Coedydd Derw a Safleoedd Ystlumod Meirion/ Meirionnydd Oakwoods and Bat Sites

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (2%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (0.1%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (0.9%)
  
• Improved grassland (0.1%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (93.9%)
  
• Mixed woodland (2%)
  
• 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

• 91A0 Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles

  Meirionnydd Oakwoods are a very large example of old sessile oak woods in north Wales, with an outstanding Atlantic flora of bryophytes and lichens. Notable bryophyte species include the endangered Sematophyllum demissum and the nationally scarce Campylopus setifolius and Leptoscyphus cuneifolius. The woods – primarily of sessile oak Quercus petraea with an acidic ground flora – extend along a series of inter-connected valleys, with a wide variety of slopes and aspects, and include many narrow ravines and gorges. Management is diverse, including grazed and ungrazed areas, and stands managed silviculturally, or as minimum intervention. This wide range of environmental, topographic and management conditions contributes to the high biological diversity of this exceptional site. The woods extend into the adjacent Rhinog cSAC.

• 91E0 Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)  * Priority feature

  Meirionnydd Oakwoods and Bat Sites includes probably the most extensive area of alder Alnus glutinosa alluvial forest in north Wales. The woodland occurs on a dynamic floodplain, allowing cyclical regeneration and decay of alder stands, and the development of a natural structure, rich in dead wood. There is a rich ground flora, with notable plant species including globe-flower Trollius europaeus and creeping-jenny Lysimachia nummularia. The woodland occurs in a mosaic with species-rich marsh and wet grassland, and is continuous with stands of 91A0 Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles. The site is also important for wildfowl.

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

• 3260 Water courses of plain to montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation
• 4010 Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix
• 4030 European dry heaths
• 9180 Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines  * Priority feature
• 91D0 Bog woodland  * Priority feature

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

• 1303 Lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros

  This large composite site includes most of the known maternity roosts in Meirionnydd and some hibernacula, and comprises the centre of distribution for lesser horseshoe bats Rhinolophus hipposideros in Wales. The sheltered river valleys provide excellent tree cover and numerous suitable maternity roosts.

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

• Not Applicable