<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/21/floating-spiders-and-insect-eating-plants-leaky-dams-revive-dorsets-bogs>
"Leaky dams may not sound ideal but they are being used to great effect on
dried-out marshland in the English West Country to produce fresh habitat for
carnivorous plants and a spider that whizzes over the surface of water to grab
prey.
Bales made out of heather and bunds constructed out of peaty soil and timber
are being used to create porous dams on two mires, Agglestone and Greenlands,
in Purbeck, Dorset.
The idea is that they block artificial ditches originally dug to drain marshes
for conifer plantations or to graze farm animals and encourage the water to
seep away slowly and “rewet” the dried-out mires, which are managed by the
National Trust.
David Brown, the charity’s lead ecologist in Purbeck, said this would bring
about a richer landscape for flora and fauna and create fresh peat, an
excellent carbon store.
Brown said: “Spreading the flow of water across the mires will create a wetter
habitat, where mosses and rare plants like marsh saxifrage and tiny bog orchids
can thrive. Purbeck’s mires have enormous significance for rare insects, plants
and other wildlife, including bog hoverflies and birds such as skylarks.
“Under the acidic, waterlogged conditions, mosses and other plants never fully
decompose, and over time they turn into new peat, which keeps their carbon
locked up instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.”
The marshes are part of what was designated England’s first “super national
nature reserve” in 2020, a mosaic of heaths, woods, reed beds, salt marsh,
dunes and mires.
They are among 16 peaty sites in Dorset, covering a total of 425 acres (172
hectares), being improved as part of the £1m Dorset Peat Partnership project."
Via
Positive.News
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
