Barle Valley is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

within Exmoor National Park, situated in the counties of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

through which the River Barle flows. It was notified in its current form under the

Wildlife and Countryside Act The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69) is an act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Birds Directive, Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the ...

in 1988. The site includes the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and the Knaplock and North Barton SSSI which has been notified since 1954. Euphydryas aurinia

Plantlife

The Barle Valley, which consists of steep sandstone slopes with acidic soils, contains large areas of ancient upland of Sessile Oak woodland. This woodland is present between and on the valley-side. Over Eighty-five different types of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

species have been recorded in the area, including thirty-one

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

indicators. As well, it features areas of the valley

mire A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

, heathland and acidic grassland. These meadows are biodiverse with one of the few sites of great burnet in Exmoor. The mires are fed by springs which flow from the base of the sandstone slopes and are dominated by moss carpets due to their low-nutrient environment. In the woodland areas, there is an abundance of

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

, with one hundred and sixty-five populations of epiphytic lichens are present, many of which are from rare species. Due to a large amount of ancient woodland indicators in Barle it gives it a very high index of ecological continuity.

Birds

The site contains a wide variety of woodland breeding birds including particularly high densities of redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''),

wood warbler The wood warbler (''Phylloscopus sibilatrix'') is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asian Russia in the southern Ural Mountains. This warbler is stro ...

(''Phylloscopus sibilatrix'') and pied flycatcher (''Ficedula hypoleuca''). These are all summer migrants. The River Barle provides an important habitat for

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

(''Alcedo atthis''),

dipper Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater. Taxonomy The genus ''Cinclus'' ...

(''Cinclus cinclus'') and grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea''), while scrub and heath have breeding stonechat (''Saxicola torquata'') and

whinchat The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small bird migration, migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and Palearctic, western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now pla ...

(''Saxicola rubetra'').

Other species

In the valley over twenty different species of butterfly have been recorded including the nationally scarce

marsh fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval st ...

(''Eurodryas aurinia'') and vulnerable

high brown fritillary ''Fabriciana adippe'', the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is li ...

(''Argynnis adippe''). Both roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus'') and

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

(''Cervus elaphus'') graze in the pastures. Also,

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

s (''Lutra lutra'') have been recorded on Barle. A colony of

dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family (biology), family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their ...

(''Muscardinus avellanarius'') inhabits at least one of the

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

References

{{SSSIs Somerset biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1988 Woodland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Forests and woodlands of Somerset Wetland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Exmoor