Pearman's Copse is a Local Nature Reserve in Lower Earley, a suburb of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It is owned and managed by Wokingham District Council.

Geography and site

The nature reserve is in size. The nature reserve is

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 ...

which features

coppiced Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a stump, which in many species encourages new shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been su ...

areas. The reserve is surrounded by community woodland and it links with

Dinton Pastures Country Park Dinton Pastures Country Park is a country park in the civil parish of Hurst, Berkshire, St Nicholas Hurst, in the Wokingham (borough), borough of Wokingham, near Reading, Berkshire, Reading in the England, English county of Berkshire. Geography ...

History

In 2005 the site was declared as a local nature reserve by Wokingham Borough Council.

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:

Invertebrates

* ''Lasius Flavus'' * ''Lasius Niger'' * ''

Gammarus ''Gammarus'' is an amphipod crustacean genus in the family Gammaridae. It contains more than 200 described species, making it one of the most species-rich genera of crustaceans. Different species have different optimal conditions, particularly ...

'' * ''

Asellus aquaticus ''Asellus aquaticus'' is a fresh water, freshwater crustacean resembling a woodlouse. It is known by various common names including pond slater, water louse, aquatic sowbug, water hoglouse and cress bug. Ecology ''Asellus aquaticus'' is common t ...

'' * ''

Armadillidium vulgare ''Armadillidium vulgare'', the common pill-bug, common pill woodlouse, roly-poly, slater, doodle bug, or carpenter, is a widespread European species of woodlouse. It is the most extensively investigated terrestrial isopod species. It is native t ...

'' * '' Armadillidium nasatum'' * ''Porcellio Scab''er

Mammals

* ''

Red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

'' * ''Eastern Grey squirrel'' * ''

Wood mouse The wood mouse (''Apodemus sylvaticus'') is a Muridae, murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (''Apodemus flavicollis'') but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the ...

Birds

* ''Wood pigeon'' * ''Collared dove'' * ''

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

'' * ''

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

Flora

The site has the following flora:

Trees

*''

Acer campestre ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native plant, native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mou ...

'' *''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch tree, birch family Betulaceae. The shrubs usually grow tall. The nut is round, in contrast to the longer Corylus maxima, filbert nut. Common hazel is native to E ...

'' *''

Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Alb ...

'' *''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

References

{{Local Nature Reserves in Berkshire Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Nature reserves in Berkshire Local Nature Reserves in Berkshire