Guidelines for the Selection of Biological Heritage Sites
6. Section 1: Habitat Guidelines
6.3 GRASSLAND(1)
Gr1 Areas of ancient semi-natural limestone and neutral grasslands over 0.5 hectare identified as one or more of the following NVC(2) types:
MG3 Anthoxanthum odoratum - Geranium sylvaticum
MG4 Alopecurus pratensis - Sanguisorba officinalis
MG8 Cynosurus cristatus - Caltha palustris
CG2 Festuca ovina - Avenula pratensis
CG6 Avenula pubescens
CG9 Sesleria albicans - Galium sterneri
CG10 Festuca ovina - Agrostis capillaris - Thymus praecox
This guideline is to be applied only to sites which have been identified as referable to one or more of the NVC types shown above by a competent field surveyor with adequate training and experience in the National Vegetation Classification. Sown wildflower meadows and semi-natural grasslands of known recent origin are not eligible for inclusion.
Justification
The presence of these NVC types indicates grassland which, although often of agricultural origin, has not been subject to intensive production involving use of inorganic nitrogen or post-war ploughing and reseeding. Although MG8, for example, was probably widespread in former times, most of these grasslands will always have been of localised occurrence. All are now rare as a result of agricultural improvement over many years. They are rich in native plant species including many which are mainly restricted to them, and are irreplaceable in practice.
Those non-agricultural grasslands which are eligible for inclusion here are likely to be those which originated before the widespread loss of species-rich agricultural grasslands, and would have been colonised from such grasslands which formerly existed in the same locality.
Gr2 (a) Areas of semi-natural acid grassland (as defined by NVC(2)) over 0.5 hectare in Landscape Character Tracts A, B and C.
Application
This guideline may be applied to any area of established acidic grassland, irrespective of origin, provided it fulfils the criteria set down in the guideline.
Justification
Acidic grassland of any kind is a rare habitat in the coastal zone.
Gr2 (b) Representative examples of acid grassland (as defined by NVC(2)) over 0.5 hectare may be included outside Landscape Character Tracts A, B and C where they contribute to the habitat and species diversity of sites selected on the basis of other guidelines.
Application
This may be applied to areas of acidic grassland which form part of an upland vegetation mosaic but is usually restricted to those which are relatively species-rich, including such characteristic species as Polygala serpyllifolia, and Carex species such as C. pilulifera, C. nigra or C. binervis.
Justification
Upland acidic grassland in Lancashire is generally of rather low diversity in terms of flowering plants at least. Its conservation value is generally assumed to be relatively low but is not well-studied.
Some areas have been identified as Biological Heritage Sites on the basis of their breeding birds (see species guidelines). Otherwise existing information on this habitat is inadequate for the formulation of more definite selection guidelines of the kind which appear for limestone or neutral grasslands.
Gr3 Areas of old established semi-natural grassland over 0.5 hectare, including sites referable to the following NVC,(2) types, with 10 or more species in Table 1:
MG1 Arrhenatherum elatius
MG5 Cynosurus cristatus - Centaurea nigra
MG6 Lolium perenne - Cynosurus cristatus
MG9 Holcus lanatus - Deschampsia cespitosa
MG10 Holcus lanatus - Juncus effusus
Application
Whilst appropriate sites will, in the main, be referable to one or more of the NVC types listed above, this guideline may be applied to grassland of any NVC type, or where NVC type has not been determined, provided that the conditions in this and the next paragraph are fulfilled. Sites should meet one or both of the following criteria. Either they are ancient grasslands (estimated to be at least 100 years old), or are other old-established grasslands which are indistinguishable in practice from ancient grasslands both in terms of their species composition and structure. Sown wildflower meadows, developing semi-natural grasslands of known recent origin, and other grasslands which do not meet either of these criteria are not eligible for inclusion here.
Table 1 includes a representative selection of species which are characteristic of species-rich (low-fertility) grasslands. It includes species of neutral, limestone and flushed grasslands; experience in Lancashire has shown that good examples of these major semi-natural grassland types, either singly or in combination (as is frequently the case on the ground), can be identified using this table. The species concerned should be reasonably well-distributed over the whole or a significant part of the site. Sites which support 10 or more species in Table 1 but where a high proportion of those species are very rare or restricted to non-typical patches or the edges of the site would not normally be included.
Justification
Ancient species-rich semi-natural grasslands are an important part of Lancashires critical environmental capital which is difficult or impossible to replace once destroyed. Now uncommon, they are being lost faster than any other type of wildlife habitat. They are extremely vulnerable to agricultural improvement, since many species are lost when soil fertility is increased, and also to neglect. It is therefore important to identify those that remain and to encourage their conservation by means of schemes such as Countryside Stewardship as a matter of urgency.
Each of the NVC types listed under this guideline can vary widely in its conservation value from one site to another. Even MG5 grassland, which is usually unimproved species-rich agricultural grassland, can occasionally include sites which are not species-rich and of doubtful conservation value. This guideline provides a means of determining which of the sites referable to these NVC types are of high conservation value. The guideline also takes account of the facts that firstly, some sites of nature conservation importance are mixtures of different NVC types, and secondly that many sites have not yet been surveyed using NVC.
Those non-agricultural grasslands which are eligible for inclusion here are likely to be those which originated before the widespread loss of species-rich agricultural grasslands, and would have been colonised from such grasslands which formerly existed in the same locality.
| Scientific Name | Common Name |
| Achillea ptarmica | Sneezewort |
| Ajuga reptans | Bugle |
| Alchemilla spp | Ladys-mantle |
| Anemone nemorosa | Wood Anemone |
| Anthyllis vulneraria | Kidney vetch |
| Botrychium lunaria | Moonwort |
| Briza media | Quaking-grass |
| Caltha palustris | Marsh-marigold |
| Campanula rotundifolia | Harebell |
| Carex caryophyllea | Spring Sedge |
| Carex disticha | Brown Sedge |
| Carex flacca | Glaucous Sedge |
| Carex hostiana | Tawny Sedge |
| Carex pallescens | Pale Sedge |
| Carex panicea | Carnation Sedge |
| Carex pulicaris | Flea Sedge |
| Carex spicata | Spiked Sedge |
| Centaurea nigra | Common Knapweed |
| Cirsium heterophyllum | Melancholy Thistle |
| Conopodium majus | Pignut |
| Crepis paludosa | Marsh Hawks-beard |
| Dactylorhiza spp. | Marsh and Spotted-orchids |
| Danthonia decumbens | Heath-grass |
| Equisetum sylvaticum | Wood Horsetail |
| Euphrasia spp | Eyebright |
| Filipendula ulmaria | Meadowsweet |
| Galium sterneri | Limestone Bedstraw |
| Galium verum | Ladys Bedstraw |
| Genista tinctoria | Dyers Greenweed |
| Geranium columbinum | Long-stalked Cranes-bill |
| Geranium pratense | Meadow Cranes-bill |
| Geranium sylvaticum | Wood Cranes-bill |
| Geum rivale | Water Avens |
| Gymnadenia conopsea | Fragrant Orchid |
| Helianthemum nummularium | Common Rock-rose |
| Helictotrichon pubescens | Downy Oat-grass |
| Helictotrichon pratense | Meadow Oat-grass |
| Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Bluebell |
| Hypericum pulchrum | Slender St. Johns-wort |
| Hypochoeris radicata | Cats-ear |
| Knautia arvensis | Field Scabious |
| Lathyrus linifolius | Bitter-vetch |
| Lathyrus pratensis | Meadow Vetchling |
| Leontodon autumnalis | Autumn Hawkbit |
| Leontodon hispidus | Rough Hawkbit |
| Leucanthemum vulgare | Oxeye Daisy |
| Linum cartharticum | Fairy Flax |
| Listera ovata | Common Twayblade |
| Lotus corniculatus | Common Birds-foot-trefoil |
| Lotus pedunculatus | Greater Birds-foot-trefoil |
| Luzula campestris/multiflora | Field/Heath Wood-rush |
| Lychnis flos-cuculi | Ragged-Robin |
| Ophioglossum vulgatum | Adders-tongue |
| Orchis mascula | Early-purple Orchid |
| Parnassia palustris | Grass-of-Parnassus |
| Pedicularis sylvatica | Lousewort |
| Pilosella officinarum | Mouse-ear Hawkweed |
| Pimpinella major | Greater Burnet-saxifrage |
| Pimpinella saxifraga | Burnet-saxifrage |
| Polygala spp. | Milkwort |
| Polygonum bistorta | Common Bistort |
| Primula farinose | Birds-eye Primrose |
| Primula veris | Cowslip |
| Prunella vulgaris | Selfheal |
| Ranunculus bulbosus | Bulbous Buttercup |
| Rhinanthus minor | Yellow-rattle |
| Sanguisorba officinalis | Great Burnet |
| Sanguisorba minor | Salad Burnet |
| Saxifraga granulata | Meadow Saxifrage |
| Saxifraga tridactylites | Rue-leaved Saxifrage |
| Scabiosa columbaria | Small Scabious |
| Serratula tinctoria | Saw-wort |
| Sesleria caerulea | Blue Moor-grass |
| Stachys officinalis | Betony |
| Stellaria graminea | Lesser Stitchwort |
| Succisa pratensis | Devils-bit Scabious |
| Taraxacum sect. Erythrosperma | Dandelion |
| Taraxacum sect. Spectabilia or Naevosa | Dandelion |
| Thalictrum flavum | Common Meadow-rue |
| Thymus polytrichus | Wild Thyme |
| Trifolium medium | Zigzag Clover |
| Trisetum flavescens | Yellow Oat-grass |
| Trollius europaeus | Globeflower |
| Valeriana dioica | Marsh Valerian |
| Veronica officinalis | Heath Speedwell |
(1) Note that "marshy grasslands" identified on the
Phase 1 Habitat Survey are not distinguished as such by the NVC, but classified
under either neutral grassland or swamp/fen or mire.
(2) National Vegetation Classification, published as Rodwell,
(1992).
(3) Scientific and common names are taken from Stace
2nd Ed (1997)