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2012 Scottish BSBI Field Meeting Programme
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Full Scottish Field Meeting Programme SATURDAY
19 MAY An opportunity to pay a spring visit to some base-rich grassland and rocky woodland on the slopes north of the Clyde. The area is easily accessed from Kilpatrick station (Balloch trains) or from the A82, but has not been well botanised and so the plants recorded will make a valuable contribution to the vice county records. The emphasis of this meeting will be on learning to identify and record, and we would particularly welcome anyone who has not been on a BSBI field meeting before. For further information and to book please contact Pamela Murdoch, 58 Prestonfield, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 7PZ, or e-mail pamela.murdoch@networkgb.co.uk
SUNDAY 27 MAY TO SATURDAY 2 JUNE
This meeting will follow a
similar format to the one held on Tiree two years
ago. We will record on a tetrad basis across the
island, dividing into small groups in order to do
this effectively. Searching for, and recording
details of, TPP species and local specialities will
also be part of the programme. We will have a day
off in the middle of the meeting, but those who wish
to carry on recording may do so.
The meeting will focus on the high hills in middle
of the Southern Uplands. At the centre of this area
are the botanically well known Moffat Hills where a
number of alpine species occur on the rocky crags,
flushes and screes. This meeting intends to explore
the lesser known hills to the north and south of the
Moffat range. We will record tetrads and any TPP
species. It is intended that each day there will be
an opportunity to explore lower ground requiring
less climbing or higher screes and crags requiring
greater fitness. It is hoped that species known from
the Moffat Hills will be found in new populations.
Amongst the possibilities could be Thalictrum
alpinum (Alpine Meadow-rue), Saussurea alpina
(Alpine Saw-wort), Sedum villosum (Hairy
Stonecrop), Salix herbacea (Dwarf Willow),
Alopecurus magellanicus (Alpine Foxtail),
Cornus suecica (Dwarf Cornel), Potentilla
crantzii (Alpine Cinquefoil) and Epilobium
anagallidifolium (Alpine Willowherb). It is
hoped that further populations of Gentianella
campestris (Field Gentian) and Coeloglossum
viride (Frog Orchid) can also be found.
Ben Chonzie is the highest point (929 m) in the
south-eastern Highlands approximately 13 km
north-west of Crieff. We will approach this SSSI
from Glen Turret and botanise the extensive range of
moorland communities including blanket mire, heather
moorland, montane heaths and acidic grasslands. Both
acidic and calcareous flushes occur in places, and
herb-rich grasslands occur beneath the species-rich
cliffs.
After several seasons in the highlands, we are
moving to Galloway for this year’s recording week.
Kirkcudbrightshire, one of the southernmost counties
of Scotland, has a wide variety of habitats ranging
from sea level to Corbetts and is the meeting ground
for many southern and northern elements of the
flora. These include Vicia lutea (Yellow
Vetch), V. bithynica (Bithynian Vetch), V.
tetrasperma (Smooth Tare), Carex punctata
(Dotted Sedge), C. elongata (Elongated
Sedge), Crambe maritima (Sea Kale),
Astragalus danicus (Purple Milk Vetch), A.
glycyphyllos (Wild Liquorice), Linum perenne
(Perennial Flax), Thelypteris palustris
(Marsh Fern), Meum athamanticum (Spignel),
Saussurea alpina (Alpine Saw-wort), Sedum
villosum (Hairy Stonecrop), Salix herbacea
(Dwarf Willow), S. lapponum (Downy Willow)
and, very recently discovered, Epilobium
anagallidifolium (Alpine Willowherb). A recent
colonist is Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchid). Many
of these we expect to see during the week.
SATURDAY 14 TO SUNDAY 15 JULY
Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve boasts a fine
example of habitat transition from open sea to
woodland - through saltmarsh, sand dunes, freshwater
marsh, calcareous grassland, and scrub. Such a
mosaic of habitat diversity has given rise to well
over 500 species of plant having been recorded.
Geomorphological processes are causing rapid change
to the coastline which, in turn, has effect on the
resultant flora. Salsola kali (Prickly
Saltwort) follows the shifting sand, while
Trifolium fragiferum (Strawberry Clover),
Parapholis strigosa (Hard-grass) and Blysmus
rufus (Saltmarsh Flat-sedge) occur on the
accreting saltmarsh. Within the fixed dune
grassland, Astragalus danicus (Purple
Milk-vetch) is widespread with Anacamptis
pyramidalis (Pyramidal Orchid) and Botrychium
lunaria (Moonwort) also being present. The
former turf nursery (still cut annually) plays host
to 100 species alone, including Anagallis tenella
(Bog Pimpernel) and Equisetum variegatum
(Variegated Horsetail). Within the wetter wet bits
can be found Stellaria palustris (Marsh
Stitchwort), Baldellia ranunculoides (Lesser
Water-plantain) and Utricularia vulgaris
(Greater Bladderwort).
SATURDAY 21 TO SUNDAY 22 JULY
The aim of this workshop is to promote a better
understanding and better recording of Alchemillas
in Scotland. The workshop will start in the
classroom on Saturday morning and go out into the
field in the afternoon, and be entirely field based
on the Sunday. We would hope to see a selection of
Alchemilla (Lady’s-mantle) species including
A. glaucescens, A. glomerulans and
A. wichurae on areas of nearby Durness
limestone.
Tentsmuir in Fife has a very varied number of
habitats all within a small area. The forest itself
is not too dense in most places allowing for a good
selection of woodland plants, particularly
Goodyera repens and Pyrola minor. There
are wide tracks and paths with plentiful roadside
vegetation with some burns and drainage channels
through the wood. Ophioglossum and a large
variety of Salix repens hybrids are found on
the woodland edge. The seaward side provides some
excellent sand dune systems and a large area of dune
slack, which at this time of year usually has some
ponds and good wet areas with large masses of
Centauria littorale and Parnassia. There
is also Polygonum oxyspermum, Erigeron
acer, Lathyrus japonicus and
Salicornia spp.
As may be also be the case in some other Vice
Counties, there is a feeling that relatively little
of the botanical recording in Ayrshire to date –
including that represented by the most recent Atlas
date class – has been focussed on the County’s more
urban areas. This field meeting will attempt to
redress that balance by trialling techniques
developed to take on the unique challenges of
botanical recording in a more urban environment. The
outcome will hopefully be the first comprehensive
list for at least one tetrad within Ayrshire’s
“Three Towns”.
A
day exploring bogs and flushes in the middle of the
Ochil Hills; access to this remote area has recently
become much easier along roads built for Burnfoot
Windfarm. In the 1990s Rod Corner recorded
Alopecurus ovatus – now A. magellanicus –
(Alpine Foxtail), in two flushes on the slopes of
Ben Buck and we will be searching for the very rare
Saxifraga hirculus (Yellow Marsh Saxifrage),
not recorded from the Ochils since the mid 19th
century. Thought to still be there somewhere, it is
extremely hard to find looking very like
Ranunculus flammula (Lesser Spearwort). As it is
a threatened and declining species throughout much
of Europe and a UK BAP species, it would be a great
achievement if we could re-find it. Our walk should
take in some magnificent views if the weather is
kind to us.
Following on from last year’s very successful arable
weed meeting at Melrose, this is a chance to see and
learn some of the arable weeds of the west. The
sandy soils of south Bute are particularly
favourable to some weed species, and we will
probably look briefly at adjacent dune habitats. The
emphasis of the meeting will be on techniques of
identification, and, as on all educational meetings,
we welcome anyone who has not been on a BSBI field
meeting before.
This is a day looking at the wide range of plants to
be found in one of the Ochils most attractive wooded
glens. A chance to learn about plants in a beautiful
setting, we will be looking at anything that catches
your attention and help will be on hand to identify
all the plants we may find. These will include
trees, herbs, grasses, sedges and ferns. The scenery
as you walk up the Glen changes from lowland ash
wood in a narrow gorge to upland ash wood and open
hill with bracken and heather providing a variety of
habitats to discover.
2011 Field Meeting
Programme
(D. McNaughton) Last updated 24th November 2011 |
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