Rhos Goch

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (0.2%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (32.9%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (1.7%)
  
• Dry grassland, Steppes (5.7%)
  
• Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (30.9%)
  
• Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (28.6%)
  

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

• 7110 Active raised bogs  * Priority feature

  Rhos Goch consists of a sequence of mire communities developed within a flat valley floor which crosses the interfluve between the Rivers Wye and Arrow. The site lies at an altitude of 257 m and is one of the most southerly raised bogs in the UK. The raised bog interest occupies the north-eastern part of the system and grades to the south-west into an extensive suite of poor-fen and swamp communities (7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs); wet carr woodland (comprising downy birch Betula pubescens, grey willow Salix cinerea and alder Alnus glutinosa) at varying stages of development occupies the relatively intact lagg zone at this site to the north, south and east. The raised bog surface has been much affected by scrub encroachment (now intensively managed) and the past influences of peat-cutting and fire. Drier areas dominated by heather Calluna vulgaris, cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix, purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea and a range of hypnoid mosses display a relatively impoverished range and cover of bog-mosses Sphagnum spp., although both common cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium and hare’s-tail cottongrass E. vaginatum are prominent. Numerous hollows and bog pools occur across the surface of the mire, and at least some bear evidence of artificial deepening. These support a flora dominated by carpets of the bog-mosses Sphagnum cuspidatum and S. recurvum, together with bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata, marsh cinquefoil Potentilla palustris, bog pondweed Potamogeton polygonifolius and occasional royal fern Osmunda regalis.

• 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs

  The transition mire and quaking bog at Rhos Goch manifests as a suite of poor-fen swamp communities juxtaposed within the context of a lagg zone between 7110 active raised bog and rush pasture. A wide range of communities are present, extending from S27 Carex rostrata – Potentilla palustris tall-herb fen and M5 Carex rostrata – Sphagnum squarrosum mire through to swamp vegetation more strongly dominated by single species such as bottle sedge Carex rostrata, water horsetail Equisetum fluviatile and common spike-rush Eleocharis palustris.

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

• 6410 Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-silt-laden soils (Molinion caeruleae)
• 91D0 Bog woodland  * Priority feature
• 91E0 Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)  * Priority feature

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