Assessment Appendices Biodiversity Character

BIODIVERSITY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT APPENDICES CONTENTS APPENDIX 1 Datasets used in the Northamptonshire Biodiversity Character Assessment ................................................................. 03 APPENDIX 2 Natural Areas in Northamptonshire .............................................................................................................................................. 04 Natural Area 44. Midlands Clay Pastures ....................................................................................................................................... 04 Natural Area 45. Rockingham Forest .............................................................................................................................................. 09 Natural Area 52. West Anglian Plain ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Natural Area 54. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge .............................................................................................................................. 20 Natural Area 55. Cotswolds ................................................................................................................................................................ 25 APPENDIX 3 Site of Special Scientifi c Interest Summaries .............................................................................................................................. 26 APPENDIX 4 Wildlife Site Summaries ..................................................................................................................................................................... 55 FIGURES Figure 1. Natural Areas in Northamptonshire ................................................................................................................... 86 Figure 2. Northamptonshire Sites of Special Scientifi c Interest and National Nature Reserves ...................... 87 Figure 3. Northamptonshire Wildlife Sites and Local Nature Reserves .................................................................... 88 Figure 4. Northamptonshire Geology .................................................................................................................................. 89 Figure 5. Northamptonshire Biodiversity Character Types ........................................................................................... 90 BIODIVERSITY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT APPENDICES 2 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1. DATASETS USED IN THE NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BIODIVERSITY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT 1:250,000 Ordnance Survey digital mapping (raster data) 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey digital mapping (raster data) 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey digital mapping (raster data) Northamptonshire Aerial Photographs Northamptonshire Physiographic Model 1: 250,000 Soils Mapping 1:10,000 Geological Mapping Quarries Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Land Cover Map (2000) Wildlife Sites (subdivided into habitat types) Sites of Special Scientifi c Interest (subdivided into habitat types) Local Nature Reserves National Nature Reserves Ancient-semi natural woodlands Ancient-semi natural woodlands (replanted) Natural Areas Ordnance Survey Springs and Issues (sub-set of Mastermap “water” dataset) Environment Agency Indicative Floodplain Environment Agency Main Rivers Urban Boundaries BIODIVERSITY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT APPENDICES 3 APPENDICES APPENDIX 2. NATURAL AREAS IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE On 4th December 1996, the Secretary of State for the Environment, John Gummer, launched a new map of England entitled ‘The Character of England: landscape, wildlife and natural features’. This was produced by English Nature, working in collaboration with the Countryside Commission. The map shows England divided into unique character areas based upon their landscape, wildlife and other natural features such as geology and soils. English Nature uses these areas either individually or aggregated with adjacent areas as the framework for defi ning Natural Areas. The advantage of such an approach is that wildlife can be viewed in a more appropriate ecological context rather than within artifi cial administrative boundaries, as has traditionally been the case. The starting point of the Natural Area approach is to defi ne what wildlife is characteristic of an area, regardless of whether it is common or rare (this could include extinct species if they were formerly characteristic of the area). This means great importance is placed upon what is often referred to as local distinctiveness, in other words what it is that distinguishes any area from neighbouring land and provides it with a particular identity. The advantage of this approach is that the inevitably limited resources can be targeted to maintain and enhance this local distinctiveness, allowing the rare and unusual to be conserved alongside the widespread and typical. Consequently, greater emphasis is placed upon the quality of the wildlife resource in the countryside as a whole, rather than just a handful of special sites. There are 5 natural Areas covering Northamptonshire, although all extend beyond the county boundary. Therefore some of the characteristic species noted may not and never have been found in Northamptonshire. The following are extracts from the relevant Natural Area Profi les. NATURAL AREA 44. MIDLANDS CLAY PASTURES The area is underlain by Triassic mudrocks and Lower Jurassic clays, silts, sands and iron-rich sandy limestones. The area was glaciated around 600,000 years ago and thick glacial deposits blanketed much of the underlying rock. During the last ‘ice age’ (110 - 10,000 years ago) glaciers did not reach far enough south to directly infl uence the landform. However, the intense cold resulted in repeated freeze and thaw cycles that greatly increased erosion on scarp slopes. The soils that have developed are closely related to the underlying solid geology and superfi cial deposits. Limestones have been extensively quarried for cement in Warwickshire and iron-rich sandy limestones have been worked for use in the Northamptonshire and Banbury iron and steel industry until recent times. The history of quarrying has led to the creation of many important geological exposures. Key Habitats Wildlife occurs throughout the Natural Area in a wide range of habitats found in both rural and urban areas. Farmed land is an important habitat and in common with much of lowland England, arable land and agriculturally improved pasture comprise a major proportion of the habitats now present within the Natural Area. Such widespread habitats include important features such as hedgerows and mature trees, ponds and small watercourses and rough grassland such as is found alongside tracks and on road verges. These habitats give much of the character to the Natural Area and support a wide range of species, including some that have undergone dramatic recent declines such as skylark and grey partridge. There are also a number of other important habitats of more restricted distribution within the Natural Area and these are described below. Broadleaved woodland on acid soils; mainly in the north and east of the area. These woodlands typically have a canopy of pedunculate oak, silver birch, downy birch and ash, with a shrub layer dominated by hazel with smaller amounts of hawthorn, holly and midland hawthorn. Very locally small- leaved lime and sessile oak dominate the canopy. The characteristic ground fl ora comprises bramble, bracken, bluebell, wood anemone, wood sorrel, creeping soft-grass and wood millet. Broadleaved woodland on base-rich soils; typically these woods have a canopy of pedunculate oak and ash, with smaller amounts of fi eld maple, small-leaved lime and wych elm, over a shrub layer dominated by hazel and hawthorn, with dogwood, spindle and wild privet. The ground fl ora on the wet clay is characteristically dog’s mercury, tufted hair-grass and wood sedge. Acid grassland and heathland; the characteristic species of this habitat, which occurs on sandy, freely draining soils, are common bent, velvet bent, sweet vernal grass, sheep’s sorrel, heath bedstraw, tormentil and common cat’s-ear. BIODIVERSITY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT APPENDICES 4 APPENDICES Neutral grassland; this habitat is characterised, in unimproved situations, by a very diverse vegetation with many grass and herb species, growing on the soils developed from neutral clays. The more calcareous swards possess quaking-grass, golden oat-grass, lady’s bedstraw, dropwort, stemless thistle, rough hawkbit and salad burnet, whereas those of more acid reaction support betony and devil’s-bit scabious. Plants found more generally throughout include black knapweed, cowslip, pignut and pepper- saxifrage, with some of the scarcer plants being adder’s-tongue fern, moonwort, lady’s-mantle, meadow saxifrage, saw-wort and green-winged orchid. Calcareous grassland; dominated by upright brome and tor-grass, together with glaucous sedge, quaking-grass, lady’s bedstraw, cowslip, wild basil, dropwort, spiny restharrow and woolly thistle. Also present are black and greater knapweeds, devil’s-bit scabious and wild carrot. In some abandoned quarries a grassland with many of these species can develop. This less natural habitat is characterised by yellow-wort, woolly thistle, fairy fl ax, wild basil and bee orchid. There is often a rich orchid fl ora, including early purple, greater butterfl y, man, pyramidal, green-winged and twayblade. Scrub is often associated with such sites. Rivers and other watercourses, which retain an unaltered state; especially

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