A review of wildlife conservation projects on Exmoor ISSUE 7

Exmoor’s
Wildlife 2010
A review of wildlife conservation projects on Exmoor
ISSUE 7
Page no.
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Contents
Management Plan Target
2
International Year of Biodiversity -
3
Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project B2.7
4
All change for the Mire Project B1.8
5
Swaling – why do we do it?
B1.1
6
Otters on Exmoor B4.2
8
River jelly lichen – a tale of boom and bust River Exe Project helping to boost the Little Exe
salmon population 9
Signal crayfish - why trapping is not a good way
to control them
Knotweed project update B4.6
B3.1
10
The deadwood stage
Woodland birds on Exmoor
B1.3; B1.4
B2.1
11
Vascular plants survey Thatch moss survey
Waxcap survey
B4.9
B2.9
B2.6
12
Volunteering for wildlife on Exmoor News update: Phytophthora on Exmoor -
B2.10
B1.9
2010 has been declared the International
Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations.
The intention is that the year will help us all
to celebrate life on earth and to recognise
the value biodiversity has on our lives.
So what is biodiversity? Put simply, biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. The term, which is
an abbreviation for biological diversity, first came into popular use in 1992 when 150 government
leaders signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro.
The aims of the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 are to increase
awareness of the importance of biodiversity for our wellbeing, to slow the
rate of extinctions and to celebrate some of the success stories from the
excellent work happening all around the globe. During 2010 Exmoor National
Park Authority and many of our partner organisations will be celebrating the
International Year of Biodiversity through a programme of events, exploring
the wildlife of Exmoor and the work we do to conserve and enhance wildlife
within the National Park. The events are featured in the Exmoor Visitor and
on the Exmoor National Park Authority and International Year of Biodiversity
websites. We hope you will be able to join us at some of our events and we
hope you enjoy celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity with us!
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Two Moors Threatened
Butterfly Project
Jenny Plackett,
Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project Officer
High brown fritillary
(Photo: Neil Hulme)
The Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project aims
to save some of our rare butterflies on Exmoor and
Dartmoor, and is now in its fifth year.
The project works closely with farmers and
landowners to restore areas of suitable habitat
for the marsh fritillary, high brown fritillary and
heath fritillary – all rapidly declining species
which can still be found on Exmoor’s valley
mires, bracken slopes and heathland.
Advice on habitat management is offered to
farmers and land managers, and assistance
provided in organising practical work - which has
resulted in over 900ha of habitat being managed
for these butterflies and other wildlife. Support
and advice is also available to access funding to
pay for practical management.
Management for the high brown fritillary in
the Heddon Valley is continuing, with ongoing scrub clearance and bracken control.
Efforts are underway to increase the area
of suitably managed habitat, with additional
areas now being restored for the butterfly. In
the Exe Valley, new funding is available for
positive management works, including scrub
management and bracken control trials. At
Codsend Moor,
appropriate grazing,
bracken bruising
Marsh fritillary ID training
(to control bracken
(Photo: Jenny Plackett)
levels) and grass
management through swaling have improved the
habitat for the marsh fritillary.
Results from butterfly monitoring carried out last
summer are really encouraging, with surveys
showing a significant rise in numbers of marsh
fritillary and an increase in the number of sites
across Exmoor occupied by the heath fritillary.
Even the high brown fritillary has remained
stable, despite the wet weather during the
butterfly’s flight period over the last three years.
Several events are planned on Exmoor this year,
including a butterfly walk, where we hope to
get good views of the high brown fritillary in the
Heddon Valley, and a marsh fritillary identification
workshop. For more information, please contact
Jenny Plackett on 0791 807 3654, jplackett@
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butterfly-conservation.org
All change for
the Mire Project
The Exmoor Mire Restoration Project has
been working to re-wet dry and damaged
peatlands in the uplands of Exmoor.
Environment Agency corporate volunteer event at North Twitchen (Photo: Environment Agency)
David Smith,
Mire Restoration Project Officer
For the last 4 years the Exmoor
Mire Restoration Project has
been blocking up moorland
ditches with the aim of making
the moorland bogs wet and
active wildlife havens once
again. Ditch blocking keeps
rainwater on the moors for
longer, helping to keep them
and the rivers in better health.
The ditches are blocked with
low bunds at regular intervals
made up of peat, turf, wood and
grass bales. The work is carried
out high up on the moors by
local contractors.
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Peatland damaged by drainage
and peat-cutting has been
re-wetted at 17 locations on
Exmoor National Park Authority
and privately owned moorlands.
Nearly 50 km of ditches have
been blocked with 12,000
bales and 4,300 dams. As a
result over 300 hectares of
damaged mire has been rewetted. The restoration costs
of £164,000 so far have been
(Photo: David Smith)
met from the project budget
and agri-environment schemes
administered by Natural
England.
The current project funding
ends in June 2010. The Mire
Restoration Partnership will
continue its good work with
funding from South West Water
and partners. Dartmoor and
Exmoor National Parks will now
share £3.8m of mire restoration
funding over the next 5 years
starting in 2010. Consultants
have been engaged to carry
out a thorough review of mire
restoration on Exmoor and their
report will guide any future work
that takes place here.
This new “Mires-on-the-Moors”
project partnership will be led
by South West Water, with
contributions in staff, time
and resources from the other
partners. The project will be
run by dedicated staff based on
Exmoor and Dartmoor.
On Exmoor mapping of ditches
and cuttings from old airphotographs has identified a
possible 150 further damaged
peatland sites, covering over
2,000ha. The first task for the
new project is to contact the
land-owners concerned and
visit these sites on the ground
to assess their restoration
potential. If they are found to
be suitable this is the first stage
in negotiating a restoration
plan with the land-owner and
Natural England. The aim is
to work together to manage
the moorland in a sustainable
way which rewards the land
manager for looking after
carbon and water resources,
whilst continuing to support
farming on the moorlands. In
this way moorland restoration
will result in real benefits for
people and wildlife.
(Photo:Tim Parish)
Ali Hawkins, Wildlife Conservation Officer
Every year parts of Exmoor are
deliberately set on fire to manage the
moorland vegetation and encourage
the moor’s wildlife.
The controlled burning of the moor, or swaling as it is termed,
is a traditional technique which has been used to manage
moorland vegetation for hundreds of years and which results
in the beautiful swathes of heather associated with our upland
landscapes.
Careful burning of heather is an
effective way of encouraging
regeneration of the moorland.
Heather seed lies dormant in
the soil but during burning the
heat and smoke crack the seed
and promote germination. Areas
of mature heather which are
(Photo: Jim Webber)
burnt will regenerate in the first
year with bilberry, quickly followed by heather which will grow
vigorously into a carpet. These young shoots provide food for
livestock, as well as for a variety of birds and insects.
Swaling plays an important part in moorland management as
it provides a variety of structure in the habitat. Some ground
nesting birds and moorland invertebrates prefer the shorter,
fresher vegetation that grows back after the burn, while areas
that have not been recently burned will have taller, older areas
of heather and gorse providing shelter and nest sites for other
species.
Key facts:
• When burning, the Heather and Grass
Burning Code must be followed (copies
available from Defra Publications on
08459 556000).
• The National Park Authority helps and
supports the planned burning carried
out by farmers and landowners in
accordance with the code through advice
and co-ordination and produces a helpful
annual swaling checklist. • Burning can legally take place between
October 1st and April 15th but to avoid
disturbance to ground nesting birds a
deadline of March 31st is recommended
on Exmoor.
• The mosaic of habitat created by
carrying out small controlled burns also
helps prevent large, and potentially
damaging, accidental wildfires. • The burning of purple moor-grass is
not to be encouraged as this leads to a
loss of species diversity; blanket bog and
other wet areas should never be burnt.
• Most of Exmoor’s moorland is now
under a management agreement with
Natural England under which farmers
receive a payment for managing it in
accordance with an agreed plan
• For further help and advice please
contact ENPA on 01398 323665.
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Otters on Exmoor
Michelle Werrett, Somerset Otter Group
Exmoor’s wild otters are secretive creatures, slipping quietly
down a river at night, no more than a swirl amongst the eddies,
a ripple along the dark stream.
(Photos: Peter Stronach)
Otters are seldom seen, even by those who study them and take a keen interest in their
affairs. It is therefore a very dedicated team of naturalists indeed who set out to survey an
animal most of them will not see throughout the exercise.
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(Main Photo: Bea Davis)
Otters are normally solitary animals, except
for breeding. Constantly travelling along the
rivers, they employ a system of scent marking
to leave messages for each other. Spraints,
the technical term for otter droppings, are
deposited in prominent positions that would be
difficult for another otter to miss: a large rock
in the middle of the river or on the inside of a
bend, or a ledge under a bridge. When fresh,
spraints are dark and oily with the crunchy
texture of fish bones and scales. Older spraints
tend to dry out and fade, but the speed with
which they do so changes with the weather so
it can be difficult to estimate the age.
The Somerset Otter Group annually conducts
a co-ordinated two-day event where all the
county’s rivers are checked simultaneously
over a weekend. Any sign of an
otter found on day two and known
not to have been there on day one
definitely confirms the presence
of an otter on that stretch of river
overnight. In 2009, for the first
time, the survey was extended
to cover the whole of Exmoor
National Park and, where river
catchments cross the boundary,
just beyond.
All the major rivers and many of
the smaller streams on Exmoor
were covered and the survey was
sufficiently thorough for it to be
unlikely that any otter could have
been missed. Indeed, there would not have
been space for many more otter territories
on the moor. In total 189 sites were checked
on Exmoor, of which 151 or 81% had some
evidence of an otter. 44, or 23%, produced a
positive result on day two and a further 10 had
fresh evidence on day one but did not make
the day two ‘hit’.
There were just seven totally blank stretches
of river. Some of these were minor, shallow
streams on the high moorland, and others
small, short streams running into the sea on
the North coast which may be just too small
to provide sufficient territory for an otter. Other
blank patches are known to be due to bitches
with young cubs restricting their travels to a
small part of their usual range. However, the
really exciting discovery was to find that otters
are using territories high up on the moor
near the headwaters of the main rivers
where it might be expected that the
supply of fish would be poor. They must be
Exmoor residents since it is known that there
are other otters with territories below them
which would prevent them going downstream.
This is the case on the Bray, the Mole, the Barle
and the Exe.
When the survey results are mapped a
little knowledge and judgement is applied
to estimate the number of ranges, and
therefore the minimum number of adult
otters represented. This was adjudicated to a
maximum of 26 and a minimum of 23. In other
words, there are at the very least 23 otters
living on Exmoor!
It is encouraging to find such a plentiful number
of otters on Exmoor and in the surrounding
countryside and that is testimony to the
quality and condition of the rivers. However,
it was not always so. Back in the 1960’s and
1970’s numbers plummeted alarmingly and
otters came perilously close to extinction. It is
fantastic to think that otter numbers are now
back to full capacity. Yet complacency must
never allow another population crash from
which, next time, they may not recover and it
is vital that the surveys continue so that any
such disaster can be noticed and acted upon
promptly.
Taken from an article which first appeared in
issue 49 (Winter 2009) of Exmoor The Country
Magazine
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(Photo: Vince Giavarini)
River Exe Project
helping to boost
the Little Exe salmon
population
John Hickey, River Exe Project Officer
River jelly lichen – a
tale of boom and bust
Vince Giavarini, Lichen Expert
Now ten years on from initial attempts to
map its distribution Collema dichotomum
(river jelly lichen) has begun to reveal its
secrets.
Standing high above the River Barle opposite
Sherdon Hutch my eyes take a ravishing swipe
at the river as it runs wild and white towards
Landacre Bridge. Yet below the waterline,
clinging fast to the rock that forms its stable,
shelving bed, a rare species of aquatic lichen
with green-black lobes, helmet-shaped at the
ends, is being torn to shreds by the torrent.
Studies have found that a consecutive run of
‘drought years’ with low water levels stimulates
the growth vital to the survival of river jelly
lichen. During ‘spate years’ the reverse is true:
it crashes. This year, a chance breakthrough:
its nursery grounds were located up in the
headwaters from where it can re-populate the
lower reaches, but only when the cycle of events
turns, once again, in its favour. 8
The health of the River
Exe salmonid (i.e. salmon
and trout) populations
can be assessed using
the historical data set
and current electrofishing monitoring by the
Salmon parr
(Photo: John Hickey)
Environment Agency. This
combined with the River
Exe Project electro-fishing monitoring allows a
good assessment of the distribution and relative
spawning success across the catchment, by
measuring the abundance of fry and parr. The
2009 results showed good abundance of salmon
fry particularly in the Exford to Winsford section
of the Little Exe.
However, there is still long way to go, so
continued vigilance to protect water quality
and habitat will be required to reach the River
Exe Project target by 2018, of increasing the
salmon population from its current grade C
classification up to a grade B classification. To
aid its work the River Exe Project is being greatly
helped by local schools with Exford, Dulverton
Middle, Uplowman and Blundells Prep School
all monitoring the river invertebrates to ensure
streams are clean and healthy for a wide range
of wildlife. The schools have also all successfully
hatched salmon eggs in their own classroom
tanks. They are now looking forward to releasing
their fry into the Haddeo and Lowman in the
early summer to continue boosting the health of
the salmon populations of the Exe catchment.
(Photo: Heather Lowther)
Electro-fishing on the River Exe (Photo: John Hickey)
Non-native signal crayfish (Photo: Bea Davis)
Signal crayfish
- why trapping is not a
good way to control them
Mary-Rose Lane, Environment Agency
Exmoor’s rivers and streams have populations
of the invasive non-native signal crayfish but
only one of the very scarce native white-clawed
crayfish. You might think
that trapping signal
crayfish is ‘good’ for
conservation. Surely it
helps reduce the impact
they have on our rivers
and streams? Well, no!
Native white-clawed crayfish
Why? Read on...
(Photo: Gordon Howes)
We don’t want the plague! There is a plague
strain specific to crayfish that is found right on
our borders but Exmoor is crayfish plague free.
Signals carry plague and in Somerset and Avon it
is killing whole populations of native white-clawed
crayfish within weeks. Spores are transmitted
on wet angling kit, wellies and on fish mucus. By
moving traps around watercourses it is easy to
inadvertently introduce the plague here.
Before and after photos of the Heddon Valley
(Photo: Steve Mulberry)
Knotweed project update
Julian Gurney, National Trust
Over the years the Exmoor Knotweed Control
Project has proved a huge success. When I
first started working for the National Trust as
a Warden 15 years ago the East Lyn River
had large clumps of Japanese knotweed
throughout its length, it was particularly prevalent
Survival of the smallest! Trapping can cause
a population explosion. Big signals eat huge
numbers of little signals and so help control
numbers. By removing these top predators
more young survive every year and then spread
downstream to find new habitat. We have
recorded population expansions of more than half
a kilometre a year in Devon. They eat significant
numbers of invertebrates and young fish. Let’s
keep them where they are!
below Black Pool Bridge, Lynmouth.
The Heddon valley was in a worse
predicament with most of the wonderful
little riverside fields completely covered
with shoulder-height Himalayan
knotweed. I have little doubt that without the
joint efforts of all involved we would now be
overwhelmed by this extremely tenacious and
incredibly invasive weed.
In some ways the success of the project can be
measured by the reports we receive from our
visitors. Over the last 10 years these valuable
ad hoc sightings have decreased exponentially
with the reduction in knotweed. From almost
daily reports and complaints 10 years ago to the
occasional ‘for information’ comments now, it is a
remarkable success story.
Please help us to completely eradicate this
threat to our native flora by reporting any
sighting, however small, to Exmoor National
Park Authority on 01398 323665.
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Woodland birds
on Exmoor
Helen Booker, RSPB
Exmoor is one of the most
important places in SW England
for woodland birds and over the
last two years, the RSPB, Exmoor
National Park Authority, local volunteers
and woodland owners have worked
together to begin further monitoring of the
local bird populations. Woodland birds are experiencing mixed fortunes,
with many generalist species, such as great tit,
wren and great spotted woodpecker, doing well
across the country. However, other bird species,
especially those with specific habitat requirements,
are suffering serious declines. For example
species such as wood warbler, lesser redpoll and
willow warbler have each declined by over 50%
across the UK, a decline that appears to have been
mirrored on Exmoor.
Willow warbler
(Photo: © northeastwildlife.co.uk)
Great spotted woodpecker
(Photo: Tom Marshall, rspb-images.com)
The deadwood stage
Robin Offer, Conservation Advisor
(Trees & Woodlands)
Blushing bracket (Photo: Robin Offer)
Scarlet elf’s cap (Photo: Robin Offer)
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National research into woodland bird declines
has shown that in general, declines are caused
by a simplified woodland structure, usually where
management has ceased over recent decades.
The challenge now is to restore management to
our native woodlands to provide the conditions
needed for a range of bird species and other
woodland wildlife.
Dead and dying trees play an
important role in woodland
ecosystems as they provide
an important habitat for many
species including bats, woodpeckers,
insects and even fungi.
This year, Exmoor National Park Authority’s
Forestry Team has been working in Hawkcombe
Wood National Nature Reserve near Porlock,
to improve the condition of this internationally
important woodland habitat to restore a more
natural balance of species. This includes reducing
the proportion of beech present in the woodlands
whilst at the same time improving this important
habitat by creating deadwood. Put simply, these
are dead trees or branches that are allowed to
remain in situ and allowed to decline and collapse
naturally. It is considered that there is a lack of
deadwood in British woodlands.
When it is safe to do so, standing dead trees are
allowed to remain as this provides different habitats
to the deadwood found on the woodland floor.
Vascular plants survey
Waxcap survey
Caroline Giddens,
Exmoor Natural
History Society
Bea Davis, Conservation Advisor
(Wildlife)
Exmoor
NaturalHistorySociety
membershavebeeninto
thelanesandby-waysand
amassedover45,000
recordstodate.
Waxcap fungi (Photo: Bea Davis)
Marsh orchid (Photo: Keith Hann)
ExmoorNaturalHistorySociety’sproject
torecordthevascularplantsofExmoorby
1kmsquaresisnearingtwo-thirdsoftheway
through.Therearehowever,atleastanother
2001kmsquarestobevisited,mostofthem
inveryremoteareasofthemoor,soprogress
islikelytoslowdownunlesssomemoreablebodiedbotanistsarefound!Anyoffersgratefully
accepted!
DuringtheautumnExmoorNationalPark
Authoritywillbeinvitingmembersofthepublic
tohelpwithasurveyforwaxcapfungi.More
than25specieshavebeenrecordedwithin
theNationalParksowearenotaskingpeople
toidentifythemtospecieslevel.Insteadwe
areaskingpeopletoletusknowsomesimple
informationsuchaswhichcolourwaxcapthey
haveseenandwheretheysawit.
Weendeavourtovisiteachsquaretwice,at
differenttimesoftheyearandwhencomplete,
weshouldhaveaverygoodideaofthe
distributionofrareandnotsorareplantson
Exmoor.Althoughtheareahasbeenwell
coveredinthepast,notablyfortheSomerset
AtlasFloraprojectin1980’sand90’s,thiswas
ona2kmsquarebasisandtheDevonsectionof
Exmoorwasnotincluded.
Waxcap fungi (Photo: Bea Davis)
Thatch moss survey
A free colour identification guide and survey
postcard is available from the National Park
Authority on 01398 323665.
Waxcap postcard
Nigel Hester, National Trust
Arecentsurveyoftherarethatchmoss(Leptodontium
gemmascens),apriorityUKBiodiversityActionPlanspecies,has
shownthatitisthrivingontheNationalTrust’sHolnicoteEstate.
Thatchmossisveryunusualinthatitproducesnosporesbutreliesontiny
reproductivestructures(gemmae)whichbreakawayfromtheleaftipsand
allowtheplanttopropagate.Itisthoughtthatnewcoloniescanonlybecome
New ridge over old thatch
establishedonnewsitesifthegemmaearecarriedbybirds,smallmammals
allowing recolonisation
orevenonthethatcher’sclothing.
(Photo: Nigel Hester)
Initialsurveysfoundthatthismosspopulatedatleast13ofthetotal67thatchedroofs.Toensure
thesurvivalofthemoss,theNationalTrusthasadoptedathatchingpolicythatdoesnotinvolve
thecompleterenovationofthewholeroofatanyonetimebutspreadstherepairsoveranumberof
years.Thecurrentsurveyhasshownthatthiscarefulmanagementhasallowedthemosspopulation
tosignificantlyincreaseonnumerousroofs.OneroofatSelworthywasfoundtosupportaround
3000individualthatchmossplants.ThesefindingsconfirmthatthisExmoorsiteisthenational
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strongholdforthisfascinatingmoss.
(Photo: Pat Watts-Mabbott)
Volunteering for wildlife on Exmoor
Pat Watts-Mabbott, Education Officer (Volunteers & Outreach)
Whetheryourpassionisdormice,birds,fungi,otters,
deerorplants,wecanoffersomethingforyou!
(Photo: Bea Davis)
Inthelastyearmorethan20volunteershavecarriedoutover576hours
ofwildlifesurveyingforthenationalparkonExmoor.Mostofthese
projectsrequiresomespecialistknowledge,butoftenmuchlessthan
youmightthink.Ifyouhaveabitofknowledgewecanoftenmatchyou
upwithpeopletoteachyoumore.Itisagreatwaytolearnmoreand
helpatthesametime.
Aslongasyouhaveakeeninterest,theabilitytolearn,sometimetogiveupandareabletoget
aroundExmoortherewillbearoleforyouoverthenextyear.
Soifyou’reinterestedinwildlifesurveyingonExmooryoushouldcontactExmoorNationalPark
Authority’sEducationSupportOfficer,PatrickWatts-Mabbotton07973727469oremail
pwatts-mabbott@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.ukforanup-to-datelistofopportunities.
News update: Phytophthora on Exmoor
AnumberofsitesintheSouthWestof
Englandhavebeenidentifiedasbeinginfected
withthefungal-likediseasePhytophthora
ramorum,severalofwhicharewithinExmoor
NationalPark.Thisdiseaseaffectsanumberof
treespeciesincludingJapaneselarch,Douglas
fir,beechandoak.Alltreesthatarefoundto
beinfectedmustbefelledunderplanthealth
legislation.
Formoreinformation,visittheForestry
Commissionwebsite,orcontactExmoor
NationalParkAuthorityon01398323665.
Printed using 100% recycled paper stock and vegetable inks
design by
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05602 528523 www.spicegraphics.co.uk
Contacts:
TheNaturalEnvironmentstaffattheNationalPark
AuthorityarepartoftheConservationandLand
ManagementSection,basedat:
ExmoorNationalParkAuthority
ExmoorHouse
DulvertonTA229HL
Tel.01398323665
AliHawkins,WildlifeConservationOfficer.
01398322282
ahawkins@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
BeaDavis,ConservationAdvisor(Wildlife).
01398322288
bdavis@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk