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Wingletang Down
Wingletang Down is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the southern side of the island of St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly, England, UK, which is noted for its biological characteristics. The site is managed by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust and is within the Isles of Scilly Heritage Coast and the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is the only site in Great Britain and Ireland for the small fern, least adder's–tongue (''Ophioglossum lusitanicum''). As of 11 September 2009 the SSSI was considered to be in ″unconditional recovering″ condition because European gorse (''Ulex europaeus'') and bramble (''Rubus fruticosus'') are at unacceptable levels. History Forty–three Bronze Age cairns have been recorded, some of which have granite kerbstones and others are linked by hedge walls. A cairn usually indicates a burial site. On the west side of St Warna's Cove is a stone–lined well that is reputed to be of great antiquity, and close to wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick. The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects (''pots,'' ''vessels or vases'') or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as in semiconductors. The word "'' ceramic''" comes from the Greek word (), "of pottery" or "for pottery", from (), "potter's clay, tile, pottery". The earliest kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carex Arenaria
''Carex arenaria'', or sand sedge, is a species of perennial sedge of the genus ''Carex'' which is commonly found growing in dunes and other sandy habitats, as the species epithet suggests (Latin , "sandy"). It grows by long stolons under the soil surface. External links *Flora Europaea The ''Flora Europaea'' is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by Cambridge University Press. The aim was to describe all the national Floras of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify ...: Carex arenaria L*Nordic virtual flor Carex, arenaria Plants described in 1753 Flora of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Carex-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glaux Maritima
''Lysimachia maritima'' is a plant species belonging to the family Primulaceae. It was previously called ''Glaux maritima'', the only species in the monotypic genus ''Glaux''. The species has a number of common names, including sea milkwort, sea milkweed, and black saltwort. Distribution and habitat ''Lysimachia maritima'' has a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere and is native to Europe, central Asia and North America. The species grows mainly in coastal habitats in Europe but also occurs in mesic interior habitats in Asia and North America, in both wet ground and water. It is known from alkaline meadows in desert regions in Utah, at elevations of up to 2600 m (8500 ft). Description This plant differs from all other genera of the Primulaceae in having apetalous Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the IPA itself is not legally enforced. The term plant life in this case refers to any number of species, encompassing algae, fungi, lichens, liverworts, mosses, and wild vascular plants. IPAs are selected with the intention of focusing on the conservation of the important wild plant populations in these areas, and act as a subset in the broader context of Key Biodiversity Areas. Designating an IPA is intended to gain awareness and encourage long-term conservation through an 'ecosystem-based' approach. The identification of IPAs is based on three criteria: A. Presence of threatened plant species: the site holds significant populations of one or more species that are of global or regional conservation concern B. Presence of botanical rich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plantlife
Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping people to enjoy and learn about them. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. Plantlife works across all key plant ecosystems and habitats focussing on specific habitats and species depending on need. They promote the importance of all plants and fungi for a sustainable and healthy planet and at present have a particular focus in the UK on grasslands temperate forests due to their acute vulnerability and on at-risk species recovery. Founded in 1989, Plantlife now has 15,000 members and many more supporters. Plantlife enhances, restores, protects and celebrates natural heritage through working with landowners, other conservation organisations, public sector bodies, the private sector and the wider public. Through their work they connec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing (predation), browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903. Shrubland species generally show a wide range of adaptations to fire, such as heavy seed production, lignotubers, and fire-induced germination. Botanical structural form In botany and ecology a shrub is defined as a much-branched woody plant less than 8 m high and usually with many Plant stem, stems. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat regions covered with wind-swept sand or dunes with little or no vegetation are called ''ergs'' or ''sand seas''. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, but most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and have a shorter ''slip face'' in the lee side. The valley or trough between dunes is called a ''dune slack''. Dunes are most common in desert environments, where the lack of moisture hinders the growth of vegetation that would otherwise interfere with the development of dunes. However, sand deposits are not restricted to deserts, and dunes are also found along sea shores, along streams in semiarid climates, in areas of glacial outwash, and in other areas where poorly cemented san ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaths In The British National Vegetation Classification System
This article gives an overview of the heath communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. Introduction The heath communities of the NVC were described, along with the mire communities, in Volume 2 of ''British Plant Communities'', first published in 1991. In total, 22 heath communities have been identified. The heath communities consist of six separate subgroups: * five lowland dry heath communities, all with distinct, largely non-overlapping distributions in England and Wales ( H1, H2, H6, H8 and H9) * three localised communities, with non-overlapping ranges in southern England, which are considered transitional between the above and the wetter communities classified in the NVC as mires ( H3, H4 and H5) * two maritime heath communities, found exclusively on the coasts of northern and western Britain; one ( H7) is more widespread than the other ( H11) * four submontane heaths from upland areas in northern and western Britain; two of these ( H10 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podzolic
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of human interference through grazing and burning. In some British moorlands with podzolic soils, cambisols are preserved under Bronze Age barrows (Dimbleby, 1962). Term Podzol means "under-ash" and is derived from the Russian под (pod) + зола́ (zola); the full form is "подзо́листая по́чва" (podzolistaya pochva, "under-ashed soil"). The term was first given in middle of 1875 by Vasily Dokuchaev. It refers to the common experience of Russian peasants of plowing up an apparent under-layer of ash (leached or E horizon) during first plowing of a virgin soil of this type. Characteristics Podzols can occur on almost any parent material but generally derive from either quartz-rich sands and sandstone or sedimentary debris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeletal Soil
Orthents are soils defined in USDA soil taxonomy as entisols that lack due to either steep slopes or parent materials that contain no permanent weatherable minerals (such as ironstone). Typically, Orthents are exceedingly shallow soils. They are often referred to as ''skeletal soils'' or, in the United Nations FAO soil classification, as ''lithosols''. The basic requirement for recognition of an orthent is that any former soil has been either completely removed or so truncated that characteristics typical of all orders other than entisols are absent. Characteristics Most orthents are found in very steep, mountainous regions where erodible material is so rapidly removed by erosion that a permanent covering of deep soil cannot establish itself. Such conditions occur in almost all regions of the world where steep slopes are prevalent. In Australia and a few regions of Africa, orthents occur in flat terrain because the parent rock contains ''absolutely no weatherable minerals ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or ''granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals. Granite is nearly alway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
