Machynys Ponds () 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 ...

(SSSI) in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Wales, designated in 1993 for its

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

features.

SSSI

Machynys Ponds SSSI is located approximately to the south-east of

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

and immediately to the east of the village of

Machynys Machynys, or Machynys Peninsula is a coastal area just to the south of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the nineteenth century an industrial community lived here working at the brickworks and tinplate works that occupied the site. When the ...

. The site is approximately inland from the north bank of the

River Loughor The River Loughor () () is a river in Wales which marks the border between Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns ar ...

estuary, covers and is above sea-level. The SSSI comprises four

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, one large and to the east, three smaller, connected by fen-carr hosting willow and scrub. The site is designated for its standing-water and swamp habitats, which are of interest of themselves, but also support a diverse and rich species mix. Of special note, and an additional reason for designation, is the presence of 14 species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

and

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...

found at the ponds. The ponds are situated on a

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

– debris at the front of a glacier – which forms the Machynys Peninsula. They are flooded

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or Mining, mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickwor ...

s, dug to supply local 19th century brickworks and inundated in a great storm in 1896, and are in part of interest for the habitats that have formed in the decades since their creation. The large pond is populated with spiked water-milfoil ('' Myriophylium spicatum''), Canadian waterweed (''

Elodea canadensis ''Elodea canadensis'' (American waterweed or Canadian waterweed or pondweed) is a perennial aquatic plant, or submergent macrophyte, native to most of North America.Flora of North America''Elodea canadensis''/ref>Plants of British Columbia''Elode ...

''), yellow-flowered fringed water-lily (''

Nymphoides peltata ''Nymphoides peltata'' (syn. ''Villarsia nymphaeoides'', ''Limnanthemum peltatum'' S.G. Gmel., ''Nymphoides nymphaeoides'' (L.) Britton, fringed water lily, yellow floating heart, floating heart, water fringe, entire marshwort) is perennial, root ...

''), and beds of bulrush (''

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' is a perennial herbaceous wetland plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is known in English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins (sometimes as common b ...

''), common reed (''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is a wetland grass that can grow up to tall and has a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. Description ''Phragmites australis' ...

''), sea club-rush (''

Scirpus maritimus ''Bolboschoenus maritimus'' is a species of flowering plant from family Cyperaceae. Common names for this species include sea clubrush, cosmopolitan bulrush, alkali bulrush, saltmarsh bulrush, and bayonet grass. It is found in seaside wetland hab ...

'') and grey club-rush (''

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani ''Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani'' is a species of flowering plant in the Cyperaceae, sedge family known by the common names softstem bulrush, grey club-rush, and great bulrush. It can be found throughout much of the world; it has been reported f ...

''). The pond provides a habitat and breeding ground for a variety of waterfowl such as the

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...

tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usual ...

and dabchick. Other avians species nesting at the pond include

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...

reed warbler The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler famil ...

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus ''Acrocephalus (bird), Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are ...

reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the Emberiza, bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old High German, ...

and other

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

s. The three smaller ponds are more shallow – one sufficiently so to dry up in times of low rainfall. They host rushes (''

Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and ...

'') and bulrush, water mint (''

Mentha aquatica ''Mentha aquatica'' (water mint; syn. ''Mentha hirsuta'' Huds.Euro+Med Plantbase Project''Mentha aquatica'') is a perennial flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It grows in moist places and is native to much of Europe, northwest Africa ...

''), false fox-sedge ('' Carex otrubae''), great willowherb (''

Epilobium hirsutum ''Epilobium hirsutum'' is a flowering plant belonging to the willowherb genus '' Epilobium'' in the family Onagraceae. It is commonly known as the great willowherb, great hairy willowherb or hairy willowherb. Local names include codlins-and-cream ...

''), common fleabane (''

Pulicaria dysenterica ''Pulicaria dysenterica'', the common fleabane, or, in North America, meadow false fleabane, is a species of fleabane in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia where it grows in a variety of habitats ranging from semi-ar ...

''), gipsywort ('' Lyccous europaeus''), branched bur-reed (''

Sparganium erectum ''Sparganium erectum'', the simplestem bur-reed or branched bur-reed, is a perennial plant species in the genus '' Sparganium''. The larvae of the moth '' Plusia festucae'' feed on ''Sparganium erectum''. Subspecies: * ''Sparganium erectum'' ...

''), common marsh-bedstraw ('' Galium palusrre''), and water-plantain (''

Alisma plantago-aquatica ''Alisma plantago-aquatica'', also known as European water-plantain, common water-plantain or mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering plant, flowering aquatic plant widespread across most of Europe and Asia, and apparently spread elsewhere in both ...

''). Two species, parsley water-dropwort (''

Oenanthe lachenalii ''Oenanthe lachenalii'', parsley water-dropwort, is a flowering plant in the Apiaceae, carrot family, which is native to Europe and parts of North Africa. It is a declining plant of coastal wetlands. Description Parsley water-dropwort is a hair ...

'') and sea club-rush indicate

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...

. More shallow areas of the ponds contain mare's-tail ('' Hippuris vulgaris'') and lesser water-parsnip (''

Berula erecta ''Berula erecta'', known as lesser water-parsnip, cutleaf waterparsnip, or narrow-leaved water-parsnip, is a member of the carrot family. Growing to around tall, it is found in or by water. It is widespread across much of Europe, Asia, Australi ...

''), grey willow (''

Salix cinerea ''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain ...

''); various-leaved water-starwort ('' Callitriche platycarpa''), brackish water-crowfoot ('' Ranunculus baudotii'') and stonewort ('' Chara vuloaris''). Amongst the dragonfly fauna of the site are the fenland hairy dragonfly (''Brachytron pratense''), the black-tailed skimmer (''Orthetrum cancellatum''), the ruddy darter (''Symtetrum sanguineum''), and the migrant hawker (''Aeshna mixta''). The site also hosts a diversity of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

and

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

species, and the profile of invertebrates found at the ponds is found to be related to ponds of south and south-east England.

References

{{reflist

External links

*SSSI information from

Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales () is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Countryside Council for Wales, E ...

:
SSSI Citation
**
Your Special Site and its Future
'
Species groups
–

National Biodiversity Network The National Biodiversity Network (UK) (NBN) is a collaborative venture set up in 2000 in the United Kingdom committed to making biodiversity information available through various media, including on the internet via the NBN Atlas—the data searc ...

Machynys Ponds
in ''The Llanelli Levels'', Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter No.1 May 1995 *Maps:
SSSI Citation map

MAGIC map
– DEFRA
NBN Gateway map
- National Biodiversity Network Ponds of Europe Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Carmarthen & Dinefwr

SSSI

See also

References

External links