Tuesday 20 October 2015

Loeskeobryum habitat and distribution in Neath Port Talbot

Loeskeobryum brevirostre, Cwm-hwnt forestry, NPT

Here's an update on the distribution of Loeskeobryum brevirostre in Glamorgan (tetrads), at least according to my current Mapmate records, All records (except for one in the Pyrddin Valley, Brecon side of the river) are for NPT, where it is most frequently associated with larch, particularly on reclaimed coal tips and open cast. There is plenty of this habitat elsewhere in Glamorgan, e.g. in Bridgend and RCT. There may be less suitable habitat in Swansea but the Penllegaer plantation may be  good place to look for it. This is a relatively new ecology for this species but its association with coal tips has been mentioned before. In the Pyrddin Valley it is found in a more 'native', humid-ravine type habitat.

Apparent distribution of Loeskeobryum brevirostre in Glamorgan


Other interesting species that occur in similar places include Sanionia uncinata.

Sanionia uncinata. Cwm-hwnt Forestry

6 comments:

  1. Wow, that's eight more sites than I have on my db, clearly you have both been busy. Your map seems to be lacking a base colour colour - exporting from MapMate produces these transparent vector maps, which I suspect is the problem. I usually just use the 'Print Screen' button, which I then paste and crop in Photoshop.

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  2. I've yet to see this species in Wales. I collected various samples from our family holiday in coastal County Kerry in August and many of them proved to be this species - clearly much commoner there than here, and in a range of habitats (including woodland and coastal rocks).

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  3. Lovely image btw, shows quite a distinctive habit

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  4. We also had Loeskeobryum in young woodland on colliery spoil in the Rhondda during the BBS visit a few years ago. It seems to be a slight calcicole.

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  5. Is that Rhondda record in our Mapmate database?

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