Berwyn a Mynyddoedd de Clwyd/ Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (0.5%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (31%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (52.5%)
  
• Dry grassland, Steppes (11.5%)
  
• Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (0.5%)
  
• Improved grassland (0.5%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (0.5%)
  
• Coniferous woodland (0.5%)
  
• Inland rocks, Screes, Sands, Permanent Snow and ice (2%)
  
• Other land (including Towns, Villages, Roads, Waste places, Mines, Industrial sites) (0.5%)
  

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

• 4030 European dry heaths

  Berwyn contains the largest stands of upland European dry heath in Wales. The dry heath is characteristic of Berwyn’s more easterly location and less oceanic climate than the other major Welsh uplands, and consists principally of NVC type H12 Calluna vulgaris – Vaccinium myrtillus heath, with frequent crowberry Empetrum nigrum and occasional cowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea. Other heath vegetation present includes areas of H18 Vaccinium myrtillus – Deschampsia flexuosa heath and in some areas stands of damp H21 Calluna vulgaris – Vaccinium myrtillus – Sphagnum capillifolium heath. These latter heaths occur in an intermediate position between the drier heaths and blanket mire and support occasional plants of lesser twayblade Listera cordata.

• 7130 Blanket bogs (* if active bog)  * Priority feature

  Berwyn supports the most extensive tract of near-natural blanket bog in Wales. Much of the blanket bog vegetation is dominated by NVC type M19 Calluna vulgaris – Eriophorum vaginatum blanket mire, with crowberry Empetrum nigrum and an often extensive hypnoid moss cover; within this community cloudberry Rubus chamaemorus is found close to the southernmost limit of its British range. On deeper peats, there are smaller stands of M18 Erica tetralix – Sphagnum papillosum mire, some of which exhibit distinctive surface patterning. The mire vegetation shows transitions to heather-dominated dwarf-shrub heath.

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

• 6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (* important orchid sites)
• 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs
• 8120 Calcareous and calcshist screes of the montane to alpine levels (Thlaspietea rotundifolii)
• 8210 Calcareous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation

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

• Not Applicable

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

• Not Applicable