Biddle Street, Yatton () is a 44.8

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

biological 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) near the village of

Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea ...

, notified in 1994. Management practices and the variation in the soils has resulted in the watercourses supporting a wide range of aquatic plant communities. Where open water occurs plants such as Common Water-starwort ''(Callitriche stagnalis)'', European Frogbit ''(Hydrocharis morsusranae)'', Fan-leaved water-crowfoot ''(Ranunculus circinatus)''. The calcareous influence of the underlying Compton soils also encourages Whorled Water-milfoil ''(Myriophyllum verticillatum)'' and

Stonewort Charales is an order of freshwater green algae in the division Charophyta, class Charophyceae, commonly known as stoneworts. Depending on the treatment of the genus '' Nitellopsis'', living (extant) species are placed into either one family ( ...

''(Chara sp)''. Also present are the nationally scarce Rootless Duckweed ''(Wolffia arrhiza)'' and Hairlike Pondweed ''(Potamogeton trichoides)''.English Nature citation sheet for the site
(accessed on 16 July 2006) A rich invertebrate fauna is also associated with the

rhyne A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen (South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a drainage ditch, or canal, used to turn areas of wetland close to sea ...

s and ditches including aquatic beetles including populations of two nationally rare species, '' Hydacticus transversalis'' and Britain's largest water beetle, the Great Silver Water Beetle ''(Hydrophilus piceus)''. A number of

dragonflies 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 threate ...

and

damselflies 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 ...

are also found in the watercourses including the nationally scarce Variable Damselfly ''(Coenagrion pulchellum)''. Strong populations of the Common Freshwater Mussel occur as does the nationally rare Pea Mussel ''(Pisidium pseudosphaerium)''.

References

{{Authority control Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1994

See also

References