West Pennine Moors SSSI Supporting Information A supplement to the notification document Issued by Natural England’s Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Lancashire Team on 17 November 2016 Contact points and further information This supplementary information to the West Pennine Moors SSSI notification document is issued on request by Natural England’s Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Lancashire Team and is intended to be read in conjunction with the notification document for owners, occupiers and other notified parties. Our address for correspondence is: Our address for correspondence is: West Pennine Moors SSSI Team Natural England Second floor, Arndale House The Arndale Centre Manchester M4 3AQ Telephone: 0300 060 0050 Email: [email protected] Online: please visit the following website and search for ‘West Pennine Moors’: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/consultation_finder/ Your contact point for enquiries relating to this notification is: the West Pennine Moors SSSI Team consisting of Rosemary Budd, Karen Rogers, Ben Hibbins and Amy Cowburn. Page 2 Contents 1. Summary 2. Information used to support the selection of the West Pennine Moors SSSI 3. Explanation of how the West Pennine Moors meets the SSSI selection guidelines 4. Site boundary determination 5. Assessment of the current condition of the West Pennine Moors SSSI 6. Selection of ‘operations requiring Natural England’s consent’ 7. Site unit maps 8. Distribution of priority habitats and other features within the West Pennine Moors 9. Photographs Page 3 1. Summary The West Pennine Moors SSSI is notified under section 28C of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). The site supports an extensive mosaic of upland and upland-fringe habitats. It is of special interest for the following nationally important features that occur within and are supported by the wider habitat mosaic: • blanket bogs; • wet and dry heathlands; • acid and lime-rich flushes; • rush pastures and mire grasslands; • acid grasslands; • neutral hay meadows and pastures; • wet and dry broadleaved woodlands and scrub; • diverse assemblages of upland moorland, in-bye and woodland breeding birds; • breeding black-headed gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Mediterranean gulls Larus melanocephalus and grey herons Ardea cinerea; and • populations of starry Alchemilla acutiloba and large-toothed lady’s-mantles A. subcrenata and floating water-plantain Luronium natans. Page 4 2. Information used to support the selection of the West Pennine Moors SSSI Feature Data Source Author Date Content General Guidelines for the Selection Nature 1989- National selection of Biological SSSIs. Part 2: Conservancy 1994 guidelines for biological Detailed Guidelines for Council SSSIs (re-published Habitats and Species (NCC)/JNCC online by JNCC in 2012) Groups. Chapters: 2a. Woodlands; 7. Fens; 8. Bogs; 9. Uplands; 11. Vascular plants. Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough British Plant Communities. Rodwell, J.S. 1991 National Vegetation Volume 1: Woodlands and (ed). Classification (NVC) for Scrub. Cambridge University woodlands and scrub Press communities British Plant Communities. Rodwell, J.S. 1991 National Vegetation Volume 2: Mires and Heaths. (ed). Classification (NVC) for Cambridge University Press fen-meadow communities British Plant Communities: Rodwell, J.S. 1992 National Vegetation Volume 3: Grasslands and (ed). Classification (NVC) for Montane Communities. lowland grassland Cambridge University Press communities British Plant Communities. Rodwell, J.S. 1995 National Vegetation Volume 4: Aquatic (ed). Classification NVC for communities, swamps and aquatic communities, tall-herb fens. Cambridge swamps and tall-herb University Press. fens West Pennine Moors: A Jepson, P., 2007 Discussion regarding the Conspectus for Statutory Melling, T. & proposal to designate the Designation. West Pennine Martin, S.J WPM as an SSSI Moors Biodiversity Group Addendum to West Pennine Jepson, P., 2008 Additional information Moors: A Conspectus for Martin, S.J supplementing the above Statutory Designation. West paper Pennine Moors Biodiversity Group. Guidelines for selection of Joint Nature 2013 Rationale, Operational biological SSSIs. Part 1: Conservation Approach and Criteria for Rationale, Operational Committee Site Selection Approach and Criteria for (JNCC) Site Selection Vegetation survey of the Skelcher, G. 2013 NVC survey, including West Pennine Moors Ecological quadrat data and maps moorland fringe. Report to Consultant Natural England Vegetation Survey of West Ross, S. (Penny 2014 NVC survey, including Pennine Moors pSSSI. Anderson field notes, quadrat data, Report to Natural England Associates) aerial photos, maps, records of rare/scarce plants and lichens Page 5 Feature Data Source Author Date Content Vegetation survey of twelve Skelcher, G. 2014 NVC survey, including sites considered for addition Ecological quadrat data and maps to the West Pennine Moors Consultant pSSSI. Report to Natural England Upland Nature Conservation Review Ratcliffe, D.A. 1977 Descriptors for the range habitats – Volume 1. Published by and feature of the British NCC uplands An Illustrated Guide to British Averis, B. et al. 2004 Upland vegetation Upland Vegetation. JNCC, Peterborough Consultation and production GeoData 2011 Description of survey of a recommended set of Institute methods and guidance standards for UK BAP habitat (University of regarding NVC type data. Volume 1: Southampton) choice. Specification for field survey and mapping to BAP Priority Habitats and Annex 1 Habitats; Volume 2: Translation frameworks and sample case studies; Volume 3: Definitions and rule bases for BAP Priority Habitats. Report to Natural England UK Biodiversity Action Plan – BRIG (ed. 2008 Descriptions of priority Priority Habitat Descriptions. Maddock, A.) update habitats Biodiversity Reporting and 2011 Information Group (BRIG) Specialist support for Crowle, A. 2016 Support for notifying the notification of West Pennine site for upland habitats Moors as a SSSI for uplands from Natural England’s senior uplands specialist Grassland A study into the effects of Jepson, P 1984 Records of plant species change in management on used for comparison. grasslands in the West Pennine Moors (Post- graduate diploma in Countryside Management 1st year project). Manchester Polytechnic English Nature Grassland English Nature 1986 Records of plant species Inventory; Quadrat data for used for comparison. Sunnyhurst Meadows, Darwen Neutral grassland sites in Stewart, A 1994 Records of plant species Lancashire to 1993. English (English Nature) used for comparison. Nature internal report Upland survey Higher MacDonal, D. 2003 Records of plant species Wenshead Farm. Lancashire used for comparison Rural Futures report Page 6 Feature Data Source Author Date Content Guidelines for the Selection Jefferson, R.G., 2014 National selection of Biological SSSIs. Part 2: Smith, S.L.N. & guidelines for SSSIs for Detailed Guidelines for MacKintosh, E.J. lowland grasslands Habitats and Species Groups. Chapter 3. Lowland grasslands. JNCC, Peterborough Specialist support for Jefferson, R.G. 2016 Support for notifying the notification of West Pennine site for grassland Moors as a SSSI for features from Natural grassland England’s senior grassland specialist Woodland Woodland surveys in north Stewart, A., 1993 Information on west England using the Donnison, E. & woodlands within the National Vegetation Dalton, A. wider Area of Search. Classification [and] Supplement: distribution maps of woodland NVC types north-west England 1992. English Nature internal report Longworth Clough – National Pennine 1999 NVC survey of Vegetation Classification Ecological Longworth Clough 1999. Report to Lancashire Wildlife Trust Specialist support for Goldberg, E. 2016 Support for notifying the notification of West Pennine site for woodland Moors as a SSSI for features from Natural woodland England’s senior woodland specialist Flowering Vascular plant survey. Jepson, P. 2012 Confirms presence of plants Report to Natural England rare species Alchemilla subcrenata in Walker, K. 2014 Confirms status of Lancashire. Email (Botanical Alchemilla species correspondence Society of Britain & Ireland ) Specialist support for Martin, J.P. 2016 Support for notifying the notification of West Pennine site for vascular plant Moors as a SSSI for vascular features from Natural plants England’s senior vascular plant specialist Birds Belmont Reservoir Gull Martin, S.J. 2011 Records of breeding Survey 2011. Report to gulls on Belmont United Utilities reservoir Belmont Reservoir Gull Martin, S.J. 2012 Records of Breeding Survey 2012 gulls on Belmont reservoir Belmont Reservoir Gull Martin, S.J. 2013 Records of Breeding Survey 2013. Report to gulls on Belmont United Utilities. reservoir Belmont Reservoir Gull Martin, S.J. 2014 Records of Breeding Survey 2014. Report to gulls on Belmont United Utilities. reservoir Page 7 Feature Data Source Author Date Content The state of Lancashire’s White, S. et al., 2013 Tetrad record data for birds: an atlas survey of the breeding birds, available breeding and wintering birds online of Lancashire and North http://www.lacfs.org.uk/L Merseyside, 2007-2011. ancs%20Birds.html Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society, Riston BTO national data set BTO 2013 Data regarding the Lower House Plantation Heronry Population Estimates of birds Musgrove et al. 2013 National population in Great Britain and the levels United Kingdom. British Birds 106: 57-102 Supplementary bird Johnson,