SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
9
Hampshire
DIO SD Training Home Counties
Fairy shrimps are sexually dimorphic © Iain Perkins
Aldershot Training Area in Hampshire
contains a mosaic of open heathland
and rough grassland, woodland (both
conifer and broadleaved), and an
extensive rough track network. The
majority of the areas are designated as a
Site of Special Scientific Interest and form
part of the European designated Thames
Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.
In 2014, the DIO Conser vation Team
followed up on a repor t from
conser vation group member John
Eyre that fair y shrimp Chiro ce phalus
dia phanus had been found on the
training area in 2013. Two sur veys
were then carried out within the
B 4D area to see if the species was
still present.
ponds by laying eggs that lay dormant
in the substrate of temporary ponds.
During dry periods the eggs are
dispersed on the wind, on the hooves
of livestock and by vehicle movements
until they are wetted again through
rain, when they hatch, quickly
colonising new ponds.
Therefore fair y shrimp favour
temporar y ponds where there is a
seasonal precipitation/evaporation
deficit, which causes the ponds to
periodically dr y out, removing
predators such as fish. The ideal
ponds stay wet for four months of
the year; the temporar y ponds on
the B4D Training Area created by
vehicle ruts and track s fit this
description and have great potential
to supp or t fair y shrimp.
A visual survey was carried out in June
of 62 semi-permanent ponds on the
area but no fairy shrimp were found. At
the same time, a characteristic
assessment of the ponds was carried
out to check habitat suitability. The
team returned to carry out a sweep
net survey (under licence) in
November, and found fairy shrimp
within a cluster of small non-vegetated
ponds, with a sandy soil substrate, that
were previously dry. Approximately ten
adult individuals were observed in
each pond, 50/50 male and female.
It is not clear how the fairy shrimp
arrived on the training area, it could
have been through vehicle and troop
movements from Salisbury Plain or
they may be part of a relic population
which has been there for many years.
Another notable species found during
the survey was the small red damselfly
Ceriagrion tenellum which was seen
hoovering around a temporary pond
in the sun.
Conservation Group Team
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Previously widely distributed across
England and Wales the species is now
nationally scarce in Britain; the MOD
having the largest metapopulation on
Salisbury Plain.
The fairy shrimp is a translucent
crustacean which is considered to be
quite primitive due to its body
structure. This crustacean is a passive
disperser and is able to colonise new
Even the Training Area Marshall has now become quite the ‘expert’ on fairy shrimps © Crown
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015