Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Some of the long-established arable plants are distributed very locally in Gower, even though they
occur in some abundance, at least in some fields, in the areas where they occur. A notable example is an-
nual nettle Urtica urens , which is a locally abundant and problematic plant in many fields in the Rhossili
andPittonarea,buthasnotbeenseenelsewhere. Fieldpennycress Thlaspi arvense andhenbitdead-nettle
Lamium amplexicaule are also only noted from the Rhossili area.
Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) are a characteristic component of cultivated land in
Britain, but knowledge of their status, distribution and ecology lags well behind that of arable vascular
plants. A number of species are considered members of a typical arable bryophyte community, including
the liverworts Riccia glauca and R. sorocarpa , and around fifteen mosses. A fairly large proportion of
the known arable-land bryophyte flora occurs in Gower, but very little research on this subject has been
carried out. Survey work is needed to understand the distribution, status and occurrence of bryophytes
in different crop types and under various management regimes. The hornworts in particular appear to be
declining in arable fields. Not much is known about them and only two species have been recorded in
Gower to date, the very rare Anthoceros agrestis , found on a muddy track at Burry Pill in 1963, and the
uncommon Phaeoceros laevis. Once again more research is needed. In Britain hornworts generally be-
have as annuals, germinating in early summer and producing spores in early winter.
PASTURE LAND
A large proportion of Gower fields are improved grassland, but a significant number, especially in the
northeast of the peninsula, are examples of rhos pasture. Rhos pasture (from the Welsh rhos , moor) has
been a feature of the South Wales landscape for centuries. It is the species-rich marshy grassland of west-
ern Britain and is a habitat that only occurs on the Atlantic seaboard of Europe. The pasture is found on
unproductive,dampsoilsalongvalleybottomsandstreamsides,oncommonlandandwethillsides,where
traditionallow-intensitycattlegrazingoroccasionalsummerhaycutsmaintaintheflower-richturf.Wales
contains half the rhos pasture in Britain, with Glamorgan accounting for around 10 per cent of the Welsh
resource. Although the habitat is recognised as being of international importance and a small number of
sites in Wales are specially protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, at the current rate of loss few
sites will remain.
The Gower pastures support a characteristic flora with purple moor-grass and rushes, heath spotted
orchid, tormentil, devil's-bit scabious, cross-leaved heath, whorled caraway, bog asphodel, carnation
sedge, marsh violet and meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum. Together with the Gower commons such pas-
tures are a stronghold for the marsh fritillary butterfly, whose food plant is devil's-bit scabious, and are
important for breeding birds such as skylark, meadow pipit and reed bunting. They also support a wide
diversity of invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians, which attract otters.
ORCHARDS
Althoughthefactisnotwellknowntoday,historicallyGowerwasalwaysassociatedwithfruitproduction
andtherewereoncealargenumberoforchards.Themajorityofthesewereintheareaaroundthevillages
of Llanrhidian and Llangennith, the remainder being spread evenly across the peninsula. Walter Davies,
in 1815, mentions Gower and notes that small orchards were 'still pretty frequent there and produce an
abundance of apples'. Many of the orchards are indeed small, but sadly some have disappeared com-
pletely and many are in a derelict state. As the trees finally die they are not being replaced. A total of
eighty traditional orchard sites have been identified, but a survey in 1994 showed that just six orchards
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