quite small buds with very small leaf scars just underneath. When I was first learning, I used to find it very difficult to tell hawthorn and blackthorn apart from their bud and twig characteristics. Now I don't have any trouble at all telling them apart as I am used to their 'jizz', but if you were to ask me to describe the key difference for identification I would stuggle to put it into words.

Oaks have clusters to tan-coloured buds at the end of the twigs with lots of bud-scales, often arranged in a herringbone pattern. Beware, that some books and keys tell you that oaks are the only genus to have terminal clusters of buds, but wild cherry often does this also. You are supposed to be able to tell the 2 British species apart by counting the number of bud-scales but I have never tested this out to be able to tell if it works or not.

Alder buds are one of the most attractive. They have a unique puple colour with a floury bloom. The lateral buds are on short stalks which is unique amongst British species.

Alder are the most decorated of British deciduous trees in winter. The old cones are unmistakable. This picture shows some tightly-closed, long males catkins with a cluster of immature female cones in the background.

Fragrant orchids

2009-01-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I said before (see 'Orchid overdose' - July2007) that I might never blog about orchids again, but I did just say 'might'. I suppose I now have to admit that I've become an orchid fancier (almost). I've been surveying upland hay meadows in the North Pennines for the last 3 years and although orhcids are quite uncommon in hay meadows now, I have seen some of them often enough to start to get interested. I had a lot to learn about British orchids and I found Michael Foley and Sidney Clarke's book very useful. I didn't know the fragrant orchids at all when I started but have now seen all three types.

Up to a few years ago most people were happy to call them all 'fragrant orchid'. Frances Rose (who must be a leading candidate for being Britain's most outstanding field naturalist) divided them into three types a long time ago. His view has now been backed up by DNA analysis. They are likely to appear as separate species (or sub-species) in the next edition of Stace and it will be interesting to see what kind of patterns emerge in geohgraphical distribtution and habitat preferences of the three types, as more people start to record and map them. If you look at the distribution maps on the BSBI website http://www.bsbimaps.org.uk/atlas/main.php you will see how under-recorded the sub-species are currently compared to the species.

This is Gymnadenia conopsea borealis (or just G. borealis if you prefer), which I have found in eight different meadows. It seems to be easily the most common of the three around here. In the hay meadows it is normally now confined to unmown (and unfertilised) banks, often growing in quite acidic U4c vegetation with species like betony and bitter-vetch. The lower lip of the flower (labellum) is almost not lobed at all and is longer than wide. The two lateral sepals are not exactly horizontal, but point a bit downwards.

I've found this one, Gymnadenia conopsea conopsea three times, but only a very small number of individuals in each case. (Sorry about the rubbish photo!). It is supposed to prefer more calcareous conditions. The labellum is much more lobed than borealis with the 3 lobes being about equal in size. Overall the labellum is about as long as wide. The lateral sepals are wider than borealis but still point slightly downwards.

This one is (I think) Gymnadenia conopsea densiflora, which I've only found once. It is supposed to prefer damper grasslands than the other two. It is also lobed and the middle lobe is supposed to be smaller than the two lateral lobes - although that isn't very obvious on this specimen. Overall the labellum is wider than long. The lateral sepals are wide like conposea but this time they do point out exactly horizontally. I found quite a big population of this growing on the edge of a meadow right on the riverbank of the Tees near Cronkley Bridge. The three types are supposed to have a slightly different smell, but I haven't sniffed them enough to know if that works for me yet.

Sound easy doesn't it. Well it's not! I thought it was fairly easy until I found the densiflora population. Both conopsea and borealis were there also, but the most common Gymnadenia there appeared to be intermnediate between densiflora and conopsea. Presumably these are hybrids. The three types are probably quite closely related, so its not surprising that if they grow together they would hybridise. Even if they have fairly strict habitat preferences, it is often possible to get a mixture of quite different soil conditions within a very small space, so not that unlikley to get them together at least sometimes.

They are nice plants. Its good fun trying to figure out a new botanical puzzle. But the main reason I like them is because they always grow in nice habitats.

John

Grass identification and other botany CPD courses 2009

2008-12-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

We haven't updated the blog for a while as we've been flat out working - including developing CPD courses for next year. Running our own courses is a big risk for a small consultancy to take, but we are so aware of the limited provision for plant species identification and ecology courses in the UK of what professional ecologists really need - the FSC runs loads of courses, but many don't really have professional ecologists in mind - more amateur twitchers who want to see as many species as possible - and generally are not led by trained teachers (there are a few notable exceptions!), so we are trying to fill the gap.

As a teacher, I get frustrated that many people are paying out a lot in fees to attend courses that could be more professionally delivered. Being a v experienced ecologist or taxonomist does not make you an effective teacher. Tutors often don't differentiate their teaching. Differentiation is one of many professional teaching skills, that you are taught during a PGCE, but that takes experience to apply and do really well. It also takes a lot of extra work as you effectively prepare 3 or 4 different lessons for every element of your training course, so that you can offer different levels of learning to your group. This is crucial as in any adult group, no matter what you say on the course advert, you will ALWAYS get people with a mix of different aptitudes and abilities. Professional tuition should address this, and not just deliver a course at a vague mid-level for everyone, so that some people are left swamped and others are bored as it's all too basic.

Details of our 2009 ecology CPD courses are on our website at www.ptyxis.com/training.html and include grass identification (focus on id of useful indicator species and using grasses to evaluate habitats and assess the botanical value of sites, rather than a 'lets see loads and loads of species' approach), aquatic plant identification and a wildlife law training workshop.

Clare

It doesn't exist until I've seen it!

2008-09-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

In my favourite film, 'Down by Law', Jack and Zac share a prision cell and really dislike each other. At one point they have another argument and Jack says to Zac (or maybe it was Zac to Jack), "from now on as far as I'm concerned, you don't exist". Zac (or maybe it was Jack) wants to sound tough so he says "yeh, well you don't exist either".

I was out surveying on Tuesday on a remote bit of blanket bog in Kielder with Julia who is from Quatemala. We found this lizard and Julia was very pleased as she had never seen a reptile in the wild in Britain before. She said "now I believe that reptiles exist in Britain". That struck a chord with me because there are many species that I didn't believe existed until I saw them for the first time.

In my twenties I was (still am) a very keen birdwatcher, but for some strange reason it took me years to see my first little grebe. I did lots of birdwatching and went to lots of the right places to see little grebes in the Lee Valley near where I lived at the time. Even though I knew very well what they looked like from looking at pictures it was really difficult for me to believe that they really existed until I actually saw one. Since then I've seen them loads of times but I always get a great kick out of seeing them every time now!

Other species I still don't believe exist include: scaup, wood warbler, garden warbler (probably have seen or heard these but not realised it), pine marten, Carex aquatilis, Bryum caespiticum and of course many many millions more!
John

Dwarf birch on an English hill

2008-09-17T02:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I was doing some 'condition assessment' of blanket bog sites in Northumberland for as part of a nation-wide survey for Natural England. We have to use a ridiculous method which can't possibly tell you what condition the bog is in, but that's another story! One day on a very remote site in Northumberland, my co-surveyor Fiona came back to the car at lunch time with a twig of Betula nana (dwarf birch) in her hand. I couldn't believe my eyes and got very excited as I knew there were only 2 native sites for it in England. When I say 2 sites I really mean 2 bushes (ok, one of the sites has 2 tiny bushes quite close together). I also knew that one of the sites was somewhere in the Northumberland hills but I thought the chances of Fiona stumbling upon that site by accident in such a remote place were extremely slim.

Well believe it or not that's exactly what happened. What are the chances of that happening? neither of us had any idea that the plant was on the site. The site we were surveying is about 7 or 8 miles from the nearest public road and covers about 3,000 hectares. Professor George Swan (who wrote the 'Flora of Northumberland' originally found the plant on this site in 1973 new to south Northumberland. There is a very old record from north Northumberland but nobody has refound it there for a very long time.

Here's another map from BSBI's website showing its British (and lack of Irish!) distribution. I believe that the 2 records in Lancashire are of introduced plants. There is quite a scattering of records in the central highlands and the north of Scotland. This is an artic-alpine species whose core range is really in the artic and boreal zones.

I couldn't resist including another photo of Tetraplodon mnioides (see the entry of 13 August 2007). I think this is probably my favourite moss now - its definitely one of the most colourful species. It is still quite uncommon in Northumberland. There are only 16 records for it in VC67 - south Northumberland overall but I've found it 3 times in just over a year. I guess this probably means that it is increasing, but who knows really?

I've always found it growing on dead sheep before, but this time there were 5 seperate small clumps on the forestry road leading up to the Betula nana site. I guess it must have been growing on deer dung here.

John

Northern hawk's-beard

2008-09-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've always thought it very strange that the common names of so many plants are named after parts of animals. Hawk's-beard, hawkbit, hawkweed, cat's-ear, and ox-tongue all look confusigly similar. There are lots more - dog's-tail, cat's-tail, squirrel-tail, mare's-tail, rat's-tail, mouse-tail, hare's-tail, horse-tail, fox-tail, buck's-horn, crane's-bill, stork's-bill, adders-tongue, hart's-tongue, weasel's-snout, ox-eye, bird's-eye, hare's-ear, mouse-ear, lamb's-ear, buck's-beard, goat's-beard, old man's-beard (yes we're animals too!), dog's-tooth, dragon's-teeth (does dragon count?), oxlip, bird's-foot, hare's-foot, crow-foot, colt's-foot, cock's-foot, goose-foot, cockspur, larkspur, parrot's-feather, etc. Unfortunately dog's-dibble is no longer in common usage. One plant is even named after 2 animals, mouse-ear hawkweed. Sometimes these names are helpful when trying to remember which plant it is but most of the time they are not helpful. How many people know what a hawk's beard looks like and even if they did, would they spot the resemblance to the plant? I guess the real reason is that after most plants have been named its difficult to think up original names for new plants so the plant namers start to clutch at straws.

But anyway, back to northern hawk's-beard, or if you prefer (as I do) Crepis mollis - much simpler! I've had a good year for Crepis mollis this year. Here's a picture of it taken by my colleague Rebecca last year near Nenthead in the Cumbrian pennines.

Yes, I know it just looks like a load of dandelions, but it really is a very special plant - honest! Its particularly relevant for me as its main habitat is upland hay meadows which is what my day job is all about and I live right in the centre of its British distribution in south-west Northumberland.

This map from BSBIs website shows its distribution in Britain. The darker coloured dots (there are not very many of them) are records from recent years. Not only is it a scarce and very loclaised plant in Britain, but it has also declined a lot in recent decades due to agricultural intensification.

As my job in summer involves lots of surveying in upland hay meadows, I'm always on the look out for it. Also, this year it was chosen as one of the species in BSBIs threatened plants survey so I've been looking for it in some of the sites where it was recorded a long time ago. Although I couldn't find it in a few of these places, it is hanging on in a good number of its old sites in this part of the world. My colleague Fiona Corby also managed to find 2 new sites for it in Allendale including one on a large herb-rich bank with upland hay meadow type vegetation which had about 500 plants of Crepis mollis on it. This was particularly good news as we think this could well be the biggest population left in the country. The landowners are pleased that they have it and are willing to try to do the right things to conserve it which is also good news.

John

More bog desmids from Widdybank Fell

2008-09-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Chris Carter continues to find some amazing-looking desmids in the gungy bits of Sphagnum I've been sending him from Widdybank Fell. Last time I sent him just 2 bits of Sphagnum and he has been busy for months finding more and more species of these microscopic algae in amongst the Sphagnum - and he's not finished yet!

Here are some of his latest finds -

There is a Dutch method of assessing the conservation value of wetland sites using desmid species called the Coesel method. Based on what Chris has found so far from just 5 small samples of Sphagnum from Widdybank Fell, the site now has a score of 8 or 9 out of 10. I'm sure its only a matter of time before it reaches 10 out of 10.

John

A mountain stream in Regent's Park??

2008-09-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

The shot below shows a water feature in the 'nature study' area of Regent's Park in central London. On a recent bryophyte survey we did for the park this was one of the few habitats we found with a well-developed bryophyte community. The sheltered water feature creates a suitable humid environment for several species that otherwise occur only sparsely in the area.

However the biggest surprise was finding Racomitrium aciculare sitting on rocks by the 'stream'. This species has never been recorded in Middlesex before and is very uncommon in south and east England as you can see from this distribution map from the NBN website.

In the north and west of Britain you can almost gaurantee to find it on rocks by any upland stream, but this habitat is absent from most of lowland Britain.

The neat round cushions with the white hairs sticking up in the picture above are Grimmia pulvinata which is a very common species on rocks and walls everywhere. Racomitrium aciculare is the more straggly dark green plant in the middle of the top of the picture, with a few more shoots on the top right.

The main focus of the survey was to look for bryophyte epiphytes (plants that grow on trees). These were fairly sparse and mainly confined to a small number of species. Many epiphytic species cannot live in areas with high athmospheric pollution. In recent decades particulate air pollution associated with coal fires has almost gone and as a result in recent years several epiphytic species have been sucessfully recolonising areas they have been missing from for a very long time. However most truly urban areas still have relatively few epiphytes.

The picture above shows the most common type of epiphyte community we found, comprised mainly of the lichens Physcia adscendens and Xanthoria parietina, with a little of the moss Orthotrichum diaphanum. Most Orthotrichum species are epiphytes and Orthotrichum diaphanum is the one that is most tolerant of air pollution.

On a small number of trees the bryophyte element of the epiphytic community was more developed but it usually consited of just Orthotrichum diaphanum and Rhynchostegium confertum. Interestingly, their were occasional cushions of both Tortula muralis and Grimmia pulvinata on the trees. These species normally grow on walls or rocks and only rarely grow on trees, but something about the tree habitat in London makes them behave differently.

There are many London plane trees in London parks and at first glance these would seem to be unpromising habitat for epiphytic species as the trees shed their outer bark in small patches very regularly. This habit allows the trees to cope with polluted areas better than most other tree species as every time the bark is shed it results in a fresh clean new bark free from grime, helping the tree to breathe easier. It turned out that London plane is in fact the best tree species for bryophytes in central London (apart from elms which are much less common). The epiphyte community is often fairly well developed on the base of the larger trees where the bark is no longer shed so regularly. The texture and chemistry of the bark must make the suface more suitable for epiphytes than the other tree species.

John

Ecology careers

2008-07-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Want a career in ecology?

As a professional ecologist and botanist, and a trained teacher, I often get asked for advice on ecology careers. Training is a major part of my freelance work, and I teach undergraduates and postgraduates at Newcastle University. I also sit on the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s (IEEM) working group on the ecology skills gap, a project addressing the fact that many biology and ecology degree courses do not train students in the vocational skills that employers are looking for.

Working in nature conservation is extremely competitive. There are currently more opportunities in commercial ecological consultancies, working mainly for the corporate sector (such as property developers, wind energy companies etc), but also for local authorities and government agencies. To maximise your opportunities during your early career, you will need to be prepared to develop your CV by volunteering and to move around the country for work.

Top tips for careers in ecology

What is your summer project about? If you want a job in the UK ecology sector, make sure you do a project on British or Irish habitats and /or species! Although the large ecological consultancies do require ecologists to conduct survey work abroad, this is generally in Europe or North America. If you do a project on African or Asian ecology, expect to work for organizations who work in Africa or Asia, such as universities or international charities. You will not be attractive to the British conservation sector or commercial consultancies.

Build up the evidence for your skills by volunteering. You need to make time to do this at weekends; it is at least worth as much as a high grade degree, arguably more. There are plenty of first class honours graduates without jobs because they have not got any work experience. You need to show that you have the skills listed in IEEM’s booklet ‘what every graduate should know’ which is available from http://www.ieem.org.uk/

Botany – by which I mean plant identification and survey skills – is in demand. Consultancies are very short of young graduates who are proficient botanists. Join BSBI, attend their field meetings and put this on your CV. No one expects you to be an expert overnight; but you do need to show a serious commitment to improving your field identification skills and going on BSBI meetings demonstrates this. BSBI also offer a one day test and a certificate, called a Field Skills Identification Qualification or FISQ, to evidence how good a botanist you really are, which also looks good on your CV. See http://www.bsbi.org.uk/html/field_skills.html

Whether you plan to be a mammal ecologist, entomologist or an ornithologist, all commercial consultancies need graduates who can do a Phase 1 habitat survey. Find out about this by reading the survey handbook (it’s amazing how many interview candidtates don’t do this!); go on a short course (The Field Studies Council http://www.field-studies-council.org/ and IEEM www.ieem.net both run Phase 1 habitat survey courses); do a voluntary Phase 1 survey for your local Wildlife Trust to prove to employers that you can really do it!

Be careful when you choose an MSc course. Having an MSc will not assist you in finding a job if you still have little or no work experience. Look for an MSc that has a strong vocational element: training in ecological survey methods combined with business skills, like project management and negotiation skills, which you will need in the workplace.

Good luck!!

Clare O'Reilly

Blysmus bliss!

2008-07-03T12:29:00.001-07:00

As you can see from my face, I was pleased to find Blysmus compressus (flat sedge) the other day when Clare and I looked for it at one of its previously known sites near where we live at Lambley, on the South Tyne river, Northumberland.

The river's edge habitat (which is regularly flooded) is apparently one of its typical habitats in Northumberland. There was a very big colony here - we estimated over 6,000 flowering spikes.

Flat sedge is a good name for it as the inflorescence is very flattened, which makes it fairly easy to separate from other sedges.

Close-up of Blysmus with its stigmas sticking out.

This is an uncommon species nationally with a real cluster of records around our part of the north of England as you can see from the BSBIs distribution map -http://www.bsbimaps.org.uk/atlas/map_page.php?spid=245.0&sppname=Blysmus%20compressus&commname=Flat-sedge

We were looking for this as part of the BSBI's threatened plant survey. Botanists all over Britian are going out searching old sites for 10 uncommon and declining species (including Blysmus) and recording detailed information and accurate grid references when they find it or reasons why it might have gone extinct when they don't find it.

In my view this is the best survey that BSBI has organised for a long time, but its a shame they are keeping it a secret. If you want to find out any more about it you will have to contact your county recorder.

John

Small-white orchid and bluebell banks

2008-06-14T01:24:00.000-07:00

The Weardale Gazette recently reported that "John O'Reilly excited himself by finding a rare plant in a meadow near Wolsingham". The rare plant in question was Alchemilla acutiloba which is not that rare in Weardale but is very rare elsewhere. Well, yesterday I 'excited myself'' even more by finding 8 spikes of small-white orchid Pseudorchis albida on a bank in the Holwick area of Teesdale. Out of about 450 meadows that I've surveyed so far this is only the 2nd time I have found it and the other time it was shown to me by Linda Robinson.

I surveyed this meadow on 5th June and was puzzled by this orchid spike in bud:

I assumed at the time that it was probably Platanthera chlorantha which is quite uncommon and a nice thing to find, but it didn't look quite right. The flower buds showed no sign of the elongated pedicels you would expect with greater butterfly-orchid but I thought that might just be because of the early stage of development. But the stem leaves seemed too big and the flower buds were very numerous and congested on the spike. I thought the stem leaves and overall shape of the spike was right for Pseudorchis but I doubted it was that because the plant was about 10 inches high already which I thought was too big and also because it is so rare around here.

So here it is in all its glory 8 days later:

It is not the most spectacular-looking species in the world but a nice find beacuse it is so uncommon and it usually indicates very nice habitat. One of the best things about it was that I told the farmer that I found it and he rang me back later on to ask how could he grow more of them on the bank!

I didn't take a proper habitat shot but you can see some of the associated species in this shot:

If you look closely you will see lots of leaves of Succisa pratensis and Hyacinthoides non-scripta, some Potentilla erecta and Conopodium majus a flowering stem of Festuca rubra, and STOP PRESS!..... I've just this minute noticed something with a spike of flowers in bud in the bottom right hand corner which I think is Persicaria vivipara - I will have to go back again to check that out.

This bank was quite large, about 15-20 metres top to bottom and about 100m long, the vegetation was fairly homogenous throughout. The dominant species were Devil's-bit scabious, bluebell, pignut, tormentil and creeping soft-grass. I was very puzzled as to what this would be in the NVC but I think I've worked it out now. One of the best places to look for Pseudorchis albida in upland hay meadows is apparently in U4c vegetation on banks (see my blogs from last year about banks in meadows). I think the vegetation above is a form of MG5c which grades into U4c depending on the soil characteristics. The main difference between the two is the grass component of the flora. MG5c has more of the broad-leaved bulkier grasses (here it had both Holcus species, Dactylis glomerata and Helictotrichon pubescens) and bulkier herbs like Centaures nigra, whereas the dominant grasses in U4c tend to be fine-leaved species like Festuca rubra and ovina and Agrostis capillaris.

Bluebells are a prominant feature of grasslands in meadows in Teesdale and in the Greta valley. In the NVC bluebell does not feature prominently in any of the tables describing the published grassland communities, so it has taken me a while to work out which communities are involved. Not far from the bank described above it occurs in another very large bank in vegetation with some similarities to the type of MG5c described above, except that in has some more typical acid grassland indicators like Galium saxatile and has a canopy of bracken. This 2nd type of vegetation is clearly a good match to U20a.

A third type of grassland where it occurs abundantly is almost identical to the U20a except that it has no bracken. So you could call this either 'U20a without bracken' or 'U4a with lots of bluebell'?

A forth type is quite common in narrow strips along the base of walls or along the lines where there used to be a wall within a field. This vegetation has clearly developed along these walls since they were erected and is not relict woodland vegetation. Usually the vegetation is overwhelmingly dominated by Holcus mollis and Hyacinthoides non-scripta, sometimes with the odd bit of Urtica dioica, Dactylis glomerata, Dryopteris filix-mas or Conopodium majus. This vegetation is an excellent match to W25a, except that there is no bramble or other woody species. Perhaps it is a stage in the development towards W25a!

It also occurs in more typical MG3 and the richer forms of MG6 that grade into MG3.

Eyebrights in old hay meadows

2008-06-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

The hay meadow survey season has come around again. My job at this time of year is to survey lots of upland hay meadows in the north Pennines (the bits of the Pennines in Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland), to advise on their management and to find species-rich meadows to use as a source of 'green hay' for introducing seed to other meadows being restored nearby. Species-rich upland hay meadows ('MG3b' in the NVC) differ from southern or lowland meadows in having lots of wood crane's-bill and other northern montane species.

Wood crane's-bill in an upland hay meadow in Weardale

In a lot of the meadows the sheep have only been put out about 2 weeks ago and this week more and more species have been coming into flower. The meadows will probably be at their most colourful next week. The picture below shows a close up of a fairly common type of vegetation that we get in the north Pennines meadows. This is what I call MG6+. It is semi-improved and so lacks the special northern montane species. It is often quite herb-rich with more than 60% cover of herbs, but it is not really species-rich, being dominated by a few common species like red clover, buttercups, pignut, ribwort plantain and often a lot of yellow rattle. This vegetation is a bit too rich to fit in to standard MG6 and not rich enough to be called MG3 or MG5 so I call it MG6+.

Colourful MG6+ vegetation in a meadow in Teesdale

Just before the season started this year I got my eyebrights determined by the BSBI's eyebright expert Alan Silverside. My job gives me the opportunity to access lots of meadow on private land most of which may never have been visited by a botanist. So, it is worth making the effort to try to work out some of the critical groups or at least to collect specimens so that an expert can identify them.

Euphrasia arctica arctica

It seems that the eyebright I have been finding most frequently in these meadows is Euphrasia arctica arctica. This is an 'old hay meadow' specialist. Until a few years ago it was thought that this sub-arctic taxon (whose main stronghold is the Faroe Islands) was confined in Britain to Orkney and Shetland. However it turns out that it probably occured throughout the range of Euphrasia arctica in Britain (i.e. most of the northern half and upland areas in Britain) but has largely died out in most places due to both loss of old hay meadow habitat and being hybidised out by the more competitive, 'weedy' Euphrasia arctica borealis.

As with other eyebrights, hybrids are common which makes identification a bit of a nightmare! I can't distinguish between true Euphrasia arctica and hybrids so I collect specimens and allow the expert to identify them properly. In the field I can only split the upland hay meadow eyebrights into 2 main groups - The Euphrasia arctica types and the Euphrasia rostkoviana (officinalis) types which are much rarer. Last year I found Euphrasia rostkoviana montana (Euphrasia officinalis monticola) 4 times out of about 250 meadows surveyed. It has very large flowers for a Euphrasia and has long hairs with tiny glands on the end.

This is now a UKBAP species as it has suffered a massive decline and grows only in upland hay meadows which have themselves suffered a massive decline. Its current range in Britain is Wales, Yorkshire Dales, north Pennines, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders. Alan was delighted to see this again as there had been no authenticated records from the Pennines for about 30 years and he thought it may have gone completely extinct in the Pennines. I will be looking out for it carefully again this year.

John

There's something else in the bog!

2008-06-07T01:13:00.000-07:00

See our post of 19th January for pictures of amazing-looking testate amoebae taken by Chris Carter. Chris really wanted to find desmids (a type of unicellular alga with lateral symmetry) in the sphagnum samples but the samples I collected the first time were not from the right bit of the bog. So since then I have been collecting the most gungy, horrible-looking bits of sphagnum from bog pools. The more gungy they are the more excited Chris gets!

Here are some stunning photos of some of the desmids he has found in sphagnum samples from Widdybank Fell in upper Teesdale:

This next one is a testate amoeba rather than a desmid.

There is a method of assigning conservation value to mire sites based on the species of desmids that is used in the Netherlands. Using the first 3 small sphagnum samples Chris found 17 species (8 of which were red list) which already gives Widdybank fell a score of 6 out of 10. The pictures above are from 2 more samples collected recently and already Chris has found several extra species so this will result in an even higher conservation score from a very small amount of sampling.

The bog at Widdybank Fell is very species-rich and is well known for its conservation value for other groups of species. On my last visit Viola rupestris and Gentiana verna were flowering in the limestone grassland surrounding the bog and Minuartia stricta (at its only British site) was just about to flower in a flush. There was constant calling from golden plovers in the background and we almost stepped on a dunlin.

Viola rupestris growing on eroding sugar limestone at Widdybank Fell

John

The flower and the fly

2008-05-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Bank of globeflower by River Ithing.

Its always good to see a bank full of globeflower! Its not a common sight even up here in the north! The flowers have their own wow factor and area sign of a very good habitat. But apart from all that, there is a very interesting story to be told about globeflower flies. To these critters the globe-flower really is their world!
Guess what's inside me?

If you google globeflower you will find lots of scientific papers on globeflower flies (or Chiastocheta species). The flower and the flies are a classic case of mutualism (what people used to call symbiosis). They have co-evolved, as globeflower depends on these particular flies for pollination and the larvae of these particular flies feed on nothing else but globeflower seeds.

That's interesting enough but it gets better! There are at least 6 different species of these flies and several of them can co-exist in the same flower without competing with each other. Each occupies a slightly different niche within this tiny secret world. They largely seem to avoid competing with each other by developing at different stages of the seed development.

A big fly and a small fly

So, next time you find a globeflower, take a look inside. We had a look inside some flowers by the River Irthing on the Cumbria/Northumberland border on Sunday and found about 5 or 6 flies of different sizes in each one.

However, if you look on the NBN gateway website you will see that there are hardly any records for any Chiastocheta species in the whole country and none at all for our part of the world in the north Pennines and south Northumberland! But they must be here! Otherwise how would the flowers reproduce, unless they just reproduce vegetatively all the time? It just goes to show how little we know about the natural world still. Invertebrates in the uplands seem to have had hardly any attention.

And finally, nothing to do with globeflowers or flies but we found this toad at a place called Tod Hole so we just had to say goodbye from 'Toad of Tod Hole'!

I'm Toad of Tod Hole!

John & Clare

Hummocks of brown Sphagnum

2008-05-04T02:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very satisfying day in the field. I went up to Kielder to check out a site that had old records for Sphagnum austinii. This is a special species for several reasons. It is very uncommon nationally and has only been recorded at 4 sites in Northumberland. It always grows only in the best quality bog habitat and in bogs that have not been mis-managed. And it used to be our most abundant peat-forming Sphagnum species in the past. Estimates reckon it formed about 80% of our peat and sometimes it is still possible to identify its leaves (due to the distinctive lamellae on the green cells) at the bottom of the peat. Here is a close-up image of the surface of a hummock:Sphagnum austinii

In the few sites where it is found nowadays it can form very big hummocks which are very hard. Some people say you can sit on it and leave no impression behind but maybe that's exaggerating slightly! You can imagine how it would be a good peat-former when you see those big hummocks. I found two hummocks of it yesterday in a very wet bog. These hummocks were not very big but they were easy to find as most of the bog was incredibly flat. The few hummocks of Sphagnum that were there really stood out.

Low hummock of Sphagnum austinii in wet bog at Kielder

In the picture above you can see a lot of surface water in the background . This is the kind of bog where it would be useful to have snow shoes. The extensive wet part of the bog had about 50% surface water interspersed with flat carpets of Sphagnum rather than hummocks. Most of the Sphagnum was papillosum, magellanicum, capillifolium and tenellum. There was also lots of sundews, cranberry and bog rosemary. In the NVC this vegetation is known as M18a. This is known to be one of the wettest types of bog communities, described as 'saturated' and this example was probably towards the wetter end of this normally wet community.

The brown of Sphagnum austinii contrasting with the red of Sphagnum magellanicum on the left.

From the pictures above you can see it is a very brown species and this is a good way of initially recognising it in the field. Where you find Sphagnum austinii it is always worth looking for another uncommon brown species Sphagnum fuscum. This differs in having much more narrow branch leaves - like a brown version of Sphagnum capillifolium. It is a bit more common than austinii in the north of Scotland but it is even more rare than austinii in Northumberland.

Surface of Sphagnum fuscum hummock.

Before yesterday it had only ever been recorded at one site in Northumberland - the famous Muckle Moss. Sure enough, after a bit of searching I was able to find a single hummock.

Prominent hummock of Sphagnum fuscum in flat area of bog.

Both of these species are indicators of really good quality habitat and both have suffered massive declines. If one of these wet bogs is drained or burnt even once these species quickly dissapear, usually never to return. Yesterday the way the tiny number of hummocks of these two species stood out from the flat bog surface was quite melancholy as it made them look very isolated!

John

Epiphytes in a Northumberland wood

2008-02-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I went out hunting bryophytes with Doug McCutcheon and Ian Craft. We were trying to relocate a rare moss that Doug had found a few years ago in the woods between Bellingham and Hareshaw Linn waterfall. The woods were fairly ordinary at first with mainly the usual common species present. When we got about half way up we started to find more interesting species. The epiphyte communities were especially interesting, particularly close to the stream where the athomosphere was most humid.

As a rule in Britain, the further west you go, the more diverse the epiphytes. There are many species that have an extreme western distribution in Britain. So unsurprisingly the best places to find these species in Northumberland are probably in the extreme west of the county. The valleys of the South Tyne and Irthing are probably well worth exploring.

But the woods at Bellingham had some very nice uncommon species. Ian took all of the photos below. The first one is a nice shot of Frullania dilatata which is a common enough species but very noticable and attractive when it is this dark red colour. There is a tiny bit of Radula complanata (the pale green one) poking in at the top of the photo. This is also reasonably common but usually grows in fairly good quality habitat for epiphytes.

This little cushion-forming moss growing on the twig is Ulota drummondii. Most Ulota species nearly always grow on twigs. This is a fairly uncommon species in Britain and in England it is very uncommon and now more or less confined to Northumberland and nearby bits of Cumbria and Durham. I had never seen it before but Doug has found it several times in Northumberland and was able to point out its distinguishing features to me. The lower parts of the shoots have a reddish tinge and the peristome teeth are white and stick out.

By the stream on several trees there were lots of patches of this Metzgeria (a small thalloid liverwort). Unlike the very common Metzgeria furcata, this species has attenuate (narrowed to the tip) branches that stick out and are covered with tiny green gemmae (vegetative propagules). Doug and I both brought some home to check which species it was. Doug's plant was Metzgeria fruticulosa but mine looked more like Metzgeria temperata. I've sent this away to be checked by the BBS referee for Metzgeria. If it is right then its only the 2nd record for Northumberland for this species, the first one was only last year from a tree next to the South Tyne.

There are two epiphytic lichens (which Doug identified) in this shot. The one on the right with the light brown/reddish bits at the end of the thalli is Peltigera praetextata. Clinging closer to the tree and occupying most of the rest of the photo is Protopannaria pezizoides. This was a stiking species forming big patches, the red bits looked a bit redder in real life. Doug was very excited to find this as it is fairly rare, mainly occuring in north and west Scotland and had not been recorded from this wood since 1897! There was at least one other epiphytic lichen that we saw in the wood which is a good indicator of long ecological continuity in woodland.

Britain probably has more variety in its epiphytic communities than any other country in Europe (maybe apart from Norway and Ireland), but they get virtually zero attention in the conservation world. One of my 'big ideas' is to some day do a detailed study of epiphyte communities accross the country. As far as I know the type of comprehensive study I have in mind has only been done once before by JJ Barkman in Holland. But before I can embark on something so ambitious I really need to develop my ID skills more. After putting a lot of time in over 5 years I'm starting to feel like I'm getting there with bryophytes, but while I'm still learning them I just don't have enough room in my brain to cope with lichens also.

However, watch out for my tome on British Epiphyte communities in about 40 years time!

There's something in the bog!

2008-01-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

It still always amazes me just how mind-boggling the diversity of wild plants and animals is and how little any one person can ever hope to learn about it. Have a look at these pictures of testate amobae taken by Chris Carter from blanket bog on the watershed between Weardale and Allendale.

I met Chris on a training course last year and as he knew I was interested in Sphagnum he asked me to send him some samples so that he could have a look at what was living in the water amongst the Sphagnum. Chris was particularly interested to see what desmids there were, but he mainly found amobae in the samples I sent him as the samples were mainly from the drier bits of the bog.

Here is a good link on desmids http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/algdr.html

and here's one on testate amobae http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html

It was really difficult to choose only a few of Chris's photos but here are some of my favourites...

Meet Arcella arenaria...

What has this Nebella swallowed?

You wouldn't want to meet Euglypha compressa on your way home on a dark night!

Later that evening... Nebella again. I think it had too much kebab. Or maybe it was the fresh air?

John

North Pennines Sphagna project

2008-01-14T03:33:00.000-08:00

Sphagnum subnitens

The Sphagna research project involves recording vascular plants, bryophytes and macrolichens, together with a range of environmental variables, in 200 quadrats in randomly selected upland one km squares. The project aims to investigate the ecological niches occupied by species of Sphagnum that occur in blanket bog and wet heath in the North Pennines. Results will be applied to hone upland condition assessment methodologies used in the North Pennines and may generate hypotheses for future work. This project is part of a suite of research funded by the Peatscapes Project. Peatscapes aims to conserve and enhance the internationally important peatland resource within the North Pennines (see below for more about Peatscapes).

Bog pool in Novermber!

As the field work was conducted in November, these photos are not very colourful!!

Version of M19 heather/hare’s-tail cottongrass blanket mire with canes marking quadrat extent

Observations so far, from 90 quadrats completed, include:

We anticipated that species such as Sphagnum subnitens (pictured above) Sphagnum tenellum and Sphagnum compactum may be associated with blanket bog in poor or damaged condition in the North Pennines and so would be useful as negative indicator species. It is surprising that, so far, two of these species were found rarely and Sphagnum compactum was not found at all.

Overall more of the blanket bog in the North Pennines appears to be in reasonably good condition (i.e. with active peat formation) than we had anticipated.

The predominant type of blanket bog vegetation in the North Pennines AONB is the ‘M19heather/hare’s-tail cottongrass blanket mire’ community. Much of this vegetation, which is apparently in good condition, is quite species-poor and often has a low cover of Sphagnum. Heather Calluna vulgaris and hare’s-tail cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum are often the dominant plants and, where they are very abundant, these species allow little space for other bog species to coexist with them.

Areas that have been ‘damaged’ in some way (e.g. by burning or erosion) can sometimes be locally relatively species-rich. Many of the liverwort species found tend to grow in these areas more frequently than in more ‘intact’ areas of bog. This may be because areas of shorter vegetation or bare peat allow more opportunity for a wider range of species to coexist until the heather and cottongrass take over.

These observations pose some interesting questions including:

Is some form of disturbance desirable in order to maintain high species diversity in M19 blanket bog?

Or, is it desirable, for other environmental reasons, to avoid disturbance and so aim to maintain a lower species-diversity?

Like a lot of scientific research, I think that this project will raise many more questions than it answers! You can read more about Peatscapes here: http://www.northpennines.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=12218

Clare

Christmas day walk

2007-12-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

We've had some severe frosts over the past week, to -6C during the day and colder at night, so have stuck by the stove as walking up our long steep drive (no 4x4!) was enough! Christmas day was mild and bright, so we did a 5 mile walk around the South Tyne valley. From our house you can walk along the disused railway or on open moorland. The Pennine Way crosses Lambley Common , about 1/4 mile westwards up the fellside from our driveway, via a black grouse lek, although we've not seen this spectacle yet as I don't like early mornings!

I don't think we have said where we are on this blog. Railway Cottages, near the hamlet of Lambley, are two mid-Victorian former railway signalman's cottages on the disused railway between Alston and Haltwhistle. Our only close neighbour is Waughold Holme farm, now a holiday home, although a local farmer rents the fields, so we are surrounded by sheep and (too many) rabbits.

On Christmas morning we walked to Lambley viaduct (below), about 5 minutes from our cottage, and crossed the River South Tyne on the little footbridge below the arches -today the river was fast-flowing with milky taupe water, but it actually froze over last week.

There is a disused quarry, I think for milstone grit for roadstone on the north bank below Castle Hill, which we searched for bryophytes but found mainly swathes of Eurynchium striatum.

The footpath cuts up the hill towards Ashholme and then back along the eastern fringe of the mixed conifier and oak woodland that is a feature of South Tynedale. Most of the North Pennines is unwooded - the trees disappearing long ago, replaced by cones of lead mine spoil or in-by pastures. The woods here are planted through with conifers, which is a shame, but it does provide habitat for red squirrels. We have had a red squirrel a couple of times near the house, and you do see them regularly around Slaggyford, but sadly I think their days are numbered in South Tynedale due to the ever expanding numbers of grey squirrel.

View westwards from Ashholme farm towards Lambley village with iconic dry stone wall

Oakeyside Wood

Oakeyside Wood is aptly named, being Quercus petraea, with thousands of common cowwheat plants in early Summer, which reminds me of Devon, where these yellow flowers are a feature of the acidic woodland soils near Dartmoor. The understory was sparse, mostly holly, and there was one female holly shrub, which had been disfigured by walkers breaking branches for its berries.

At Towsbank Wood the footpath cuts down to the river floodplain beside some river cliffs.

Species on the millstone grit river cliff included Amphidium mougeotii; Lejeunea c.f. lamacerina (the first Northumberland record since 1956, if it's right, and the second vcr); Conocephalum conicum (the shiny one with conspicuous pores); C. salebrosum (the dull one); Cephalozia bicuspidata - If you have excellent eyesight (like John - see photo) to the naked eye this tiny liverwort appears as very short sections of fine green thread. If you don't have excellent eyesight (like me), you miss it altogether! So it's often something discovered in the packet once you are back home. We found over 20 species in a small area on these rocks as this is a specialist bryophyte habitat.

Glendue Burn

We crossed back over the river at Glendue Burn - about 15 minutes south of our house - walking back along the disused railway. As the light dimmed, a party of siskins fed noisily on alder cone seeds and we also saw long-tailed tits and goldcrests. And a (wooden) black grouse...

Clare

Carry on Chara-ing!

2007-12-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

I am partial to a pond dip, and have been known to skinny dip, but most dipping recently has been to find charophytes (or stoneworts, a type of green algae). These are super plants, very beautiful under a microscope, excellent bio-indicators for good water quality, and often the first macrophytes to colonise newly created water bodies. The Elder Pliny in the 1st century AD called these plants 'stinking water horsetail', as they resemble the fern-like genus Equisetum (and they can stink!). The smell may be alleopathic, inhibiting pytoplankton growth, but we still don't really know. We do know from genetic studies that charophytes are the missing evolutionary link between water plants and the first land plants.

Chara vulgaris var papillata
photo: Chris Carter
The orange footballs are the male antheridia

I've just had 9 specimens back from Nick Stewart, BSBI Charophyte referee, and got 7/9 right, which is OK but not spectacular. Part of why I like botany is the challenge - it's not supposed to be easy!! Charophytes are particularly tricky due to their plasticity and range of developmental forms. The batch included Chara aspera ... the first record for the NE since ... ever. Which is weird, as it came from Broomlee Lough, on Hadrian's Wall, which has been surveyed intensively in the past as it's a SAC, NNR and SSSI, primarily designated for its aquatic macrophtyes. We are Mapmating all our records for 2007, which will appear on the Flora of the North East website soon. These will include v.c. 67 records for Nitella flexilis agg. and Chara virgata of specimens collected by Chris Irvine. Chris sent me plants found on the Northumbria Natural History Society mid-week botany field meetings. I would really welcome specimens from anyone - fresh in a sealed plastic bag if you post the same day, otherwise press lightly between baking parchment (or the plant sticks to the towel) and a paper towel (address on my website www.ptyxis.com).

Chara aspera beds in Scottish Loch

Chara aspera in a tub, pending my MSc AFLP molecular analysis!

I've finally got my first scientific peer-reviewed paper published this month in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. This is a milestone, as I am still scheming to get into academia without doing a PhD, although I've got a part-time doctorate lined up with funding. I have to admit that the 6 year slog is off-putting. I also have a famously low boredom threshold, so may not stick it out; conversely, I am inquisitive and obsessive, so it would be fun to do some more science. Of course, I've forgotten the traumatic gestation and birth of the MSc thesis...(I did swear I would not set foot in a lab again)!

Clare

Bogs, farming and bryophytes

2007-11-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

We are still surveying, this time on blanket bog in randomly chosen 1km squares scattered across the North Pennines Natural Area, or at least John is surveying, as I am stuck indoors report writing. The view out the office window isn't bad though (see photo above!) The problem with professional botany is that reports take 3 times as long as the survey work; and the bit you really enjoy is the surveying. I was warned about this when I went pro, I think I did loads more botany as an amateur even though I had to cram it in at weekends and on holidays.

My report this time is v interesting though - research on designing a training scheme for young wannabee upland livestock farmers in the Teesdale area. I do quite a lot of educational consultancy, as very few ecologists/agricultural advisers are also qualified FE teachers. We really need livestock farming to be sustained in the North Pennines for environmental reasons as well as more familiar socio-economic arguments; yet the average farmer's age is 58 and getting older all the time, as young people are not taking over their parents' farms anymore.

Sphagnum magellanicum in North Pennines

Our Sphagnum survey is progressing, blessed by sunshine as frozen moss is not easy to identify! The most common NVC type so far has been M19 heather - hare's-tail cotton grass blanket mire. We had this in the Perthshire NVC surveys (see blog archive 3rd June) but in the North Pennines, cloudberry is apparently not as abundant. The runner-up is M18 cross-leaved heath - Sphagnum papillosum mire. It is always striking how many times you can mis-id Sphag pap and Sphag pal if you (like most people!) rely on field characters. Even really experienced surveyors get these wrong sometimes on jizz; you really have to take the trouble to look for the papillose cell walls under x400. We had a similar experience with Sphagnum pulchrum in the Northumberland border mires recently; it wasn't. The field characters and its habitat didn't agree with the microscope or the national referee!

Sphagnum species by bog pool, Bell Crag Flow, v.c. 67, including putative S. pulchrum! What gorgeous autumnal colours!

Photo: Celia Port

John has found a mire community that is not described in the NVC but mentioned in that wonderful book by Ben and Alison Averis et al., An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation p 187. In Wales, these NVC gurus found small patches of bog with a canopy of Calluna and Erica vaginatum over a M6 ground layer. So now this vegetation has been identified from the North Pennines too.

John has just tested me, presenting me with a stringy moss, as I am writing this. I wasn't sure what it was. That, it turns out, was because it was only part of a moss - one shoot of Rhytididelphus loreus! Friday nights are moss night! Romantic isn't it?!

I am now going back to the Farmers of the Future research, and if you want to know more about this exciting proposed training project, call the Upper Teesdale Agricultural Advisory Service (UTASS) on 01833 640836 or the North Pennines AONB office on 01388 528801.

Clare

Bog blog!

2007-11-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

We are surveying blanket bog in the North Pennines for our Sphagnum research project, which involves serious walking more than anything else. John has been out alone, which is dodgy even with all the kit, and I am paranoid about disappearing in a bog, having had a scare in some fen carr last month (in up to the top of my left thigh, which is quite a long way, as I am just under 5'8''!!). We keep meaning to do a mountain navigation course; I did moutain leader training years ago (when young, fit and dynamic) but never took it further, once I started working in the City as a lawyer. I don't know how I survived for so long indoors!!!