Barle Valley

Barle Valley
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Somerset
Area of Search	Somerset and Devon
Grid reference	SS723423
Coordinates	51°09′56″N 3°49′40″W / 51.16565°N 3.82778°W / 51.16565; -3.82778Coordinates: 51°09′56″N 3°49′40″W / 51.16565°N 3.82778°W / 51.16565; -3.82778
Interest	Biological
Area	104.2 hectares (1.042 km²; 0.402 sq mi)
Notification	1997 (1997)
Natural England website

Barle Valley (grid reference SS723423) is a 104.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Devon and Somerset, notified in 1997.

Marsh fritillary

The site includes the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and Knaplock and North Barton SSSI notified in 1954. The site is within Exmoor National Park.

The Barle Valley contains extensive tracts of ancient upland sessile oak ancient woodland which exhibit variations in structure and species composition as a result of difference in past management, geology and topography. The diversity of the site is increased substantially by areas of valley mire, heathland and acid grassland. Eighty five woodland vascular plant species have been recorded including thirty one ancient woodland indicators from a single compartment. The meadows are one of the few sites for great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) on Exmoor. Springs emerging from the base of sandstone slopes generate nutrient poor acid mires dominated by Sphagnum and Polytrichum moss carpets. The lichen flora is exceptional both for its luxuriance and in the number of rare species. One hundred and sixty five taxa of epiphytic lichens are present containing a remarkably large proportion of ancient woodland indicators giving the Barle a very high index of ecological continuity.

Birds

Wood warbler

The site contains an outstanding assemblage of woodland breeding birds including particularly high densities of wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). These are all summer visitors.

The River Barle provides an important habitat for kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), dipper (Cinclus cinclus) and grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), while scrub and heath have breeding stonechat (Saxicola torquata) and whinchat (Saxicola rubetra).

Other species

Twenty species of butterfly have been recorded in the valley including the nationally scarce marsh fritillary (Eurodryas aurinia) and nationally vulnerable high brown fritillary (Argynnis adippe). Both roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) graze areas of wood pasture. The presence of otters (Lutra lutra) on the Barle has been regularly recorded. A colony of dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) inhabits at least one of the hazel coppices.^[1]

References

↑ "Barle Valley" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2006-08-12.

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Aller and Beer Woods Aller Hill Asham Wood Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill Babcary Meadows Barle Valley Barrington Hill Meadows Berrow Dunes Black Down and Sampford Commons Brean Down Bridgwater Bay Briggins Moor Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors Chancellor's Farm Cheddar Complex Cheddar Reservoir Cheddar Wood Cleeve Hill Cogley Wood Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Curry and Hay Moors Deadman Draycott Sleights Dunster Park and Heathlands East Polden Grasslands Ebbor Gorge Edford Woods and Meadows Exmoor Coastal Heaths Fivehead Woods and Meadow Freshmoor Friar's Oven Ge-mare Farm Fields Great Breach and Copley Woods Grove Farm Hardington Moor Hestercombe House Holme Moor & Clean Moor King's Sedgemoor Kingdown and Middledown Kingweston Meadows Lang's Farm Langford Heathfield Langmead and Weston Level Long Lye Long Lye Meadow Longleat Woods Millwater Moorlinch Nettlecombe Park North Brewham Meadows North Curry Meadow North Exmoor North Moor Old Iron Works, Mells Perch Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh Postlebury Wood Priddy Pools Prior's Park & Adcombe Wood Quantock Hills Quants Ringdown River Barle Rodney Stoke Roebuck Meadows Ruttersleigh Severn Estuary Shapwick Heath Sharpham Moor Plot South Exmoor Southey and Gotleigh Moors Southlake Moor Sparkford Wood St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Stowell Meadow Street Heath Tealham and Tadham Moors Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Twinhills Woods and Meadows Vallis Vale Walton and Ivythorn Hills West Moor West Sedgemoor Westhay Heath Westhay Moor Wet Moor Whitevine Meadows Windsor Hill Marsh Wookey Hole Woolhayes Farm

Neighbouring areas Avon Devon Dorset Wiltshire

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