I spent and hour and half this afternoon in the n.w. corner of NPT in mostly acidic upland grassland, heath and mire habitats. It was very dark, but thankfully dry, and I managed to get the square total up to 86. Nothing terribly exciting but
Pohlia camptotrachela (photos below) was a new species for me and is only the 6th tetrad in vc4. It was growing on a clay bank adjacent to a stream with associates including fruiting
Dicranella rufescens (photo above). Adjacent mire held a little
Sphagnum capillifolium ssp.
capillifolium (photo above), this surprisingly only the 8th vc41 tetrad, although there are 42 tetrads in which the binomial has been recorded. An Adidas trainer in the middle of an area of acid grassland supported fruiting
Bryum capillare and
Ceratodon purpureus.
In the same tetrad, a carpet of Sphagnum squarrosum was noted under willows on the east side of Bryn Mawr.
86 for that square is very good Barry, and the Pohlia is a great record for NPT. I wish I could say the same for the 2 hours we spent walking around SS79F (Sandfields, Aberavon) this afternoon, adding just 2 new species and bringing the total to an underwhelming 28.
ReplyDeleteThat looks a real tough one, though the area with the Carex punctata may edge into this square and will be worth a look if you've not done so already - it's something I was already considering myself. Maybe the Distichium colony and its associates extend into the same area? There's some useful scrub There too, which should yield some epiphytes
ReplyDeleteI sympathise Charles - that reminds me of some of my struggles in the SE Cardiff badlands.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work Barry - I love the trainer pic!
The Carex punctata area is well in the the next tetrad Barry. The Distichium is close to SS79F, but I don't think the limestone gravel habitat is there. I'll check it out over the weekend. Your right about that little edge of scrub which is sure to have a few epiphytes. The dunes may also yield something new, e.g. Tortella flavovirens. There is also a chunk of promising, but fenced, brownfield habitat - no public access unfortunately. Half the tetrad is composed of sea and bare sand.
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