Saproxylic Invertebrate Survey of Wye Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2018
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Saproxylic Invertebrate Survey of Wye Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2018 Keith N. A. Alexander NRW Evidence Report No. 320 Date NRW Evidence Report No.320 About Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales is the organisation responsible for the work carried out by the three former organisations, the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales. It is also responsible for some functions previously undertaken by Welsh Government. Our purpose is to ensure that the natural resources of Wales are sustainably maintained, used and enhanced, now and in the future. We work for the communities of Wales to protect people and their homes as much as possible from environmental incidents like flooding and pollution. We provide opportunities for people to learn, use and benefit from Wales' natural resources. We work to support Wales' economy by enabling the sustainable use of natural resources to support jobs and enterprise. We help businesses and developers to understand and consider environmental limits when they make important decisions. We work to maintain and improve the quality of the environment for everyone and we work towards making the environment and our natural resources more resilient to climate change and other pressures. Evidence at Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales is an evidence based organisation. We seek to ensure that our strategy, decisions, operations and advice to Welsh Government and others are underpinned by sound and quality-assured evidence. We recognise that it is critically important to have a good understanding of our changing environment. We will realise this vision by: • Maintaining and developing the technical specialist skills of our staff; • Securing our data and information; • Having a well resourced proactive programme of evidence work; • Continuing to review and add to our evidence to ensure it is fit for the challenges facing us; and • Communicating our evidence in an open and transparent way. This Evidence Report series serves as a record of work carried out or commissioned by Natural Resources Wales. It also helps us to share and promote use of our evidence by others and develop future collaborations. However, the views and recommendations presented in this report are not necessarily those of NRW and should, therefore, not be attributed to NRW. www.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk NRW Evidence Report No.320 Report series: NRW Evidence Report Report number: 320 Publication date: February 2019 Contract number: Contractor: Dr K.N.A. Alexander Contract Manager: R. Bacon Title: Saproxylic Invertebrate Survey of Wye Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2018 Author(s): K.N.A. Alexander Technical Editor: Dr M. A. Howe Restrictions: None Distribution List (core) NRW Library, Bangor 2 National Library of Wales 1 British Library 1 Welsh Government Library 1 Scottish Natural Heritage Library 1 Natural England Library (Electronic Only) 1 Distribution List (others) Rob Bacon, NRW Management Planning & Monitoring Conservation Officer Dr. Mike Howe, NRW Invertebrate Ecologist Iolo Lloyd, NRW Wales Conservation & Heritage Manager Recommended citation for this volume: Alexander, K.N.A. 2019. Saproxylic Invertebrate Survey of Wye Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2018. NRW Evidence Report No: 320, 50pp. Natural Resources Wales, Bangor. www.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk NRW Evidence Report No.320 Contents 1. Crynodeb Gweithredol .................................................................................................... 1 2. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 3 3. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5 3.1. Aim ...................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2. Objective ............................................................................................................................. 5 4. Methods .......................................................................................................................... 5 4.1. Hand-search techniques ..................................................................................................... 5 4.2. Flight interception trapping .................................................................................................. 7 4.3. Species conservation status as used in this document ...................................................... 8 5. Results ........................................................................................................................... 8 5.1. Pierce, Alcove and Piercefield Woods SSSI ....................................................................... 8 5.2. Blackcliff/Wyndcliff SSSI ...................................................................................................10 5.3. Graig Wood .......................................................................................................................13 5.4. Harper’s Grove and Lord’s Grove SSSI ............................................................................13 5.5. Upper Wye Gorge SSSI ....................................................................................................14 5.6. Resumé of species of interest found during the 2018 hand-search surveys ....................14 5.7. Resumé of species of interest found by flight interception trapping .................................15 6. Discussion .................................................................................................................... 20 6.1. Overview of saproxylic invertebrate fauna of the Wye Valley Woodlands SAC ...............20 6.2. Site assessment using Saproxylic Quality Index ..............................................................21 6.3. Site assessment using Index of Ecological Continuity .....................................................22 7. Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 23 8. Acknowledgements....................................................................................................... 24 9. References ................................................................................................................... 24 10. Appendix 1. Flight Interception Trap Locations for Saproxylic Invertebrate Survey 2018 of Blackcliff/Wyndcliff SSSI and Pierce, Alcove & Piercefield Woods SSSI........................... 28 11. Appendix 2. Full species lists from 2018 surveys using hand-search techniques. ......... 38 12. Appendix 3. List of saproxylic beetle species with IEC and SQI status in Wye Valley Woodlands ........................................................................................................................... 42 13. Appendix 4. List of saproxylic Diptera in Wye Valley Woodlands SAC .......................... 48 14. Data Archive Appendix………………………………………………………………………..50 List of Tables Table 1. Trap locations where Diptera with a conservation status were found...……………..18 Table 2. Trap locations where Coleoptera with a conservation status were found.................19 Table 3. Trap locations where other invertebrates with a conservation status were found….20 Table 4. Species totals of saproxylic invertebrates from the Wye Valley Woodlands SAC……………………………………………………………………………………………………20 Table 5. Saproxylic Quality Score & Index for Wye Valley Woodlands………………………..22 Table 6. Index of Ecological Continuity for Wye Valley Woodlands…………………………..23 www.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk NRW Evidence Report No.320 1. Crynodeb Gweithredol Bwriad y ddogfen hon yw ychwanegu at ein gwybodaeth gyfredol am y ffawna infertebratau saprosylig a geir ledled Ardal Cadwraeth Arbennig Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy. Er y dynodiad nid oes llawer iawn yn hysbys am ffawna infertebratau saprosylig yr Ardal Cadwraeth Arbennig. Gwyddys ei bod yn cynnal poblogaethau sylweddol o nifer o rywogaethau cenedlaethol prin a rhywogaethau dan fygythiad, ond hyd yma ni chynhaliwyd ond ymchwiliadau cyfyng o'r ffawna. Chwilen bisgwydd, Ernoporus tiliae, a chwilen ag adenydd rhwydog Cosnard, Erotides cosnardi, yw'r ddwy rywogaeth nodedig y gwyddys amdanynt yn yr ACA, y ddwy yn Rhywogaethau o Brif Bwysigrwydd yn Lloegr ond heb eu cynnwys yn Adran 7 Deddf yr Amgylchedd (Cymru) 2016. Y nod yn y pen draw yw llunio rhestr dros dro o ffawna infertebratau saprosylig coetir ledled y Safleoedd o Ddiddordeb Gwyddonol Arbennig (SoDdGA) sy'n ffurfio rhan Cymru o ACA Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy. Lle bo modd, bydd yr ymdrech gofnodi yn canolbwyntio ar nodi unrhyw rywogaeth saprosylig o bwysigrwydd cadwraeth genedlaethol neu leol. Y gwaith hwn fydd rhan gyntaf corff gwaith arfaethedig mwy a gynllunnir ar gyfer y blynyddoedd i ddod, gyda'r bwriad o gynhyrchu rhestr gynhwysfawr o infertebrata o ddiddordeb ledled Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy. Bydd y rhestr hon yn y tymor hwy yn helpu'r broses o lunio canllawiau rheoli yn sail i reoli'r coetiroedd o fewn Ardal Cadwraeth Arbennig Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy ac, o bosibl, y dirwedd ehangach yn gynaliadwy. Yn 2017, cynhaliwyd arolwg infertebratau saprosylig yn Ardal Cadwraeth Arbennig Coetiroedd Dyffryn Gwy yn hwyr yn y tymor. Ymgymerwyd â gwaith arolwg newydd yn 2018, gan ganolbwyntio'r ymdrech o amgylch y ddau gyfnod allweddol ar gyfer infertebrata saprosylig - 'gwanwyn