Lundy Bryophytes 2019

I made my 6th visit to Lundy Island, off the north coast of Devon, between 19th and 22nd October 2019. Unlike previous visits with family, this was a solo trip aimed at bryophyte recording, albeit armed with binoculars for a bit of birding too. I planned to record the island on a 200x200m grid: a justifiable scale on this 4x1km island. Prior to my visit the Lundy bryophyte list stood at 176 taxa, and 23 addition in October 2019 have raised this to 199 taxa. Bryophytes are fascinatingly varied on Lundy, with oceanic species in stream gullies, ruderal species around the village, and wetland species in parts of the island plateau. Some bryophytes are remarkably rare compared with the mainland, especially woodland taxa such as Atrichum undulatum (added in 2019) and Eurhynchium striatum (still unrecorded), whilst others are notably more frequent, including Campylopus brevipilus and Cephalozia lunulifolia. Brief notes on my 4 days recording follow, with * indicating new taxa for Lundy and bold indicating photographed species.

19th October 2019
Wet days preceded my arrival, so mosses on the concrete wall alongside the road in Landing Bay were much showier than during previous summer visits: Syntrichia ruraliformis* and Cryphaea heteromalla were newly detected on a wall that I have checked several times previously. Quarter Wall Copse was my first target site, and the rocky stream here produced updates for Chiloscyphus polyanthos, Calypogeia muelleriana and Lejeunea lamacerina (20th century records only) as well as Epipterygium tozeri, Fissidens curnovii, Atrichum undulatum* and Sciuro-hypnum populeum*. Searching around the quarries revealed Racomitrium lanuginosum (an update), Barbilophozia attenuata, several colonies of Dicranum scottianum and some Bryum bornholmense* as well as a Yellow-browed Warbler. Brachythecium mildeanum* on concrete in the farmyard had eluded me on previous visits, whilst a quick look in St John's Valley produced potential Scapania lingulata and Tortula wilsonii on thin soil overlying rock, both of which need confirmation by the national recorders.

20th October 2019
Confusion over the time of sunrise saw me waiting for dawn at Threequarter Wall at 07:20. A stream valley by Threequarter Wall detained me for a while before I reached my principal target area. Aneura pinguis was a nice update, and was represented by a large, loosely attached taxon typical of upland flushes, whilst Pellia neesiana* was the first of three records of this species. A large, irregularly-branched Isothecium on a cliff base appears to be I. interludens (I. myosuroides var. brachythecioides), which will be new for SW England if confirmed. The tors and Carex paniculata tussocks of Gannets' Coombe were a rich hunting ground and occupied me for most of the morning. Highlights included Blasia pusilla*, Frullania teneriffae, Hookeria lucens, Scapania scandica*, Sphagnum fimbriatum*, Anthoceros punctatus, Kurzia sylvatica and Tritomaria exsectiformis; the population of Lepidozia cupressina discovered in 2016 was found to extend into six 10m Grid Squares. Crossing to the west coast past several colonies of Campylopus brevipilus took me to a gully east of St Peter's Stone, where Platyhypnidium alopecuroides* was one of the most surprising finds of the week, growing close to Phaeoceros laevis*, Scapania undulata and Fontinalis antipyretica. The walk back to the Village showed just how bryologically poor the heath and acid grassland of the plateau are, with significant searching required to produce more than 3 or 4 species in each 200x200m square. Fortunately 5 Snow Buntings and a Jack Snipe kept me entertained.

21st October 2019
After early morning birding in Millcombe I headed north to Quarry Pond to complete a couple of squares that I had looked at during previous visits. Scrambling round to a willow in the back of the quarry produced Orthotrichum tenellum*, whilst a mire in the quarry floor held Riccardia chamedryfolia*. Pleurozium schreberi appeared at last on a bank - goodness knows why it is so rare on Lundy - and the mortar of the ruined Quarry Cottages supported Didymodon vinealis* and Pseudocrossidium revolutum*. An enjoyable couple of hours showing Lundy Warden Dean Jones the mosses and liverworts of the Quarries area finished with us visiting Pondsbury, where Sphagnum rubellum* was detected among abundant S. subnitens, S. inundatum and S. palustre. After lunch, scrutiny of the northernmost quarry revealed Marsupella emarginata*, whilst a stream gully dropping to the east coast held the Lundy rarities Anthoceros punctatus, Philonotis fontana, Pellia neesiana and Pogonatum aloides, as well as Dicranella rufescens* and Pohlia annotina* mixed together on a bank. Small plants of Plagiochila bifaria were a surprise on the tor at the east end of Halfway Wall, and Fissidens dubius* on three rocks in a stream gully south of the Quarries rounded off the day nicely. The day was accompanied by the constant chuckling of Fieldfares.

22nd October 2019
Migrating birds were a major theme of my final morning on the island: 3 Jackdaw (a Lundy Rarity), 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Brambling, 1 Lapland Bunting and 2 Snow Bunting were highlights of a very busy morning. Bryophytes were not to be outdone though, and the area between Halfway Wall and Threequarter Wall on the west coast held such highlights as Entosthodon attenuatus*, Aneura pinguis, Riccardia chamedryfolia and Warnstorfia exannulata. Several large patches of Fossombronia sp. were searched unsuccessfully for sprorophytes, though most were probably F. maritima which is the only confirmed Lundy Fossombronia; potential F. incurva and F. wondraczekii need return visits for confirmation. After a leisurely wander back through the Village and Millcombe, I spent 15 minutes clambering on the lower slopes above the Landing Bay road, where Bryum donianum*, Lophozia sudetica*, Plagiochila bifaria and Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus augur well for a more extensive search. 1151 bryophyte records made during the 4 days doubles the number of bryophyte records made on Lundy, but there is still plenty of recording to be done before I can write a Bryophyte Flora of this wonderful island. I will return in 2020!

 

 

Medium Excitement

Yesterday I took a quickish walk with Jonathan Saville to a bog on Mynydd Llangattock to download data from some dipwell loggers.   The bog has changed considerably since I first visited in about 1999.  Back then, this common was quite heavily grazed and much of the bog surface consisted of scattered tightly grazed patches of vegetation with more bare peat than vegetation and hardly any Sphagnum, although there were strong populations of round-leaved sundew Drosera rotundifolia growing on the peat and Splachnum sphaericum growing on the abundant animal droppings.   The area was also suffering from the effects of a deep drainage ditch, almost a canal, which had been dug through the middle of the bog to feed the Garnlydan reservoir, and no doubt the site was also being affected by the poorer air conditions back then - the Ebbw Vale Steels Works only 7km to the south was just about still working then.       


Twenty years on, the area looks very different – grazing levels are much reduced and the ditch has largely filled in.  There is now almost a complete cover of vegetation, with a nice mix of bog plants and an abundance of Sphagnum, including much S. papillosum.    

About 7 years ago I managed to refind a mid 1970s record of Bog Rosemary Andromeda polifolia somewhere on this bog -  I walked over to a colleague to share the excitement and then walked back and couldn't find it again! 


Whilst discussing the vegetation changes with Jonathan I suggested that it would be wonderful if, before he retires, he finds S. magellanicum growing on this bog – as it happens we didn’t have to wait that long as a few minutes later we bumped into a large patch of the moss. 

There are very few records of S. magellanicum in south Wales and at most of the sites where it does occur there is often only a tiny population of one patch or so.  Mynydd Llangattock is a good distance from the next nearest sites in N. Brecks and Carmarthenshire and I presume it has colonised since my first visit.   
        

After 40 years of making references to Sphagnum magellanicum it might take me a long time to get used to calling our plant of ombrotrophic bogs S. medium.  If anyone missed the paper in the Journal of Bryology a couple of years back a summary is given here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736687.2018.1474424

  

Cefn Hirgoed

The last Glamorgan Botany Group trip of the season seems a distant memory now. It feels like it has rained almost non-stop since that sunny Saturday, the 21st September.

The outing to Cefn Hirgoed near Bridgend gave me chance to record a few bryophytes in SS98L, which helped push the list for that tetrad from 20 to 67 taxa. A few species were also added to the list for tetrad SS98K.

Nothing very remarkable was recorded in this area of acidic, often wet, grassy heath, but it was nice to see Bryum alpinum in Glamorgan for the first time in a while - a small patch growing by a small rock outcrop on damp flat ground. This record (circled red on the map below) is a little bit of an outlier, though Bridgend remains poorly recorded and there may well be other colonies waiting to be found.

Splachnum season

Marsh Fritillary larval web surveys can only mean one thing (apart from the obvious) - the chance to look for Splachnum species on herbivore dung in wet pasture. Today I came across a patch of young S. ampullaceum plants, on cattle dung in a valley mire on Fairwood Common. The only other Gower record of this moss is from pony dung in the same mire system three years ago.

Incidentally, having seen quite a bit of non-fruiting Splachnum in South Wales, I was delighted to chance across a splendid fruiting patch in the New Forest in July.

Hot Moss

I was walking around Hay-on-Wye yesterday and on approaching the Rose and Crown pub I noticed that the building has recently been re-pointed – I half expected the tuft of Hedwidgia ciliata that has sat on the edge of the porch for at least 15 years (and I think first reported by Jonathan Sleath), to have been cleaned off during the works, but it was good to see it is still present.

Unfortunately it is probably too late for any mosses on the building adjoining Hay Castle as during restoration work the roof tiles have been stripped and stacked and look like they have been brushed clean. 


Stone-tiled old buildings in this area of Wales and England have long been known to support interesting assemblage of uncommon mosses that thrive in the harsh conditions on sunny roof-tops.   Some years ago Plantlife produced a leaflet to help raise awareness of the importance of these roof-top gardens and it is still available on their web site: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/our-work/publications/rooftile-mosses - perhaps i’ll send one to the Hay Castle Trust as they are probably unaware of the biodiversity significance of their old tiled roof and I might send a refresher to Cadw as well.  


I remembered that last year I took some photos of roof-top mosses at the wonderful National Trust – owned Cwmmau Farmhouse, near Brilley, in that very Welsh part of Herefordshire.   I was going to make a post then, but the weather suddenly entered a very wet spell and it seemed less topical.  Anyway, the photos I took are still on my phone…..   I am not 100% about the Grimmias, but some may be G. laevigata and more rounded tufts G. ovalis – perhaps someone out there has more confidence.     

If you like 17C. buildings, then visiting this farmhouse is a must and the mosses are a bonus.  Unfortunately it is only open to the public one week each year, but for the rest of the time it is available as a holiday let (although you will need to dig deep into your pockets, unless you are able to share costs among the 10 people it can accommodate).  


I you want to see some of these mosses close-up, then best not to pick them off porches etc, but instead have a wander around buildings and look on the ground for small pieces that have dropped off the roof.   If you are lucky, you might find some H. ciliata var. leucophaea, which has been seen at Dore Abbey in Herefordshire and a couple of sites in Monmouthshire.  I haven’t knowingly seen var. leucophaea myself, but looking more closely at the Cwmmau photo, perhaps some of the Hedwiga there is approaching  var. leucophea?

Using water chemistry to define ecological preferences within the moss genus Scorpidium

Sorry i just cant get the text to be normal so blog post is short ! 

Just sharing this link to a new paper as its based on data from Wales. 

Link to article click here

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03736687.2019.1603416

Crymlyn Burrows

A patch of Syntrichia ruralis ssp. ruraliformis lacking hairpoints was something I've not come across previously. I could find any reference to varietal status, though the reduced hairpoint character seems analogous to that of S. montana var. calva. The site is comprised brownfield dune vegetation on rubble and sand behind the hard engineered sea defences. Lots of Glaucium flavum too, with close to 300 counted.

At Penllergaer, a large mound of Leucobryum glaucum that had developed at the base of a large Rhododendron at  was new for SS69, though the tree had been cut down and the regrowth provided minimal shade / humidity. It looks like this area could be lost to the expanding residential development taking place at the site.