Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The natural vegetation of the Gower plateau is stunted oak-ash forest and scrub. Where exposed to
the westerly winds, heathland develops, but in the deep combes and along the old cliffs a thicker
forest is to be expected.
J. G. Rutter,
Prehistoric Gower
O
NLY A SMALL AREA
of the peninsula, some 7 per cent, is woodland. As always in Gower, however,
there is a great variety of habitats and they range from ancient woodlands through secondary woodlands to
modern conifer plantations. In particular Gower contains one of the most extensive areas of ash woodland
in Wales and is near the western extreme of the habitat's range in Britain. These woodlands, which are of
European importance, have developed along the series of largely interlinked valleys and ravines cut into
thelimestone andalso oncoastal slopes andcliffs,where there areuniquetransitions throughscrubtosand
dunes,freshwatermarshandsaltmarsh.Elsewheretheygivewaytofieldsand,particularlyinthenortheast
ofthepeninsula,theintermixedfieldsandwoodlandsareacharacteristicfeatureofthearea,the
subboscus
,
the lower part of the Welshry wood. The hedges that define the fields are themselves a significant wildlife
habitatandarealsoimportantforhistoricalandculturalreasons.Theyprovideanessentialrefugeformany
woodland and farmland plants and animals and are thought to act as wildlife corridors allowing movement
and dispersal between other habitats. Gower is also an area of drystone walls and stonefaced banks and in
some areas of the peninsula these are an important component of the landscape, with their own character-
istic flora and fauna.
Thehedgesandwallsencloseaconsiderablenumberofarablefieldsthathaveimportantpopulationsof
rare plants, dating back to the Neolithic period, growing alongside the crop. These plants, once denigrated
as agricultural weeds, are now known as archaeophytes and have an immense cultural significance. It is
becoming increasingly clear that Gower is one of the British strongholds of this ancient flora, but until re-
centlylittle efforthasbeenmadetoconservetheserareandinteresting species.Otherfieldsarepastureand
some contain the remains of traditional orchards, once a characteristic feature of the area and now more or
less ignored.
WOODS
The woods, such as Ilston Cwm, Cwm Ivy and Kilvrough Manor Woods, contain a great diversity of trees
and shrubs and a variety of vegetation communities and sub-communities are recognised, but generally
they are dominated by ash and pedunculate oak in varying proportions. In some, such as Kilvrough Wood,
hybridsbetweenthepedunculateandsessileoakarecommon.Atthetopofthewoodlandsandonthesteep
slopes, where the soils are often thin, dry and calcareous, ash dominates (Fig. 143). Where the soils are
moderateordeep,heavierandmoreacidicthanthosehigherup,theoaktendstodominatetheash.Untilre-
