January 2020 POWYS Criteria for the selection of Local Wildlife Sites in Powys Contents Policy Framework ................................................................................................................................. 5 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. 8 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Site selection process ........................................................................................................................ 11 Survey methodology (new sites) .................................................................................................. 11 Re-surveying and monitoring of Wildlife Sites ........................................................................... 12 Selecting sites ................................................................................................................................. 12 Deselection ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Data .................................................................................................................................................. 13 HABITAT CRITERIA .......................................................................................................................... 14 H1) BROADLEAVED, MIXED, AND YEW WOODLAND ............................................................. 16 H1.1) TRADITIONAL ORCHARDS ............................................................................................. 16 H1.2) WOOD PASTURE, PARKLAND & VETERAN TREES ................................................. 17 H2.3) NATIVE WOODLANDS ...................................................................................................... 18 Table 1 – Powys ancient woodland indicator species .......................................................... 20 H2) BOUNDARY & LINEAR FEATURES ....................................................................................... 23 H2.1) HEDGEROWS ..................................................................................................................... 23 Table 2 – Woody & climbing species found in hedgerows in Powys ................................. 24 Table 3 – Ground flora species found in hedgerows in Powys ........................................... 25 H2.2) ROAD VERGES .................................................................................................................. 26 H3) NEUTRAL GRASSLAND ........................................................................................................... 29 H3.1) LOWLAND MEADOWS ...................................................................................................... 29 Table 4 – vascular plants found in unimproved lowland neutral grassland in Powys ...... 30 H4) CALCAREOUS GRASSLANDS ............................................................................................... 32 Table 5 – vascular plants found in calcareous grassland in Powys ................................... 32 H5) ACID GRASSLAND .................................................................................................................... 35 H5.1) LOWLAND DRY ACID GRASSLAND .............................................................................. 35 Table 6 – vascular plants found in lowland dry acid grassland in Powys .......................... 35 H5.2) UPLAND ACID GRASSLANDS ........................................................................................ 37 Table 7 – plant species found in upland acid grassland with restricted distribution in Powys ........................................................................................................................................... 37 H6) DWARF SHRUB HEATH ........................................................................................................... 39 2 January 2020 Criteria for the selection of Local Wildlife Sites in Powys H6.1) LOWLAND HEATHLAND ................................................................................................... 39 H6.2) UPLAND HEATHLAND ...................................................................................................... 40 H7) FEN, MARSH AND SWAMP ..................................................................................................... 41 H7.1) UPLAND FLUSHES, FENS AND SWAMPS ................................................................... 41 Table 8 – axiophyte species for upland flushes, fens and swamps in Powys .................. 41 H7.2) LOWLAND FENS ................................................................................................................ 42 H7.3) PURPLE MOORGRASS AND RUSH PASTURES ........................................................ 43 Table 9 – indicator species for purple moorgrass & rush pasture in Powys ..................... 44 H7.4) REEDBED AND LOWLAND SWAMP .............................................................................. 45 H8) BOG .............................................................................................................................................. 47 H8.1) LOWLAND RAISED BOG .................................................................................................. 47 H8.2) BLANKET BOG ................................................................................................................... 47 Table 10 – species characteristic of bog habitats in Powys ................................................ 48 H9) RIVERS AND STREAMS .......................................................................................................... 50 H9.1) RIVERS ................................................................................................................................. 50 Table 11 – restricted species found in the rivers and streams of Powys .......................... 51 H10) STANDING OPEN WATERS AND CANALS ....................................................................... 52 H10.1) OLIGOTROPHIC AND DYSTROPHIC LAKES ............................................................ 52 H10.2) PONDS ............................................................................................................................... 53 H10.3) MESOTROPHIC LAKES .................................................................................................. 54 H10.4) EUTROPHIC STANDING WATERS .............................................................................. 54 H11) INLAND ROCK ......................................................................................................................... 56 H11.1) INLAND ROCK OUTCROP AND SCREE HABITATS ................................................ 56 Table 12 – vascular plants found in rock & scree habitats in Powys ................................. 57 H11.2) CALAMINARIAN GRASSLANDS ................................................................................... 58 H11.3) OPEN MOSAIC HABITATS ON PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED LAND ...................... 58 H11.3) LIMESTONE PAVEMENT ............................................................................................... 59 H12) MOSAIC HABITATS ................................................................................................................ 61 H12.1) SCRUB & FFRIDD ............................................................................................................ 61 Table 13 – typical plants of scrub and ffridd in Powys ......................................................... 62 Table 14 – typical butterfly and bird species of scrub and ffridd in Powys ........................ 65 H13) NEWLY CREATED HABITATS .............................................................................................. 67 SPECIES CRITERIA ......................................................................................................................... 68 S1) MAMMALS ................................................................................................................................... 70 S1.2) Terrestrial mammals ........................................................................................................... 70 S1.2) Bats ........................................................................................................................................ 71 3 January 2020 Criteria for the selection of Local Wildlife Sites in Powys Table 15 – significance levels for bats in Powys ................................................................... 72 S2) BIRDS ........................................................................................................................................... 73 Table 16 – breeding birds of conservation significance in Powys ...................................... 73 Table 17 – wintering & passage birds of conservation significance in Powys .................. 75 S3) HERPETOFAUNA (REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS) .................................................................. 78 S3.1) REPTILES............................................................................................................................. 78 S3.2) AMPHIBIANS