A survey of the vegetation of Ben Nevis - Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 090 (ROAME No. F02LD01)
The earliest records in the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) files are from 1969, when H.A. McAllister
recorded several uncommon montane species on the eastern slope of Aonach Beag. In July 1986 the
British Bryological Society visited Coire Leis, Aonach Beag and Beinn na Socaich, and recorded many
uncommmon species at each of these places. On 4 September 1986 Peter Pitkin surveyed the bryophytes
of the Allt an t-Sneachda gully in the N (now outside the SSSI). Gordon Rothero made a species list for Meall
Cumhann in July 1987: this list indicates a rich flora including several uncommon species. Corley (1990)
found the rare moss Brachythecium trachypodium on Aonach Beag on 28 August 1989. Gordon Rothero
found the rare liverwort Gymnomitrion apiculatum on the high plateau of Ben Nevis on 18 August 1990
(Rothero & Long 1995). In 1989 Rothero (1990, 1991) recorded several uncommon montane and oceanic
species in his survey of bryophytes in late snow-beds on the eastern sides of Aonach Mór and on Ben Nevis.
Gilbert et al. (1992) wrote an account of the lichen vegetation of high ground in the Ben Nevis-Aonach
Mór-Aonach Beag area, based mainly on surveys which they did in June and August 1990. They paid
particular attention to the snow-bed lichen flora, which they found to be similar to that in the Cairngorms.
They listed the species most strongly associated with snow-beds, and discussed the factors affecting
the snow-bed lichen flora. They found one species – Staurothele arctica – new to the British lichen flora, and
six others – Catolechia wahlenbergii, Micarea subviolascens, Sagiolechia rhexoblephera, Stereocaulon
alpinum, S. spathuliferum and S. tornensis – to have their British headquarters here. The lichen flora of
Ben Nevis and the adjacent hills is also described in Gilbert (2000). A notable lichen which grows on
Aonach Mór but elsewhere only in the Cairngorms is Cladonia maxima (Brian Coppins, pers. comm.).
In 1987–1988 Ben Averis surveyed bryophytes in three woods within the site: the wood north of Polldubh
(NN 1469), and the woods at Meall Cumhann (NN 173693) and Allt Coire a’Mhaill (NN 180682).
He found these last two woods to be bryologically rich, with several species of special interest including
the mosses Dicranodontium uncinatum, Distichium capillaceum, Encalypta ciliata, Hylocomium umbratum,
Hypnum callichroum, Ptilium crista-castrensis, Rhabdoweisia crenulata and Ulota drummondii, and the
liverworts Anastrepta orcadensis, Bazzania tricrenata, Douinia ovata, Frullania teneriffae, Gymnomitrion
crenulatum, Harpalejeunea molleri, Harpanthus scutatus, Herbertus aduncus, Jamesoniella autumnalis,
Lepidozia pearsonii, Leptoscyphus cuneifolius, Mastigophora woodsii, Plagiochila atlantica, P. carringtonii,
P. killarniensis, Pleurozia purpurea, Scapania ornithopodioides and Tritomaria exsecta. This was part of a
larger survey of bryophytes in west Highland woods (Averis 1991).
Alison Averis visited the wood at Allt Coire a’Mhaill in 1991 and found good examples of the ‘Northern
Atlantic Hepatic Mat’ community including Herbertus aduncus, Scapania gracilis, S. ornithopodioides,
Bazzania tricrenata, Plagiochila spinulosa, Pleurozia purpurea, Mastigophora woodsii, Mylia taylorii,
Anastrepta orcadensis and Lepidozia pearsonii. This work was part of a PhD study (Averis 1994).
Table 2 provides a list of all Nationally Rare and Nationally Scarce bryophyte species recorded at
Ben Nevis SSSI before the time of our vegetation survey in 2003–2004.
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