Site of Special Scientific Interest
Marleycombe Down, Knowle Down and Woodminton Down comprise the entire southern outlook of the village. They are jointly known as the Bowerchalke Downs, a 128.6 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The English Nature citation from 1971 states :-
"This site is an extensive area of floristically rich chalk grassland, a habitat which has become increasingly scarce due to agricultural intensification. It lies along an escarpment of the Middle Chalk overlooking the Ebble Valley in South Wiltshire and has slopes of several aspects. Present on the site are plant and animal species with a nationally restricted distribution."
"Most of the site comprises species-rich turf in which Sheep's Fescue (Festuca Ovina) and Meadow Oat-grass (Avenula pratensis) are major components whilst Quaking grass (Briza media), Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor), Small Scabious (Scabiosa columbaria), and Cowslip (Primula veris) are widespread and frequent."
"Several species considered indicative of continuous management in the absence of fertilisers, herbicides and ploughing also occur throughout. These include Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata), Frog Orchid (Coeloglossum viride), Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea) and Betony (Stachys officinalis)."
"There is, however, much variety within the vegetation and several species that are generally scattered in the turf such as Glaucous Sedge (Carex flacca), Spring-Sedge (Carex caryophyllea), Wild Carrot (Daucus carota) and Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) show localised abundance."
"Over quite extensive areas Dwarf Sedge (Carex humilis) becomes dominant, a species largely restricted to the downs of south west Wiltshire and Dorset. Two other species with a localised national distribution are early Gentian (Gentianella anglica) and Musk Orchid (Herminium monorchis). The latter is found in an area particularly rich in Orchids including Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera), Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) and Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata)."
"Where the sward has been more lightly grazed Upright Brome (Bromus erectus), Hairy Oat-grass (Avenula pubescens), Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) become more predominant. Associated with these are herbs such as Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor), Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa) and Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) as well as species common to the whole site like Salad Burnet and Cowslip. In these areas there are also colonies of Meadow Saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata) and small populations of both Greater Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera chlorantha) and Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum)."
"Scrub is scattered on some of the slopes becoming dense in one or two places. There is a diversity of shrub and tree species; Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Wayfaring tree, Gorse, Whitebeam, Hazel and ash."
"Anthills produced by the Yellow Meadow ant (Lasius flavus) are a feature of several slopes.
The grassland supports a variety of butterfly species including Dingy Skipper, Dark Green Fritillary and Common Blue. The Adonis Blue is also found where its larval food plant, Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) grows in favourable conditions. In Britain this butterfly is confined to a limited number of chalk and limestone grassland sites in the south."
"Birds typical of this habitat include Skylark, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Grey Partridge. Both European Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker visit the site to feed and Buzzard and Kestrel hunt the area."
Read more about this topic: Bowerchalke
Famous quotes containing the words site of, site, special, scientific and/or interest:
“It is not menstrual blood per se which disturbs the imagination—unstanchable as that red flood may be—but rather the albumen in the blood, the uterine shreds, placental jellyfish of the female sea. This is the chthonian matrix from which we rose. We have an evolutionary revulsion from slime, our site of biologic origins. Every month, it is woman’s fate to face the abyss of time and being, the abyss which is herself.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“The present hour is always wealthiest when it is poorer than the future ones, as that is the pleasantest site which affords the pleasantest prospects.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“President Kennedy had a wholesome, widely discussed, and largely deserved reputation for his interest in women.... But no President, however young and energetic, could possibly have gotten around to all the ladies in Washington, New York, and Hollywood who made claim to his affections after he died.... Such was the force of Jack Kennedy and the manner of his death that anyone associated with him, even the pretenders, assumed added glamour and interest.”
—Barbara Howar (b. 1934)