County Wildife Site Criteria for Cornwall Appendices

LOWLAND MEADOWS PHTGeneral DescriptionLowland meadows include most forms of unimproved neutral grassland across the enclosed lowlandlandscapes of Britain. In terms of National Vegetation Classification plant communities, they primarilyembrace each type of Cynosurus cristatus - Centaurea nigra grassland, Alopecurus pratensis - Sanguisorbaofficinalis floodplain meadow and Cynosurus cristatus - Caltha palustris flood-pasture. The plan is notrestricted to grasslands cut for hay, but also takes into account unimproved neutral pastures wherelivestock grazing is the main land use.In non-agricultural settings, such grasslands are less frequent but additional examples may be found inrecreational sites, church-yards, roadside verges and a variety of other localities.National ContextRecent survey findings in Britain reveal an estimated extent of less than 15 000 ha of species-richneutral grassland surviving today in Britain.Recent estimates for cover in England and Wales of the Cynosurus - Centaurea grassland, indicate thatthere is between 5000-10 000 ha of this community in total. Scotland is estimated to have between2000-3000 ha of this community.Unimproved seasonally-flooded grasslands are less widely distributed. They have lower overall cover,but there are still a few quite large stands. Alopecurus - Sanguisorba flood-meadow has a total cover of0.3% National TotalNumber of polygons: >10The habitat is: Rare – Very rareDistribution by Administrative DistrictDistrict P K CK R CN NC ΣNumber 0 0 8 0 >2 0 >10Area (ha) 0 0 20 0 >4 0 >24Distribution by Natural AreaDistrict Pe Lz CKG BM Cu ΣNumber 0 0 >10 0 0 >10Area (ha) 0 0 >24 0 0 >24For this habitat we will take all areasAppendix 4 - Information Relating to Priority Habitat TypesCounty Wildlife Sites Criteria