Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

94
Case Study 5.1
Fen Management and Restoration
– Newbald Becksies
Newbald Becksies is a designated SSSI fen on the western slopes of the Yorkshire
Wolds, east of Beverley (grid reference SE918371). Water from a chalk aquifer
emerges as springs and seepages, flowing downslope in narrow runnels to a larger
stream in the floor of the shallow valley.
Records from the 1950s show that the butterwort Pinguicula vulgaris and the
moss Scorpidium revolvens, both characteristic of rich fen, were present until the
early 1990s. More recently, tall stands of great willowherb Epilobium hirsutum have
spread along some of the runnels and occupy some of the springs and seepages.
Although not all the vegetation is tall, and much of the original rush-rich fen meadow
remains, these species have been lost. The changes suggest an increase in the
effects of plant nutrients, though the source of them has not been determined.
Management objectives
To re-establish the lost M10 plant community and maintain the M22 plant
community.
Management rationale
This is one of very few spring- and seepage-fed fens in the Yorkshire Wolds. It is
important to maintain low-nutrient base-rich conditions for which the SSSI was
notified.
Techniques
Scrub invading the M22 plant community will be removed manually, and the fen
meadow will be grazed or cut annually to maintain the M22 in an open condition.
The quality and quantity of water available from the chalk aquifer will be addressed
as an issue under the Water Framework Directive as this site is a Groundwater
Dependent Terrestrial Ecosystem (GWDTE) and should be maintained in good
ecological status.
Monitoring and review of outcomes
The condition of the attributes for which the SSSI was notified will be assessed
every five years, using a method based on the JNCC’s Common Standards for
Monitoring Lowland Wetlands.
Comments
The features dependent on low-nutrient, base-rich
groundwater was lost between 1968 and 1986. This
coincides with a steep increase in the use of agricultural
fertilizers; the change is probably common to many such
sites around the country.
Tall, rank great willowherb
now covers more of
the wetland than at
designation