Dunkeld - Blairgowrie Lochs

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (68.5%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (4.5%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (4.5%)
  
• Dry grassland, Steppes (3.5%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (16%)
  
• Coniferous woodland (0.5%)
  
• Mixed woodland (1.5%)
  
• Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (1%)
  

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

• 3130 Oligotrophic to mesotrophic standing waters with vegetation of the Littorelletea uniflorae and/or of the Isoëto-Nanojuncetea

  This site, comprising five lochs along the Lunan Burn on the northern edge of the central Scottish lowlands, provides a natural example of gradually-increasing eutophy. The three upper lochs (Craiglush, Lowes and Butterstone) lie north of the Highland Boundary Fault with catchments which are predominantly upland and acidic; the lower lochs (Clunie and Marlee) lie south of the Fault with predominantly agricultural and more enriched catchments. The series provides examples of relatively unpolluted oligotrophic to mesotrophic loch types, which are rare and decreasing habitats in Britain, especially in the lowlands. The aquatic flora is exceptionally diverse, with the number of pondweeds Potamogeton spp. at Loch of the Lowes and Loch Clunie being outstanding. 1833 slender naiad Najas flexilis occurs in each of the lochs. The site also contains a very large number of plant species, including many of local or national rarity, and is notable for the extensive area of poor-fen.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

• 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

• 1833 Slender naiad Najas flexilis

  This site contains the most easterly occurrence of slender naiad Najas flexilis on the Scottish mainland and is the second-largest known population. The site consists of a cluster of five lochs lying along a river valley – the Lochs of Butterstone, Craiglush and Lowes are about 5 km upstream of Lochs Clunie and Marlee. They are all mesotrophic waterbodies with a diverse macrophyte flora. Slender naiad has been recorded since the 19^th century in the lochs, and it was present in all of them in 1994.

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

• 1355 Otter Lutra lutra