The West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest is a group of seven locations of former mining activity, that form a single

SSSI 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 ...

and

Important Plant Area Important Plant Areas (IPA) is a programme set up in the UK, by the organisation Plantlife, to provide a framework for identifying and maintaining the richest sites for plant life, possibly within existing protected areas; though the protection of ...

in western

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The site is noted for its

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

characteristics and derives its name from the rare

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

species found there.

Geography

The SSSI comprises seven individual sites, spread over a radius around the towns of

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

and

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

, totalling an area of .Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End''

Wildlife and ecology

All of the areas making up the site are situated on disused mining land. The copper laden spoil tips, along with the derelict mine buildings, support populations of rare bryophytes (

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es and

liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...

). As a result,

Plantlife Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. , it manages 24 nature reserves around the United Kingdom. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. History Plantlife was founded in 1989. Its first president was Professor David Bellamy ...

has designated the whole site an

. The site mainly supports the nationally rare liverwort species of '' Cephaloziella integerrima'', ''

Cephaloziella massalongi ''Cephaloziella'' is a genus of liverworts. ''Cephaloziella varians'' (Gottsche) Steph. is the only liverwort that occurs in the continental Antarctic. Species * ''Cephaloziella acanthophora'' * ''Cephaloziella aenigmatica'' * ''Cephaloziell ...

'' and '' Cephaloziella nicholsonii'', as well as the nationally rare moss '' Scopelophila cataractae''. The populations found here represent 20% of the total known populace of these species within

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. ''Cephaloziella integerrima'' has only been found in two other sites within the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. At the Godolphin Bridge location, the nationally rare '' Pohlia andalusica'' and the nationally scarce '' Bryum donianum'' and '' Cephaloziella stellulifera'' can be found, along with ''Cephaloziella massalongi'', '' Fossombronia caespitiformis'' and ''Scopelophila cataractae''. The Dolcoath Road area supports the nationally rare ''Cephaloziella integerrima'' and ''Cephaloziella nicholsonii'', as well as the nationally scarce '' Cephaloziella calyculata'' and ''Pohlia andalusica''. On both of the Tolgus Tin Works sites grow the four main bryophyte species along with ''Pohlia andalusica'', which produces capsules only at this location in Britain. The West Basset Stamps location supports the three main liverworts along with ''Pohlia andalusica'', ''Cephaloziella stellulifera'' and the nationally scarce mosses '' Bryum pallescens'' and the capsule producing '' Gymnostomum viridulum'', again only at this site in Britain. Poldice Valley supports ''Cephaloziella nicholsonii'', ''Cephaloziella stellulifera'', ''Pohlia andalusica'' and ''Bryum donianum''. On the exposed areas of the spoil tips on Porkellis Moor can be found the three main liverworts as well as ''Pohlia andalusica''.

References

{{SSSIs Cornwall biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1999 Mining in Cornwall