RSPB Scotland Trainee Ecologist, David Freeman, has been out surveying moss on our Loch Leven nature reserve...
Up the Hill Backwards
One of the first tasks I have undertaken as a Trainee Ecologist was to look at some of the more common bryophytes growing in the birch woods at RSPB Loch Leven. The woods themselves are situated on the slope of Vane Hill. They start on the edge of the Loch, spreading up the hill eventually giving way to heather dominated moorland at the top. A diverse range of mosses grows within the woodland. The majority of the day involved me scrambling up the hill sideways or backwards looking through the undergrowth for specimens. I’m glad to say I was rewarded with some fantastic finds.
Thuidium tamariscinum via biopix.com
After spending a few hours at the reserve I was able to document some of the more widespread mosses present. Epiphytes (something that grows on a tree but is not parasitic) were a common sight. The older more established trees were carpeted in Hypnum cupressiforme around the base, while Orthotrichum affine and Dicranoweisia cirrata pepper the higher and larger branches. These plants combine to create the familiar green layer over bark that people associate with a well developed natural woodland.
Beside the path that winds through the woodland patches of spiky Dicranum majus, Dicranum scoparium and Polytrichum commune help to create a range of diverse textures. Near the steep gurgling waterfalls and streams in the east, Thuidium tamariscinum occurs in distinct patches. It’s triple splitting branches forming a intricate and dizzying pattern. At the top of the hill, where the woodland meets the moorland, the ground layer underneath the heather quickly becomes dominated by Hypnum jutlandicum, Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi to the exclusion of everything else. This creates a fascinating carpet of lime greens and sickly yellows.
View from the top.
The reserve in general seems to be a fantastic place for nature of all kinds and I’m looking forward to going back. Time was of course limited and in terms of recording the moss flora of Loch Leven I only really scratched the surface, but considering the absence of any records for bryophytes for this part of the reserve some progress is better than none!
Catch up with David's previous blogs:
A Career in a new town
In search of golden bog moss
A trip to the far north