A Common Resource - Gower - page 213

Many naturalists consider that bracken is an integral part of the vegetation of common land. It supports a
characteristic insect fauna and provides breeding sites for birds such as whinchat Saxicola rubetra (par-
ticularly where there is gorse - 'whin' is another name for gorse) and formerly nightjar Caprimulgus
europaeus . Indeed the nightjar used to be known locally as the fernowl, as it emerges at dusk, after lying
motionless on the ground amongst the bracken during the day, to feed on flying insects. 'The burbling
churr of the fernowl in the July dusk' (Tucker, 1951) was a common sound at the beginning of the twen-
tieth century, but they seem to have disappeared from the peninsula. It is a summer migrant that has been
declining in numbers and range since the 1930s and the last Gower records date back to the late 1970s.
Many reasons have been put forward to account for this decline, including a decline in the numbers of
largeinsectscausedbychangesinagricultural practices andclimate change.Itisextremely likelythatthe
nightjar will return to Gower, as a 1992 survey estimated that the population in Wales had increased by
230 per cent since 1981. To date, however, its distinctive call has not been heard.
HEATHLAND
Due to a combination of location, topography, geology and soils the Gower heaths can be neatly divided
into two areas. To the west of Cefn Bryn dry lowland heath grades into humid heath with small pock-
ets of wet heath, while to the east there are much larger areas of wet heath. Cefn Bryn, located centrally,
provides a link between the two types and has features of both. Despite this clear division the dry heath
often occurs as a mosaic with wet heath, acidic mire, bracken, acid grassland and purple moor-grass pas-
ture.
The three large commons of Rhossili Down, Llanmadoc Hill and Cefn Bryn contain the majority of
the dry heathland and are notable for the presence of substantial areas of western gorse and bristle bent,
a plant community which here is at the northern limit of its range in Britain, being more usually charac-
teristic of lowland heaths in Devon and Cornwall (Fig. 117). In addition to these two indicator species
heather,bellheather,cross-leavedheath Erica tetralix andpurplemoor-grassalsooccur.Tormentiloccurs
as scattered individual plants amongst the other vegetation. The heathland supports a typical invertebrate
fauna including the heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis , various springtails and spiders. The gorse spider
mite Tetranychus lintearius can be found occasionally on the gorse. These tiny red mites live in large
colonies and spin webs which completely cover the gorse. They feed by sucking the sap and cells from
the foliage until it becomes a bleached yellowish-white colour, and growth is reduced.