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Rackenford And Knowstone Moors
Rackenford and Knowstone Moors is a nature reserve of the Devon Wildlife Trust, situated about north-west of Tiverton, in Devon, England. The habitat is culm grassland. Description The reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. Its area is ."Rackenford and Knowstone Moors" ''Devon Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 12 November 2021. Culm grassland is found in poorly drained lowland areas of acidic soil where there is high rainfall. The vegetation includes abundant and |
Tiverton, Devon
Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-ford-ton" or "Twyverton", meaning "the town on two fords", and was historically referred to as "Twyford". The town stands at the confluence of the rivers Exe and Lowman. Human occupation in the area dates back to the Stone Age, with many flint tools found in the area. An Iron Age hill fort, Cranmore Castle, stands at the top of Exeter Hill above the town, and a Roman fort or marching camp was discovered on the hillside below Knightshayes Court near Bolham, just to the north of the town. Tiverton formed part of the inheritance of Aethelweard, youngest son of King Alfred. Countess Gytha of Wessex controlled the town in 1066 and the Domesday Book indicates that William the Conqueror was its tenant-in-chief in 1086. Tiverton was also the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundew
''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genus, genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilage, mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.McPherson, S.R. 2008. ''Glistening Carnivores''. Redfern NaturalHistory Productions Ltd., Poole. Charles Darwin performed much of the early research into ''Drosera'', engaging in a long series of experiments with Drosera rotundifolia which were the first to confirm carnivory in plants. In an 1860 letter, Darwin wrote, “…at the present moment, I care more about ''Drosera'' than the origin of all the species in the world.” Both the botanical name (from the Ancient Greek, Greek δρ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grasslands Of The United Kingdom
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems, 2000) * "A r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In Devon
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant " birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word '' physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunsdon National Nature Reserve
Dunsdon National Nature Reserve is a nature reserve of the Devon Wildlife Trust, near Dunsdon and about north-west of Holsworthy, in Devon, England. The habitat is culm grassland. Description The reserve, area , is a national nature reserve,"Dunsdon" ''Devon Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 17 November 2021. and a . Culm grassland is found in poorly drained lowland areas of acidic soil where there is high rainfall. The vegetation includes abundant |
Culm Measures
The Culm Measures are a thick sequence of geological strata originating during the Carboniferous Period that occur in south-west England, principally in Devon and Cornwall, now known as the Culm Supergroup. Its estimated thickness varies between 3600 m and 4750 m though intense folding complicates it at outcrop. They are so called because of the occasional presence in the Barnstaple–Hartland area of a soft, often lenticular, sooty coal, which is known in Devon as ''culm''. The word culm may be derived from the Old English word for coal ''col'' or from the Welsh word ''cwlwm'' meaning knot (due to the folding of the beds in which the coal is found). Most of the succession consists of shales and thin sandstones, but there are also occurrences of slate, limestone and chert. Culm grassland on the formation's slates and shales is composed of purple moor grass and rush pasture. It is noted for a wide diversity of species, some extremely rare including the marsh fritillary butterfly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from until . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as the Bronze Age, it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture. During the British Bronze Age, large megalithic monuments similar to those from the Late Neolithic continued to be constructed or modified, including such sites as Avebury, Stonehenge, Silbury Hill and Must Farm. That has been described as a time "when elaborate ceremonial practices emerged among some communities of subsistence agriculturalists of western Europe". History Early Bronze Age (EBA), c. 2500–1500 BC There is no clear consensus on the date for the beginning of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saucer Barrow
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. In Britain, most of them were built between 2200BC and 1100BC. This was the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Later Iron Age barrows were mostly different, and sometimes square. Description At its simplest, a round barrow is a hemispherical mound of earth and/or stone raised over a burial placed in the middle. Beyond this there are numerous variations which may employ surrounding ditches, stone kerbs or flat berms between ditch and mound. Construction methods range from a single creation process of heaped material to a complex depositional sequence involving alternating layers of stone, soil and turf with timbers or wattle used to help hold the structure together. The center may be placed a stone chamber or cist or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Bunting
The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a bunting. The specific ''schoeniclus'' is from Ancient Greek ''skhoiniklos'', a now unknown waterside bird. It breeds across Europe and much of the Palearctic. Most birds migrate south in winter, but those in the milder south and west of the range are resident. It is common in reedbeds and also breeds in drier open areas such as moorland and cultivation. For example, it is a component of the purple moor grass and rush pastures, a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. Taxonomy The common reed bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The '' Gallinago'' snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the '' Lymnocryptes'' snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the '' Coenocorypha'' snipes are found only in the outlying islands of New Zealand. The four species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae. Behaviour Snipes search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. The sensitivity of the bill is caused by filaments belonging to the fifth pair of nerves, which run almost to the tip and open immediately under the soft cuticle in a series of cells; a similar adaptation is found in sandpipers; this adaptation give this portion of the surface of the premaxillaries a honeycomb-like appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been influenced by the Old French ''corliu'', "messenger", from ''courir '', "to run". It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland's Piers Plowman "''Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre''". In Europe "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew (''Numenius arquata''). Description They are one of the most ancient lineages of scolopacid waders, together with the godwits which look similar but have straight bills. Curlews feed on mud or very soft ground, searching for worms and other invertebrates with their long bills. They will also take crabs and similar items. Distribution Curlews enjoy a worldwide distribution. Most species show strong migratory habits and consequently one or more species can be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dingy Skipper
The Dingy Skipper (''Erynnis tages'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Description ''Erynnis tages'' is different from other skippers because of the predominantly monochrome, gray-brown wing coloration and the marbling, which is only present on the upper side of the forewings, as well as a series of small white dots on the wing edge. It is probably the most moth-like British butterfly and normally rests with its wings in a moth-like fashion. This well-camouflaged, brown and grey butterfly can be confused with the grizzled skipper, the Mother Shipton moth or the burnet companion moth. Faded specimens of ''Carcharodus alceae'' are distinguished by glass spots in the forewing and by a jagged rear wing edge. A special feature is the restraint of the imagos, which is reminiscent of an deltoid moth with its roof-shaped wings placed one on top of the other. Range The Dingy Skipper is widespread from the Iberian Peninsula and Ireland in the west to the Pacific in East Asia. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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