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Thursday 9^th July: Childwall Fields Leaders – Julia Simons & Ami Weir. The Biodiverse Society Team including members of the Liverpool Botanical Society met at the southern entrance (Woolton Road) to Childwall Woods and Fields on a fine summer’s morning. Julia and Ami led us onto Childwall Fields which consist of unimproved neutral grassland on a capped landfill site surrounded by scrub, recent plantation woodland and patches of ruderal vegetation. There are two distinct sward types: the western half is short, dominated by Red Fescue Festuca rubra and Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus with areas of taller herbs and localised Common Spotted Dactylorhiza fuchsii and Southern Marsh-orchids D. praetissima. The eastern half is taller with a greater proportion of taller herbs amongst the dominant False Oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatiusand Red Fescue. These grasslands support several interesting species , including Pignut, Oval and Common Sedge, Compact Rush, Crested Dog’s-tail and Common Vetch.

After a briefing from the leaders we organised into two groups and practiced transect and quadrat surveys: the former for butterflies and bumblebees and the latter for plants and grasses.

RESULTS OF TRANSECT AND QUADRAT SURVEYS  OF BUTTERFLIES, BUMBLEBEES, PLANTS & GRASSES

Butterflies (all transects)

Species: Meadow Brown     Tally: 32

Species: Speckle Wood        Tally: 07

Species: Small Skipper         Tally: 17

 Bumblebees (all transects)

Species: Buff-tailed Bee       Tally: 01

Species: Honey Bee               Tally: 01 

Comments:

Also, small moths and Emperor Hawker dragonfly

 Plants and Grasses (4 quadrats)

Quadrat 01: Crested Dog’s Tail               Cynosurus cristatus         02%

                            Yorkshire-fog                      Holcus lanatus                 70%

                            Ribwort plantain                  Plantago lanceolata        02%

                             White Clover                       Trifolium repens               05%

                     Rough Meadow-grass          Poa trivialis               05%

                     Smooth Meadow-grass        Poa pratensis            15%

                     Willowherb                         Epilobium sp.             01%                              

Sward height: 60cm – 04cm

Quadrat 02: Meadow Buttercup                       Ranunculus repens                     25%

                       Compact Rush                                    Juncus conglomeratus          20%

                       Yorkshire-fog                            Holcus lanatus                  48%

                        White Clover                            Trifolium repens                 03%

                         Rye Grass                               Lolium perenne                  02%

                         Crested Dog’s-tail                   Cynosurus cristatus            02%

Sward height: 30cm – 07cm

Quadrat 03: Creeping Buttercup                   Ranunculus repens               16%

                       Common Sorrel                       Rumex acetosa                     02%

                       Yorkshire-fog                        Holcus lanata                         80%

                       Southern Marsh-orchid           Dactylorhiza praetermissa      01%

                       Rough Meadow-grass             Poa trivialis                           01%      

Sward height: 20cm – 06cm

Quadrat 04: Meadow Cranesbill                Geranium pratense              40%

                       Meadow Foxtail                    Alopecurus pratensis           02%

                       Rough Meadow-grass           Poa trivialis                         05%

                       White Clover                         Trifolium repens                  05%

                       Common Sorrel                     Rumex acetosa                   02%

                       Smooth Meadow-grass          Poa pratensis                     10%

                         Yorkshire-fog                     Holcus lanatus                     36%

Sward height: 22cm – 08cm

HH@UGP