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Bedfordshire and Luton County Wildlife Sites Bedfordshire and Luton County Wildlife Sites Selection Guidelines VERSION 14 December 2020 BEDFORDSHIRE AND LUTON LOCAL SITES PARTNERSHIP 1 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 2. HISTORY OF THE CWS SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 7 3. CURRENT CWS SELECTION PROCESS ................................................................................................................ 8 4. Nature Conservation Review CRITERIA (modified version) ............................................................................. 10 5. GENERAL SUPPLEMENTARY FACTORS ......................................................................................................... 14 6 SITE SELECTION THRESHOLDS........................................................................................................................ 15 BOUNDARIES (all CWS) ............................................................................................................................................ 15 WOODLAND, TREES and HEDGES ........................................................................................................................ 15 TRADITIONAL ORCHARDS AND FRUIT TREES ................................................................................................. 19 ARABLE FIELD MARGINS......................................................................................................................................... 21 NEUTRAL AND CALCAREOUS GRASSLAND ...................................................................................................... 23 HEATHLAND AND ACID GRASSLAND .................................................................................................................. 25 FENS, SWAMPS AND MARSHES............................................................................................................................ 26 FRESHWATER HABITATS ........................................................................................................................................ 28 HABITAT MOSAICS .................................................................................................................................................... 32 OPEN MOSAIC HABITATS ON PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED LAND ................................................................. 33 VASCULAR PLANTS .................................................................................................................................................. 36 NON-VASCULAR PLANTS ........................................................................................................................................ 36 MAMMALS .................................................................................................................................................................... 36 BIRDS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 37 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS .................................................................................................................................. 37 INVERTEBRATES ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 APPENDIX 1 - TECHNIQUES TO ENSURE SURVEY CONFORMS TO NVC REQUIREMENTS ................ 40 APPENDIX 2 - WOODLAND PLANTS, ANCIENT WOODLAND INDICATORS AND WOODY SPECIES ... 41 APPENDIX 3 - QUALIFYING LEVELS FOR ARABLE PLANTS FOUND IN BEDFORDSHIRE ..................... 45 APPENDIX 4 - BEDFORDSHIRE NEUTRAL AND CALCAREOUS GRASSLAND INDICATORS ................. 47 APPENDIX 5 - BEDFORDSHIRE HEATHLAND AND ACID GRASSLAND INDICATORS ............................. 51 APPENDIX 6 - BEDFORDSHIRE WETLAND INDICATORS ................................................................................ 52 APPENDIX 7 - BEDFORDSHIRE’S CRITICALLY ENDANGERED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES OF VASCULAR PLANTS AND THEIR HABITATS ....................................................................................................... 56 APPENDIX 8A - QUALIFYING LEVELS FOR WINTER AND PASSAGE BIRDS ............................................. 57 APPENDIX 8B – BREEDING BIRD INDICES BY HABITAT ................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX 9 – SCORING SYSTEM FOR THE SELECTION OF SITES WITH ASSEMBLAGES OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES .................................................................................................................................. 73 APPENDIX 10A - BUTTERFLY SPECIES, STATUS AND ABUNDANCE THRESHOLDS FOR SITE SELECTION.................................................................................................................................................................. 74 APPENDIX 10B - STATUSES OF MACRO- MOTHS IN BEDFORDSHIRE ...................................................... 75 APPENDIX 10C - STATUSES OF MICRO- MOTHS IN BEDFORDSHIRE ........................................................ 81 APPENDIX 10D – NATIONAL RED DATA BOOK DRAGONFLY FOUND IN BEDFORDSHIRE ................... 82 APPENDIX 10E - BEETLES INDICATIVE OF CONTINUITY OF SAPROXYLIC HABITATS, AND THE METHOD OF CALCUATION OF THE INDEX OF ECOLOGICAL CONTINUITY .............................................. 83 APPENDIX 11 – THE USE OF MACROINVERTEBRATES FOR THE DESIGNATION OF FRESHWATER COUNTY WILDLIFE SITES IN BEDFORDSHIRE .................................................................................................. 88 2 List of revisions and amendments made CWS selection guidelines 1998 Selection guidelines reviewed and spelling errors May 2005 corrected. Woodland, trees and hedges Updated to include further guidance on the identification May 2005 of biologically significant trees. Freshwater habitats Amended and updated to include further guidance on the May 2005 selection of ditches, rivers and streams. Urban habitats New selection guidelines including a section on birds May 2005 added. Appendix 5 Indicator species list amended and updated. May 2005 Appendix 10 New selection guidelines added. May 2005 Appendix 6 A, B, C and D Species lists updated and amended in line with new plant June 2005 status lists published in 2004 by JNCC. Appendix 5 Revised and unified the wetland plant species list to May 2007 cover freshwater habitats, fens, swamps and marshes. Fens, Swamps and Marshes Minimum threshold j) revised, referring to revised and May 2007 unified species list Freshwater Habitats Minimum thresholds - Changes made to b), f), g) and h) May 2007 to refer to revised and unified species list. Birds and Appendix 7 Revised criteria for selection and appendices (7A, 7B May 2007 and 7C). Invertebrates – Butterflies Revised criteria for selection and appendix (9A) June 2007 CWS selection guidelines June Selection guidelines reviewed and amended in line with January 2009 2007 Defra guidance on ‘Local Sites: Guidance on their Identification, Selection and Management’ (2006). Criteria related to BAP and NERC Act priority habitats and species Appendix - All Species lists updated and amended in line with: January 2009 Bedfordshire’s rare plant list; the new NERC Act 2006 section 41 Priority Species and Habitats; Latest BAP priority species and habitats. Arable field margins New selection guidelines added. February 2009 Dragonflies Revised criteria for selection April 2009 Traditional Orchards New selection guidelines added. March 2010 Open Mosaic Habitats on Revised criteria for previously named ‘Urban Habitats’ March 2010 previously developed land added Ponds New selection guidelines added. March 2010 Mammals Revised criteria for selection March 2010 Macro-moths Macro-moth list updated June 2010 3 Saproxylic beetles Saproxylic bettles list updated June2010 Woodland, trees and hedges Woodland over 2ha criteria revised Dec 2011 Reptiles and Amphibians Reptiles and amphibian criteria revised Dec 2011 Non Vascular Plants Non vascular plant criteria revised May 2012 Macro and micro moth criteria revised and tables Moths May 2012 updated Lakes New selection guidelines added May 2012 Appendix 5 – Bedfordshire Added harebell to list of acid grassland indicator Heathland and Acid Grassland October 2012 species Indicators Vascular Plants Vascular plant criteria revised to add criterion for rare January 2013 plants in Bedfordshire. Deletion of Bedslife website link Links to the Bedslife website have been deleted from the from guidelines guidelines. Bedslife was the Bedfordshire and Luton February 2013 Biodiversity Partnership website, which no longer exists, as of July 2012. Revision of rare breeding bird List updated based on work done by Graham Goodall criteria – 8B from the Records and Research Committee of the March 2015 Bedfordshire Bird Club. Complete revision of bird criteria Revised selection criteria agreed and added. Proposed by Graham Goodall, from the Records and Research March 2016 Committee of the Bedfordshire Bird Club. Removed the rare bird criteria and incorporated into the other two. Updated Breeding Bird Indices List updated based on work done by Graham Goodall from the Records and Research Committee of the By Habitat section – 8B April 2019 Bedfordshire Bird Club. Breeding records for Marsh Harrier and Nightjar confirmed
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