| Fens (Habitat Action Plan) |
| Cryptocephalus exiguus a rare leaf beetle found only in Pashford Poors Fen |
| Water vole Arvicola terrestris |
Lowland fens occur in two main types depending on the water they receive: poor-fens on base-poor soils and rich-fens on base-rich rocks. They are part of a complex of wetland habitats including reedbeds, swamp and marshes. They support a rich diversity of animal and plant life, and some can contain up to 550 species of higher plants; nearly a third of the UK's species..
1 Definition
Fens are peatlands that receive water from the ground as well as from rain water and river flooding. They fall into two types based on water movement and two other categories dependent on where the water is derived from or has travelled through: base-rich or poor rocks. Habitats covered by this plan include rushy pastures and fen meadows. All sites with substantial fen interest should be regarded as eligible for inclusion in this action plan. Overlap may be particularly marked with the following habitats: grazing marsh; reedbeds; lowland heath; mesotrophic lakes and aquifer-fed naturally fluctuating water bodies; and wet woodland.
2 Current Status
2.1 National
The area of fen in the UK has declined markedly this century through agricultural intensification, but the UK is thought to hold a substantial proportion of the remaining European resources.
2.2 Local
The area of fen in Suffolk is not known precisely. There are a few large sites with a range of valley and floodplain fen communities, and probably the majority of fen habitat is within these few sites. Most are protected as SSSIs and some also have international protection. There are many smaller sites with a narrower range of fen communities. Many are remnant stands of tall herb fen or fen meadow in a degraded state, often part of larger wet grassland sites. These are identified as County Wildlife Sites.
2.3 Natural Areas
Suffolk Coast and Heaths, The Broads, East Anglian Plain.
3 Current factors affecting the habitat in Suffolk
4 Current Action
Many of the best and largest fen sites are owned or managed by a conservation organisation, or by a sympathetic private landowner.
5 Action plan objectives and targets
1 Ensure by 2010 the long-term sustainable management (including water resources) of all fens which are currently in favourable condition or will be brought into favourable condition following restoration.
2 Promote the rehabilitation of degraded or declining fens, providing the environmental conditions to allow the development of target fen communities or species. Target all fens identified as 1st priority by the FIP STEERING GROUP for restoration by
1st priority
Sites of international importance: cSPA, SPA, RAMSAR, SAC, or sites with significant populations of species.
2 nd priority
Sites of national or regional importance, or with communities of European significance, whether or not designated, plus sites which by rehabilitation management or hydrological restoration could be brought to this condition.
3 rd priority
Fen sites of local importance.
This extremely rare beetle is only known from a single site in the UK, where it breeds among fen-meadow vegetation. Little is known of its ecology, but specimens are usually associated with herbs in damp hollows and larvae are likely to live amongst ground litter.
Cryptocephalus exiguus Schneider (Chrysomelidae)
Male. Scale = 2 mm
1 Current status
1.1 National
During the last century it was recorded from various sites in the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads and a valley mire in Lincolnshire but since 1954 it has only been known to occur at a single site, Pashford Poors Fen in West Suffolk. The beetle is listed as endangered on the GB Red List.
1.2 Local
A single male was found in 1980 and a female in 1986. Following two unsuccessful searches for the beetle in 1993 and 1996, a survey in 1997 found two individuals, suggesting that suitable habitat still occurs but only at a level capable of supporting a very small population of this beetle.
1.3 Natural Areas
Breckland
1.4 Protection
None.
2 Current factors causing loss or decline
Pashford Poors Fen is threatened by lowering of the water table due to drainage of the adjacent land..
3 Current action
Pashford Poors Fen is a SSSI and a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve
4 Action plan objectives and targets
1 Undertake further survey work to determine whether the beetle is still present at Pashford Poors Fen. There are also areas in the Suffolk Broads which may be suitable and which also need to be identified and surveyed. Given the very limited historical distribution of this species survey work of the Suffolk sites could effectively be undertaken as part of a national programme.
2 Review further possibilities for restoring the water table at Pashford Poors Fen through either additional bunding and/or land acquirement
3 Maintain and enhance the surviving population at Pashford Poors Fen. Once established, and if feasible, translocate the beetle to at least two former sites in Suffolk by the year 2005.
The Water vole was formerly common along the banks of rivers, streams, ditches, dykes, lakes and ponds throughout mainland Britain. Its decline is thought to be largely due to changing management of watercourses and possibly predation by the introduced mink. It is herbivorous and makes characteristic burrows and latrines among riverside vegetation.
1 Current Status
1.1 National
A national survey in 1989-90 demonstrated that populations were lost from three quarters of sites occupied in 1939. A loss of sites of 94% by 2000 was predicted. The rate of loss appears to have accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Strongholds appear to be southern and eastern England. Population estimates for the UK are put at 1,200,000 over-wintering individuals.
1.2 Local
Surveys in 1997 showed that Water voles were largely absent from the west and north of Suffolk. Water voles were present in central and eastern areas of the county including populations along the River Gipping, upper reaches of the River Alde, Thorpeness Hundred, Sizewell Belts, River Fynn, River Deben (one known site) and River Wang.
1.3 Natural Areas
All.
1.4 Protection
Listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
2 Current factors causing loss or decline
Habitat change through neglect, causing scrub encroachment and overshading.
3 Current action
A county survey has just been completed, with a report detailing findings. The report identifies target areas for future action.
4 Action plan objectives and targets
1 Maintain the current distribution and abundance of the Water vole in Suffolk
2 Restore Water voles throughout Suffolk by 2010.
3 Ensure management of watercourses and wetlands which facilitate the above.
