Bradford Wildlife Area – Evaluation Against Local Wildlife Site Criteria

Site Name/ Code:  Steg Holes
BWA 078 Location:  About 1.5km south of Addingham
Date of Survey:  15/07/2012
Surveyor:  E. Skinner,
                  West Yorkshire Ecology
Grid Reference:  SE077483
Site Area (Ha):  1.85 proposed LWS boundary & original BWA boundary
Natural Area:  Southern Pennines
Public Access:  footpath across site
NVC Communities:  MG5, (MG6), W7

Site Description

This site is located about 1.5km to the south of Addingham, and about 3km to the west of Ilkley. It is surrounded by agricultural grassland, some of which is cow grazed. There is also a golf course and caravan site to the south-west of the site, and a scrubby/ wooded area to the west.

The majority of the site contains species rich grassland, which is a little hummocky, and damp in parts. It did not have stock on it when the site visit was carried out, but cow hoof marks could be seen across the field. The grassland community is MG5, and is host to species such as: frequent Holcus lanatus, Centaurea nigra and Stachys sylvestris, occasional Agrostis capillaris, Dactylis glomerata, Deschampsia cespitosa, Rumex acetosa, Ranunculus repens, Plantago lanceolata, Dactylohriza fuchsii, Lotus pedunculatus, Trifolium repens, T. pratense, Cirsium arvense, Succisa pratensis, Potentilla erecta and Achillea millefolium, and locally abundant Juncus acutiflorus.

There is a beck flowing through the northern part of the site, from west to east. This is surrounded by the W7 woodland, with species including: occasional Alnus glutinosa, Acer pseudoplatanus and Fraxinus excelsior in the canopy, occasional Corylus avellana, Crataegus monogyna, Ilex aquifolium and Ulmus glabra in the shrub layer, and occasionalChrysosplenium oppositifolium, Valeriana officinalis, Dryopteris dilatata, Digitalis purpurea, Viola riviniana, Geranium robertianum, Oxalis acetosella, Rubus fruticosus, Urtica dioica and Ranunculus repens, locally frequent Glyceria fluitans, Holcus mollis, Mercurialis perennis and Hedera helix, and rare Sanicula europaea, Viola sylvatica, Cirsium palustre, Cardamine amara, C. flexuosa, Carex remota and C. sylvatica in the ground flora.

There are a few small scrubby sections throughout the site. Species present here are: locally frequent Ulex europaeusand Ulmus glabra, occasional Crataegus monogyna and rare Rosa canina.

There is a line of scrub, with spaces in between, which may be an old hedgerow. It contains: locally frequent Rubus fruticosus and rare Crataegus monogyna, Alnus glutinosa, Ulmus glabra and Ilex aquifolium.

West Yorkshire Local Wildlife Sites Selection Flow Chart          

Steg Holes - BWA 078
Summary of Qualifying Features
Gr1 MG5 grassland
Attribute Threshold 1 Threshold 2 Notes Field Notes   

1. Habitats
   
   1.1 Grassland       

Gr1 Rare habitat, MG4, MG5, MG8, CG2, CG3, CG4, CG5 0.1ha or 50m verge  Long established MG5 1.4ha - yes   

Gr3 Species rich see Table 1 neutral or Table 2 calcareous 0.25ha or 50m verge 8 species Outside Mg Limestone Natural Area. Long-established neutral 7/8 (plus 10 scoring species at a rare abundance) - no

GOOD RANGE OF SCORING SPECIES BUT MANY AT A RARE ABUNDANCE LEVEL. field just outside the current boundary 8/8 but half of the species are rare in abundance - no  

Gr5 Networks. Within 500m of LWS quality grassland. Score or size within 20% of Gr1 to Gr4    neutral 7/8 (plus 10 scoring species at a rare abundance) but not within 500m of another site that qualifies for Gr1 to Gr4 - no   

          1.2 Woodland       

Wd3 Species diversity wet woodland/scrub, Table 6  10 species  10/10 (including 6 scoring species at a rare abundance) but the woodland site is only 0.36 hectares - no It would be logical to retain this part of the site within the site boundary as the beck, to the far side of this narrow linear strip of woodland, offers a logical boundary feature.  

Wd4 Species diversty any vascular plant  80 species  45/80 - no   

Wd4  Ferns  8 species  2/8 - no   

Wd5 Native bluebell coverage 0.5ha NVC constancy of III and ground cover 40% in at least 10% of woodland area.  occurs only rarely within woodland ground cover - no   

Wd7 Old hedgerows 30m long 8 woody species Pre-Enclosures Acts (1845) not to standard lengths old hedgeline, patchy, with 4 woody species, no veteran trees and ground flora not ancient woodland indicator species - no   

1.3 Mixed habitats and structural mosaics        

Mh3 Good smaller scale features for invertebrates list in Table 16 0.5ha  Needs advice or an invertebrate specialist.  6 out of 23 from features of structural importance for invertebrates table: scattered scrub, coarse tussocky grassland, seasonally wet/ damp areas, dead wood (wet shady), springs, steep slopes on banks  

1.4 Value for appreciation of nature

Vanl1 Sites with good public access and high wildlife value.  80% of species diversity score for any habitat selection guideline and significant value for people. Do not use in combination with other guidelines which reduce the qualiifying scores eg Gr5, Wd6, Fe6 and Sw5.  public footpath across middle of site  

Steg Holes Proposed Boundary:

Species List