Thursday 28 July 2016

Turf wars

This is an long overdue blogpost is all about the brilliant bunch of botanists (an official collective noun?) who visited the Gatwick Stream site, east of the railway line back in May of this year.

Ragged Robin (Silene flos-cuculi) along Gatwick Stream
(Photo by Brian Pitkin)

This was no turf war (see what I did there?), but instead a meeting of two friendly botanical recording societies - Surrey and Sussex. Gatwick falls slap-bang in the no-man's-land of two differnet types of county border; modern county Sussex, vice-county Surrey (VC17). More details on county boundaries and biological recording can be found here:  http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/vicecounties.php

Gatwick Airport's biodiversity sites

Watch out you Sussex lot, Arthur has a stick and knows how to use it

The Gatwick Stream flood attenuation (adjacent to Thames Water Sewage Treatment Works) is a section of re-aligned river and excavated flood plain, created for the retention of huge amounts of water (around 186,000 m3 apparently) in major flood events. The site was artificially seeded 3 years ago and is being managed as an area for wildflowers and wetland plants.

The re-aligned section of the Gatwick Stream, June 2015

Having so many eagle-eyed botanists on site meant the gang was able to pick out even the tiniest specimens, resulting in a brilliantly comprehensive species list to add to our growing database at Gatwick!

Riparian vegetation grows well on the silt bars. Linda photographs in-channel vegetation

Pond Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus peltatus)

An important thing to note is that this area was artificially seeded and planted; many of these species might not have been found here naturally, and several sub-species from the continent have been accidentally introduced into the mix. While continuing to settle, it is still a very interesting site with winter waters eroding banks edges and rich silt deposits allowing new life to colonise.

The following are a selection of excellent photographs taken on the day by Jon Wilson and Linda Pitkin...

Narrow-fruited Watercress (Nasturtium microphyllum) (stamens dehiscing outwardly)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Smooth Tare (Vicia tetrasperma)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Ragged Robin (Silene flos-cuculi)
Photo by Linda Pitkin

Fodder Burnet (Sanguisorba minor ssp. balearicum)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Fodder Vetch (Vicia villosa?)
Photo by Linda Pitkin

Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium)
Photo by Jon Wilson

Last year's ecology placement student Elliott rejoined us for the day; always rewarding to see the return of a familiar face! Today he was learning about using a loupe hand lens, what features should be examined more closely between similar species... and, bless him, HYBRIDS!

...Docks can do what?!


A sudden scramble over the fence by Caroline and her crew; they must have spotted something pretty interesting here...

Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis). 
A relatively rare find and useful indicator of ancient hedgerows

Finally, a few non-plants from the day:

Small Heath butterfly (Coenonympha pamphilus)

Striped Oak Bug (Rhabdomiris striatellus)

Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) cuckoo-spit on Fodder Burnet

Furrow Orb-weaver (Larinioides cornutus) - a common spider usually found near water

Thank you to all of you who attended, it was a real privilege to spend the day with such a collective of knowledgeable folk. We hope to see you again sometime!

Final species list:

Agrostis stolonifera
Creeping Bent
Ajuga reptans
Bugle
Alnus glutinosa
Alder
Alopecurus geniculatus
Marsh Foxtail
Anthoxanthum odoratum
Sweet Vernal-grass
Anthriscus sylvestris
Cow Parsley
Arctium minus
Lesser Burdock
Bellis perennis
Daisy
Bromus hordeaceus
Soft-brome
Callitriche stagnalis
Common Water-starwort
Carex flacca
Glaucous Sedge
Centaurea nigra
Common Knapweed
Cerastium fontanum
Common Mouse-ear
Cerastium glomeratum
Sticky Mouse-ear
Cirsium arvense
Creeping Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Spear Thistle
Crataegus monogyna
Hawthorn
Cynosurus cristatus
Crested Dog's-tail
Dactylis glomerata
Cock's-foot
Digitalis purpurea
Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea
Foxglove
Epilobium parviflorum
Hoary Willowherb
Epilobium tetragonum
Square-stalked Willowherb
Festuca rubra
Red Fescue
Galium aparine
Cleavers
Geranium dissectum
Cut-leaved Crane's-bill
Glechoma hederacea
Ground-ivy
Glyceria declinata
Small Sweet-grass
Glyceria fluitans
Floating Sweet-grass
Heracleum sphondylium
Hogweed
Holcus lanatus
Yorkshire-fog
Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Bluebell
Juncus bufonius
Toad Rush
Juncus conglomeratus
Compact Rush
Juncus effusus
Soft-rush
Juncus inflexus
Hard Rush
Lathyrus nissolia
Grass Vetchling
Lathyrus pratensis
Meadow Vetchling
Leucanthemum vulgare
Oxeye Daisy
Lolium multiflorum
Italian Rye-grass
Lotus corniculatus
Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
Medicago arabica
Spotted Medick
Moehringia trinervia
Three-nerved Sandwort
Myosotis arvensis
Field Forget-me-not
Odontites vernus
Red Bartsia
Plantago lanceolata
Ribwort Plantain
Plantago major
Greater Plantain
Poa annua
Annual Meadow-grass
Poa trivialis
Rough Meadow-grass
Polygonum aviculare agg.
Knotgrass
Populus tremula
Aspen
Prunella vulgaris
Selfheal
Prunus spinosa
Blackthorn
Pteridium aquilinum
Bracken
Quercus robur
Pedunculate Oak
Ranunculus acris
Meadow Buttercup
Ranunculus repens
Creeping Buttercup
Rhododendron ponticum
Rhododendron
Rorippa palustris
Marsh Yellow-cress
Rubus fruticosus agg.
Bramble
Rumex acetosa
Common Sorrel
Rumex conglomeratus
Clustered Dock
Rumex crispus
Curled Dock
Rumex obtusifolius
Broad-leaved Dock
Rumex sanguineus
Wood Dock
Rumex x pratensis
R. crispus x obtusifolius
Sagina procumbens
Procumbent Pearlwort
Schedonorus arundinaceus
Tall Fescue
Scrophularia nodosa
Common Figwort
Senecio jacobaea
Common Ragwort
Silene dioica
Red Campion
Solanum dulcamara
Bittersweet
Sonchus asper
Prickly Sow-thistle
Sorbus torminalis
Wild Service-tree
Stellaria graminea
Lesser Stitchwort
Stellaria holostea
Greater Stitchwort
Tamus communis
Black Bryony
Trifolium dubium
Lesser Trefoil
Trifolium pratense
Red Clover
Trifolium repens
White Clover
Typha latifolia
Bulrush
Veronica chamaedrys
Germander Speedwell
Veronica serpyllifolia
Thyme-leaved Speedwell
Vicia hirsuta
Hairy Tare
Vicia sativa subsp. nigra
Narrow-leaved Vetch
Vicia sativa subsp. sativa
Common Vetch
Vicia tetrasperma
Smooth Tare
Vicia villosa
Fodder Vetch