Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum This habitat type comprises a range of woodland types dominated by mixtures of oak (Quercus robur and/or Q. petraea) and birch (Betula pendula and/or B. pubescens). It is characteristic of base-poor soils in areas of at least moderately high rainfall in northern and western parts of the UK.
The habitat shows considerable variation across its range, in terms of the associated ground flora and the richness of bryophyte communities. There is also a continuous spectrum of variation between oak-dominated and birch-dominated stands. Often these local variations reflect factors such as rainfall, slope, aspect, soil depth, and past and present woodland management (e.g. coppicing, planting, grazing). The most distinctive forms of the habitat have a ground flora dominated by bryophytes, such as Dicranum majus, Hylocomium splendens, Isothecium myosuroides, Plagiothecium undulatum, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Bazzania trilobata and Plagiochila spinulosa. Other variants include stands in which the ground flora is characterised by the prominence of dwarf shrubs, such as bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus; grasses, such as wavy hair-grass Deschampsia flexuosa, common bent Agrostis capillaris and sweet vernal-grass Anthoxanthum odoratum; and plants indicative of more mesophytic conditions, including bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta, bramble Rubus fruticosus, scaly male-fern Dryopteris affinis.
Within the EU, old sessile oak woods with holly Ilex aquifolium and hard-ferns Blechnum spp. are virtually confined to the UK and Ireland. It is possible that similar stands could occur in north-west Iberia and Brittany.
from the JNCC - click on their link for full information
| Bullhead |
| Otter |
| Salmon |
| Dry Heath |
| Old Oak Woods |
| Alluvial Forest |