4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313136373937 English Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en 2025-03-07T15:12:11.795Z NRW 1.0 wel British National Grid (EPSG::27700) The Status of the Gipsywort Weevil Datonychus Arquatus on Pembrey Air Weapons Range in 2016. The Status of the Gipsywort Weevil Datonychus Arquatus on Pembrey Air Weapons Range in 2016. Statws y Gwiddonyn Datonychus Arquatus ar Faes Arfau Awyr Pen-bre yn 2016. 2016-11-30 NRW_DS116797 The gipsywort weevil Datonychus arquatus, currently classified in Britain as Red Data Book: Indeterminate, is known in the British Isles only from Pembrey Air Weapons Range (SN3604) where it was first discovered in 1997. It is an Independently Qualifying Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Feature of the Arfordir Pen-bre/ Pembrey Coast SSSI and a Conservation Objective has been developed (Boyce 2007). This contract sought to repeat the monitoring of 2006 to assess the current Condition of the SSSI Feature. Three Stations were identified in 2006 as supporting an abundance of the foodplant, gipsywort Lycopus europaeus, and the targets for Favourable Condition require assessment of each of these Stations. However, all of the fen vegetation in Stations 1 & 2 had been mown in the week prior to survey, which would have caused the loss of any sub-populations of D. arquatus in these areas had they been present. Survey of the adjacent grazing enclosure revealed an additional area of suitable habitat and this was assessed in addition to Station 3. A total of seven adult arquatus was recorded - five in Station 3 and two in the newly-discovered area, here designated as Station 4. Ten large patches of foodplant were recorded in total, but in four of these the plants were either too short or the area of the patch was insufficient. The loss of Stations 1 & 2 meant that an outcome of Unfavourable: Declining was inevitable and Station 4 is not big enough to compensate for the loss of habitat in those Stations. Management recommendations are given for each Station, which include the need to allow fen vegetation to recover in Stations 1 & 2 by stopping the current practice of mowing. In Stations 3 & 4 regular small-scale management of scrub encroachment will be needed to ensure that gipsywort patches are not lost to succession. Light grazing should be continued in the enclosure alongside Station 2 to help maintain open fen conditions. A visit was also made to the nearby Ffrwd Farm reserve of the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales to sample gipsywort populations there for D. arquatus. Here cattle grazing is sufficiently high to restrict gipsywort to protected situations underneath established willow carr etc., although other parts of the reserve without grazing stock, which weren't surveyed on this visit, may have healthier populations of the foodplant. No examples of D. arquatus were found but further surveys are recommended. The gipsywort weevil Datonychus arquatus, currently classified in Britain as Red Data Book: Indeterminate, is known in the British Isles only from Pembrey Air Weapons Range (SN3604) where it was first discovered in 1997. It is an Independently Qualifying Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Feature of the Arfordir Pen-bre/ Pembrey Coast SSSI and a Conservation Objective has been developed (Boyce 2007). This contract sought to repeat the monitoring of 2006 to assess the current Condition of the SSSI Feature. Three Stations were identified in 2006 as supporting an abundance of the foodplant, gipsywort Lycopus europaeus, and the targets for Favourable Condition require assessment of each of these Stations. However, all of the fen vegetation in Stations 1 & 2 had been mown in the week prior to survey, which would have caused the loss of any sub-populations of D. arquatus in these areas had they been present. Survey of the adjacent grazing enclosure revealed an additional area of suitable habitat and this was assessed in addition to Station 3. A total of seven adult arquatus was recorded - five in Station 3 and two in the newly-discovered area, here designated as Station 4. Ten large patches of foodplant were recorded in total, but in four of these the plants were either too short or the area of the patch was insufficient. The loss of Stations 1 & 2 meant that an outcome of Unfavourable: Declining was inevitable and Station 4 is not big enough to compensate for the loss of habitat in those Stations. Management recommendations are given for each Station, which include the need to allow fen vegetation to recover in Stations 1 & 2 by stopping the current practice of mowing. In Stations 3 & 4 regular small-scale management of scrub encroachment will be needed to ensure that gipsywort patches are not lost to succession. Light grazing should be continued in the enclosure alongside Station 2 to help maintain open fen conditions. A visit was also made to the nearby Ffrwd Farm reserve of the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales to sample gipsywort populations there for D. arquatus. Here cattle grazing is sufficiently high to restrict gipsywort to protected situations underneath established willow carr etc., although other parts of the reserve without grazing stock, which weren't surveyed on this visit, may have healthier populations of the foodplant. No examples of D. arquatus were found but further surveys are recommended. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Fowles c/o Natural Resources Wales, Maes y Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Habitats and biotopes Protected sites Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme invertebrates (see also specific species) NRW Thesaurus NRW Thesaurus 2023-12-31 geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2024-06-19 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml IPSV Subjects List IPSV Subjects List 2020-11-18 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.subjects NRW SMNR Vocabulary NRW SMNR Vocabulary 2023-12-27 geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-smnr-keywords There are no access restrictions to this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely. no limitations © CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and NRW's copyright. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose. English biota SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 Carmarthenshire (44) -4.3918 -4.2495 51.6582 51.7434 2016-08-12 2016-08-13 Fowles, A.P. (2016), The status of the gipsywort weevil Datonychus arquatus on Pembrey Air Weapons Range in 2016, NRW Evidence Report No. 180 25pp, Natural Resources Wales, Bangor. The status of the gipsywort weevil Datonychus arquatus on Pembrey Air Weapons Range in 2016 Database A] The final report in Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF formats. [B] Species records, which are held on the NRW Recorder 6 database. https://registry.nbnatlas.org/public/show/dp122 Data Download World Wide Web page Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation. false Sampling techniques included hand and visual searches. Invertebrate identifications were by a competent taxonomist. Sampling techniques included hand and visual searches. Invertebrate identifications were by a competent taxonomist.