Wytham Woods are a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in Oxfordshire. It is a

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...

site. Habitats in this site, which formerly belonged to

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames. The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary. The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...

, include ancient woodland and limestone grassland. Over 500 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

have been recorded, and probably more data about the bird, mammal and invertebrate fauna have been recorded about this site than any other in the country as a result of studies by the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. More than 900 species of beetles, 580 flies, 200 spiders, 700 bees, wasps and ants, 250 true bugs and 27 earthworms have been recorded. An important aspect of these data is that they are long term, with bird data dating back for over 60 years, badger data for over 30 years and climate change data for the last 18 years. Although the majority of the research activity is Oxford-based, any organisation can use the site, with permission. Current projects include the continuation of long-term study of

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

and

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Af ...

s, bats and climate change, but also newly created projects such as the Darwin Tree of Life project, in conjunction with the

Wellcome Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is located on the Wellcome ...

. Access is only allowed with a permit from the owner, the University of Oxford.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

nbsp;– Wytham Woods official website {{SSSIs Oxfordshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Oxfordshire Forests and woodlands of Oxfordshire