County Wildife Site Criteria for Cornwall Appendices

CALAMINARIAN GRASSLANDS PHTGeneral DescriptionThe Calaminarian grasslands are associated with: near-natural substrates such as serpentine; river gravels rich in heavy metals; as well as artificial mine workings and spoil heaps.The plant community is typically open-structured, composed of weedy or metallophyte species oflichens, bryophytes and vascular plants such as spring sandwort Minuartia verna, thrift Armeria maritimaand bladder campion Silene maritima. There are also rarer bryophyte species such as Cornish pathmoss Ditrichum cornubicum, lead path moss Ditrichum plumbicola, western rustwort Marsupella profundaand the liverwort Cephaloziella nicholsonii – all of which are found in Cornwall.National ContextThe majority of this community is found in certain mining areas of northern England North Wales.There are outliers in the highlands of Scotland and probably on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. It isa decidedly scarce community which is declining.The extent of this habitat in Cornwall is not currently known.For this habitat we will take all areasAppendix 4 - Information Relating to Priority Habitat TypesCounty Wildlife Sites Criteria