Caernarfonshire

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Caernarfonshire

The vice-county of Caernarfonshire has both mountainous and low-lying coastal land. The underlying geology and soils creates a great variety of land uses with arable land historically being concentrated in the lowlands close to Great Orme and the outcrop of limestone, along the sand-silt coast of the Menai Straight between Bangor and Caernarfon and the less permeable clays and freely draining sands of Lleyn peninsula. Small scale arable cultivation was a feature of the mixed farming in the area as shown by the 1930s land use survey which is considered a low point in arable cultivation. Growing crops will probably have increased during the World Wars in the 20th Century as there was a greater need to be more self-reliant, and the advent of herbicides and inorganic fertilisers in the mid 20th Century has led to an increase in crop production in some areas as weed control has improved. However, the reverse trend is apparent in Caernarfonshire with an estimated 31% contraction of cultivated land and land under short-term rotation between the 1930s and 1990s. Arable cultivation is still continued on the Lleyn, but there are few other large blocks of arable land elsewhere in Caernarfonshire. This could be caused by a number of reasons including the general change in farming businesses towards more livestock farming and pastoral land; the increase in herbicides and fertiliser costs which may lie beyond the means of small-scale farms; and transport links which may have made it uneconomical for small-scale arable and mixed farming to be continued in the north of the vice-county where there are good links giving easy access to livestock fodder, but helped continue some of the arable cropping on Lleyn with more remote links making farmers more dependent on local commodities. There has also been a trend for upland sheep farmers in the Snowdonia Mountains to purchase land in lowland Caernarfonshire for overwintering sheep. This has ensured that the land has been kept as grass rather than put under an arable rotation. The volatility of cereal prices may also have led to a decline in arable cropping with high yields only breaking even in some years.

All of these factors have affected the suite of arable plants in the Caernarfonshire. It is a rich vice county with records of 20 out of 30 threatened plants. Some of the records of the threatened arable plants are considerably old with species such as red hemp-nettle Galeopsis angustifolia, field pepperwort Lepidium campestre and broad-fruited cornsalad Valerianella rimosa not being found since the early 20th Century. Other plants such as corn chamomile Anthemis arvensis and stinking chamomile Anthemis cotula have been introduced through sown seed. Some populations of cornflower Centaurea cyanus and corn marigold Glebionis segetum are also introduced whilst others are considered natural. The last known population of downy hemp-nettle Galeopsis segetum in the UK was recorded in 1975 near Bangor. At this time the landowner put the field under a grass ley and it has not been cultivated since. Although the seed is thought to be long-lived, conditions do need to be made suitable for germination reasonably soon to continue the survival of this species in the UK. There are a group of threatened species associated with gateways on the Great Orme including large-flowered hemp-nettle Galeopsis speciosa, small-flowered catchfly Silene gallica and hairy-fruited cornsalad Valerianella eriocarpa present at this location. Although parts of the Orme were historically cultivated, the majority is now under pasture. The distribution of corn mint Mentha arvensis is an oddity as it has generally been recorded at too small a scale to provide an accurate fix on location. This means that it appears to be relatively sparsely distributed across Caernarfonshire whereas it may actually be more widespread. However, the small scale of the records, generally hectads (10x10km squares), may hide a population decline and further investigation of the population dynamics of this species is required across Wales. Two arable plants corn spurrey Spergula arvensis and field woundwort Stachys arvensis are widespread across Caernarfonshire and Wales is probably the hotspot for these plants across the UK which can be sparsely distributed elsewhere. Fifteen tetrads (2x2km squares) have three or more threatened arable plants and should be targeted for suitable management practices.

Altogether this means that Caernarfonshire has a number of locations that would qualify for Important Arable Plant Area status as they have good assemblages of arable plants. These include the main arable areas of Lleyn, along the coastal strip of the Menai Straight and the Denbighshire – Caernarfonshire boundary and Orme. There are three tetrads considered to be of National Importance and 15 considered to be of County Importance for arable plants. These locations should be targeted for arable plant conservation along with threatened plant populations to maintain the diversity of these flowering species across the vice-county.

Some parts of Caernarfonshire have been well surveyed for plants, such as the Great Orme. However, arable land is under-surveyed as arable plants have a low profile amongst the conservation community and their decline has only been recently noticed since 2000. There is a need for a systematic survey of arable land in Caernarfonshire, particularly on Lleyn, the coastal belt along the Menai Straight and the vice-county boundary with Denbighshire including the Orme. This would provide more rigorous data that could be used for targeting management measures for arable plants used in agri-environment schemes and voluntarily by conscientious farmers.

Caernarfonshire 1933-1949 Arable Land Use

The extent of arable land in the 1933-49 period across Caernarfonshire was restricted to the lower lying land on Lleyn, the coastal land north to Bangor and along the Caernarfonshire/Denbighshire boundary covering 9184 ha. In total, 342 tetrads out of 470 tetrads had arable land use present. The 1930s are considered a low point in arable land use and the coverage of cultivated land may have been historically much greater.

Locations with little arable land include the uplands of Snowdonia although there are small concentrations of arable land along the valleys.

Contains Ordnance © Cyfoeth Naturiol

Survey data © Crown Cymru, 2014. © Natural copyright and database Resources Wales, 2014. right 2014.

± 5 km

Caernarfonshire 1979-1991 Arable Land Use

Between the 1933-49 land use survey and 1979-1991 Phase 1 habitat survey of Wales there was a 31% contraction in arable land use across Caernarfonshire. 2839 ha of arable land was identified in the Phase 1 habitat survey with cultivated parcels of land falling in 180 out of 470 tetrads.

The reduction in arable land use is present across the vice-county with almost complete contraction along the boundary with Denbighshire, Great Orme and valleys in Snowdonia. There are still areas of arable land along the coastal low-lying land between Caernarfon and Bangor. There are some very large blocks of arable land on Lleyn but the small-scale arable land has declined with the overall affect being a contraction in arable land use on the peninsula.

The reduction in arable land is probably related to the change to more pastoral land use and the limited transport network making exporting goods from Caernarfonshire to the rest of the UK relatively uneconomical. The use of herbicides in the late 20th Century will be greater than the 1930s and, as a consequence, the loss of arable plants may be even greater than the reduction in cultivated land.

Contains Ordnance © Cyfoeth Naturiol Survey data © Crown Cymru, 2014. © Natural copyright and database Resources Wales, 2014. right 2014.

± 5 km

Caernarfonshire Soil Map

Soils considered to be in the broad category clay are the dominate substrate for 285 tetrads in Caernarfonshire. Clay soils can vary from neutral to more calcareous depending on the material from which they have been derived.

Sandy soils are the dominant soil type for 73 tetrads, particularly along the coast and areas along the Lleyn peninsula.

There are few large expanses of calcareous-based soils in Caernarfonshire except for the limestone outcrop that forms Great Orme’s Head. The tetrads also cover a small area of Anglesey which has some calcareous soils overlying limestone. Twelve tetrads have been categorised as lime soils.

The other broad soil category is the dominant substrate for 100 tetrads. This includes deep humus-rich soils that are present in upland areas and disturbed and man-made soils from mining activity.

Contains Ordnance © Cyfoeth Naturiol Survey data © Crown Cymru, 2014. © Natural copyright and database Resources Wales, 2014. right 2014.

5 km

Corn Chamomile Anthemis arvensis

There is only one recent records of corn chamomile from a sown population introduced as part of landscaping works.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Stinking Chamomile Anthemis cotula

There is one recent record of stinking chamomile following the construction of a car park on Great Orme.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

5 Data maintained by the km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Cornflower Centaurea cyanus

There are two concentrations of cornflower in Caernarfonshire. Two historical records are located on the Lleyn near Llangian and Bodvean, both present in arable fields.

There are more recent records near Deganwy that have been introduced through sown seed in 2005 and 2011. A record from an arable field near Bryn Pydew is considered to be natural, but could have been sown as part of a seed mixture as this is a heavily built-up area of the north Wales coastline and seeds may have been introduced as part of nearby amenity mixtures.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Red Hemp-nettle Galeopsis angustifolia

There are two historical records of red hemp-nettle in Caernarfonshire. A 1916 record indicates that a population was present in Bangor, but no form of habitat is associated with the record and it is unlikely to have been on arable land. Red hemp-nettle was found in a cereal field on Great Orme in 1948, but the field has been converted to grassland which will not provide suitable germination conditions.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Downy Hemp-nettle Galeopsis segetum

Caernarfonshire is the only location in Wales with downy hemp-nettle. The plant is known from one arable field and a roadside verge near Bangor. All of the records are historical pre-1976 and the plant has not been recorded recently since the field was put under a grass ley. Efforts to cultivate a nearby roadside verge have not been successful in rejuvenating the downy hemp-nettle population at this location.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Large-flowered Hemp-nettle Galeopsis speciosa

There is one record of large-flowered hemp-nettle in Caernarvonshire. It was found on disturbed ground in grassland near a toll gate on Great Orme in 2003.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Corn Marigold Glebionis segetum

All of the corn marigold records mapped are recent. Historical hectad (10x10km) records indicate that the Lleyn was a hotspot for this species which prefers free-draining slightly acidic soils. However, none of these records have been mapped as they are considered to be too small scale to provide an accurate location reference.

The records that are known to originate from sown seed have been indicated as introduced populations. However, corn marigold is often used in sown mixtures and there is the possibility that other records mapped as naturally occurring actually originate from introduced seed.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2013. Recorder May 2008.

± Contains Plantlife Data maintained by the 5 Important Arable Plant Vice-County Recorder and km Area database data provided by the Botanical 2014. Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014. Henbane Hyoscyamus niger

All except one historical record of henbane are coastal. They are associated with the sandy soils and dunes that is another favoured habitat of this plant and it is not often found in arable habitat in Wales. The single historical record near Sarn Meyllteyrn does not have an associated habitat description.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the

5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Smooth Cat’s-ear Hypochaeris glabra

There are two locations with smooth cat’s-ear in Caernarfonshire. There is a historical record from Pwllheli from 1919. The very recent record from 2014 on Morfa Dinlle was located on sandy grassland rather than arable land.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant

Survey data © Crown Register provided by the

right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical

Society of the British Isles

and Ireland and accessed

from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014. Field Pepperwort Lepidium campestre

There is one historical record of field pepperwort near Betws-y-coed along the A5.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Grass-poly Lythrum hyssopifolia

There is one record for grass-poly in Caernarfonshire from 2008. It germinated in disturbed grassland along with other arable plants when grass turfs were removed from a golf course near Conwy.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± 5 Data maintained by the km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Corn mint Mentha arvensis

Corn mint has been historically recorded from nearly every hectad (10x10km) in Caernarfonshire as part of the second national plant atlas (completed in 2000). However, there are very few records at a larger spatial scale making corn mint to appear to be rare across Caernarfonshire. This may also be due to lower levels of recording as this plant is considered relatively common, but the hectad records could mask an actual decline in corn mint across the vice-county.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Weasel’s-snout Misopates orontium

There are two recent populations of weasel’s- snout in Caernarfonshire. Hundreds of plants were found around the edge of a barley field near Rhydyclafdy in 2008, and ten plants were found at Henfaes Research Station at Abergwyngregyn in 2005 and 2007.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

Prickly Poppy Papaver argemone

There are two historical population of prickly poppy located on the Lleyn near Abersoch and Sarn Bach. No habitat record is associated with the records, but it is unlikely that the populations are associated with arable land and more likely on sand dune habitat.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Annual Knawel Scleranthus annuus

There are three records of annual knawel in Caernarfonshire. Two historical records are located near RhydyClafdy from 1961. A more recent recorded dated from 1988 is located on the vice-county boundary near Tal-Y-Cafn. No habitat description is associated with either record and, as this species grows in grassland with short turf, it may be possible that neither of these locations are arable habitat.

± Data maintained by the Vice-

5 County Recorder and provided km by the Botanical Society of

the British Isles and Ireland

and accessed from the BSBI

Distribution Database 2014.

Small-flowered Catchfly Silene gallica

Three small-flowered catchfly records are present in Caernarfonshire. The records at Porth Dinllaen and Rowen are both historical. The record on Great Orme is dated from 2000. No habitat description is associated with any of the records.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant

right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the

5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Corn Spurrey Spergula arvensis

Corn spurrey is a widespread plant across Caernarfonshire, particularly along the Lleyn and the coast. It is also a plant that grows on disturbed ground such as urban areas and along tracks and roads in the pastoral area of the uplands.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Contains Plantlife Data maintained by the

5 Important Arable Plant Vice-County Recorder and km Area database data provided by the Botanical 2014. Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Field Woundwort Stachys arvensis

Field woundwort is widespread across Caernarvonshire with records concentrated on the coastal belt of land and Lleyn Peninsula. The majority of records fall into the recent post-2000 date range.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the BSBI copyright and database VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Contains Plantlife Data maintained by the Vice-

5 Important Arable Plant County Recorder and provided km Area database data by the Botanical Society of 2014. the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Hairy-fruited cornsalad Valerianella eriocarpa

The location of hairy-fruited cornsalad in Caernarfonshire is on Great Orme. This population grows in disturbed grassland near a gate rather than on arable land.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the BSBI copyright and database VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the Vice- 5 County Recorder and provided km by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Broad-fruited cornsalad Valerianella rimosa

There is one record of broad-fruited cornsalad in Caernarfonshire from 1902 and located on Great Orme.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the BSBI copyright and database VC49 Caernarfonshire right 2014. Recorder May 2008.

± Data maintained by the Vice-

5 County Recorder and provided km by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Caernarfonshire IAPA Status

Three of the 470 tetrads in Caernarfonshire are considered to be of National Importance for arable plants and 15 are considered to be of County Importance. The location of these tetrads are concentrated on Lleyn, particularly at the southern end which still has a concentration of arable land, the coastal strip which has more freely draining soils than the bulk of inland tetrads that have clay and low permeable soils and the area along the Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire county boundary.

Access to arable land is restricted as it is privately owned and often away from footpaths. Arable plants are also under- recorded as they have a low profile compared with the flora of other habitats. Annual plants may not appear every year and this is also a cause of under-recording as cultivated fields may not have been surveyed on a regular basis, or rotation of the arable land around a farm may mean that different fields are cultivated every year.

Arable plants are associated with other disturbed and nutrient poor habitats such as sand dune systems, spoil heaps from industrial activity and roads / transport networks. Records associated with these habitats have been removed from this analysis to concentrate solely on arable land. There were a lot of records associated with disturbed patches of ground near gates on Great Orme. As this area is primarily permanent grassland these records have not been included in this analysis, but the plants will persist through the localised disturbance.

Arable land use declined dramatically throughout inland Caernarfonshire between Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant the 1930s and 1990s, and agricultural Survey data © Crown Register provided by the intensification from the 1960s onwards would copyright and database BSBI VC49 have reduced the suitable habitat for arable right 2014. Caernarfonshire Recorder plants. However, the remote location at the May 2008. end of the Lleyn peninsula may have resulted ± Contains Plantlife in the self-reliance on home grown products 5 Important Arable Plant Data maintained by the to be continued, and small-scale low- km Area database data Vice-County Recorder and intensity arable may have continued in this 2014. provided by the Botanical area. The results indicate that further Society of the British Isles surveys are required along the Lleyn, arable and Ireland and accessed land south of Great Orme and along the vice- from the BSBI Distribution county boundary with Denbighshire. Database 2014.