Barle Valley 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 of ...

within

Exmoor National Park Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

, situated in the counties of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

through which the

River Barle The River Barle runs from the Chains on northern Exmoor, in Somerset, England to join the River Exe at Exebridge, Devon. The river and the Barle Valley are both designated as biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest. On the Chains above ...

flows. It was notified in its current form under the

Wildlife and Countryside Act The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

in 1988. The site includes the

Somerset Wildlife Trust Somerset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset, England. The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature ...

's Mounsey Wood Nature Reserve and the Knaplock and North Barton SSSI which has been notified since 1954. Euphydryas aurinia

Plantlife

The Barle Valley, which consists of steep sandstone slopes with acidic soils, contains large areas of ancient upland of

Sessile Oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

woodland. This woodland is present between and on the valley-side. Over Eighty-five different types of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

species have been recorded in the area, including thirty-one

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

indicators. As well, it features areas of the valley

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

, heathland and acidic grassland. These meadows are biodiverse with one of the few sites of

great burnet ''Sanguisorba officinalis'', commonly known as great burnet, is a plant in the family Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. It is native throughout the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America. It ...

in Exmoor. The mires are fed by springs which flow from the base of the sandstone slopes and are dominated by moss carpets due to their low-nutrient environment. In the woodland areas, there is an abundance of

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus, fungi species in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. The site contains a wide variety of woodland breeding birds including particularly high densities of

redstart {{Hatnote, For the ship, see USS Redstart (AM-378) Redstart is a name used for a number of songbirds that are not closely related to each other: Old world flycatcher family (Muscicapidae) * '' Phoenicurus'', 14 species found in Africa, Asia and E ...

(''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''),

wood warbler The wood warbler (''Phylloscopus sibilatrix'') is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asian Russia in the southern Ural Mountains. This warbler is strong ...

(''Phylloscopus sibilatrix'') and pied flycatcher (''Ficedula hypoleuca''). These are all summer migrants. The

provides an important habitat for

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

(''Alcedo atthis''),

dipper Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater. Taxonomy The genus ''Cinclus'' ...

(''Cinclus cinclus'') and

grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted t ...

(''Motacilla cinerea''), while scrub and heath have breeding stonechat (''Saxicola torquata'') and

whinchat The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycat ...

(''Saxicola rubetra'').

Other species

In the valley over twenty different species of butterfly have been recorded including the nationally scarce

marsh fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval s ...

(''Eurodryas aurinia'') and vulnerable

high brown fritillary ''Fabriciana adippe'', the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is li ...

(''Argynnis adippe''). Both

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

(''Capreolus capreolus'') and

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

(''Cervus elaphus'') graze in the pastures. Also,

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s (''Lutra lutra'') have been recorded on Barle. A colony of

dormice A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

(''Muscardinus avellanarius'') inhabits at least one of the

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

References

{{SSSIs Somerset biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1988 Woodland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Forests and woodlands of Somerset Wetland Sites of Special Scientific Interest Exmoor