Lower Bostraze and Leswidden SSSI

Lower Bostraze and Leswidden
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Cornwall
Area of Search	Cornwall
Grid reference	SW385315
Coordinates	50°07′34″N 5°39′39″W / 50.1262°N 5.6608°W / 50.1262; -5.6608Coordinates: 50°07′34″N 5°39′39″W / 50.1262°N 5.6608°W / 50.1262; -5.6608
Interest	Biological
Area	2.3 hectares (0.0230 km²; 0.00888 sq mi)
Notification	1996 (1996)
Natural England website

Lower Bostraze And Leswidden SSSI is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, located on the Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall, England, a little to the east of St Just, approximately 8 km west of Penzance.

Geography

There are two discrete parts of this site - Lower Bostraze China Clay Works and Leswidden Block Works; together they are 23,000 m² in size. Lower Bostraze is located at grid reference SW385315, and Leswidden at grid reference SW390310. The site was notified as an SSSI in 1996. The site lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Penwith Heritage Coast and is partly within the West Penwith Environmentally Sensitive Area.^[1] The site has also been designated a Special Area of Conservation.^[2]

Both parts of the site are underlain by the Land's End granite, part of the Cornubian batholith. Zones within the granite, altered by kaolinisation, have been extensively worked for china clay until recent years. Both areas are located within disused china clay workings, consisting of pits, benches, spoil tips and granitic debris with sparse vegetation cover.^[1]

Wildlife and ecology

The site's SSSI status is due to the presence of important populations of a very rare liverwort, the Western Rustwort Marsupella profunda. This species is rare in a British context (it is known from only two other locations in the UK: St Austell Clay Pits and Tregonning Hill, both within Cornwall).^[3] However, it is also internationally rare, being known only from Portugal, the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira; throughout this range it is a rare species. At Lower Bostraze and Leswidden, Western Rustwort is generally found growing on micaceous or clay waste substrates which are flat or gently sloping. Some patches occur on granitic rocks, usually where these are soft or crumbling. It appears to be a pioneer species, the largest populations being found on surfaces showing the early stages of colonisation by other bryophytes and by vascular plants.^[1]

The conservation charity Plantlife designated the St Just Moors, part of this SSSI, an Important Plant Area for the occurrence of Western Rustwort and the green algae desmids.^[4]

References

1 2 3 "Lower Bostraze And Leswidden" (PDF). Natural England. 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
↑ "Lower Bostraze and Leswidden". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
↑ "St Austell Clay Pits" (PDF). Natural England. 2000. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
↑ "St Just Moors (Lower Bostraze & Leswidden)". Plantlife. Retrieved 17 November 2011.

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Summary	Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Cornwall	Aire Point to Carrick Du Amble Marshes Baulk Head to Mullion Bedruthan Steps and Park Head Boconnoc Park and Woods Bodmin Moor, North Borlasevath and Retallack Moor Boscastle to Widemouth Brendonmoor Breney Common Bude Coast Cabilla Manor Wood Caerthillian to Kennack Carnkief Pond Carrick Heaths Carricknath Point to Porthbean Beach Carrine Common & Penwethers Chyenhal Moor Cligga Head Coombe Mill Coverack to Porthoustock Crow's Nest Crowhill Valley Dozmary Pool Draynes Wood East Lizard Heathlands Eglarooze Cliff Gerrans Bay to Camels Cove Godrevy Head to St Agnes Goonhilly Downs Goss and Tregoss Moors Greenamoor Greenscoombe Wood, Luckett Grimscott Gwithian to Mexico Towans Hayle Estuary & Carrack Gladden Kelsey Head Kennack to Coverack Kernick and Ottery Meadows Loe Pool Loggans Moor Lower Bostraze and Leswidden Lower Fal & Helford Intertidal Lymsworthy Meadows Lynher Estuary Malpas Estuary Marazion Marsh Meddon Moor Meneage Coastal Section Merthen Wood Minster Church Mullion Cliff to Predannack Cliff Nance Wood Newlyn Downs Ottery Valley Park Wood Penhale Dunes Pentire Peninsula Phoenix United Mine Plymouth Sound Shores And Cliffs Polruan to Polperro Polyne Quarry Porthgwarra to Pordenack Point Rame Head & Whitsand Bay Red Moor Redlake Meadows & Hoggs Moor Retire Common River Camel Valley and Tributaries Rock Dunes Rosemullion Rosenannon Bog and Downs St Austell Clay Pits St John's Lake St Nectan's Glen Steeple Point to Marsland Mouth Swanpool Sylvia's Meadow Talland Barton Tamar–Tavy Estuary Tintagel Cliffs Treen Cliff Tregonetha & Belowda Downs Tregonning Hill Trehane Barton Trelow Downs Trevose Head and Constantine Bay Upper Fal Estuary and Woods Upper Fowey Valley Ventongimps Moor West Cornwall Bryophytes West Lizard

Isles of Scilly	Annet Big Pool and Browarth Point Castle Down (Tresco) Chapel Down Eastern Isles Great Pool Gugh Higher Moors and Porth Hellick Pool Lower Moors Norrard Rocks Peninnis Head Pentle Bay, Merrick And Round Islands Plains and Great Bay Pool Of Bryher & Popplestone Bank Rushy Bay and Heathy Hill Samson Shipman Head & Shipman Down St Helen's St Martin's Sedimentary Shore Teän Western Rocks White Island Wingletang Down

Neighbouring areas Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Devon Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.