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), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

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 of ...

(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 Clave ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, 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'', the whorl-leaf watermilfoil or whorled water-milfoil, is a native to much of North America, North Africa, and Eurasia. It closely resembles another native milfoil, called northern water milfoil (''M. sibiricum ...

''(Myriophyllum verticillatum)'' and Stonewort ''(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 term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or ca ...

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 true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

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, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings alo ...

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