Merrick Kells

General site character

• Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (2%)
  
• Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (40%)
  
• Heath, Scrub, Maquis and Garrigue, Phygrana (33%)
  
• Humid grassland, Mesophile grassland (15%)
  
• Alpine and sub-Alpine grassland (10%)
  

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

• 4010 Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix

  Merrick Kells in south-west Scotland is representative of the typical western upland forms of M15 Scirpus cespitosus – Erica tetralix wet heath, including forms rich in deergrass Trichophorum cespitosum and those with purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea. This is the most extensive representation of wet heath in the UK on an upland site south of the Scottish Highlands.

• 6150 Siliceous alpine and boreal grasslands

  Merrick Kells holds the best developed areas of Siliceous alpine and boreal grasslands in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. This is the largest area of the habitat type south of the Highlands within the SAC series. Species-poor U10 Carex bigelowii – Racomitrium lanuginosum moss-heath is the main sub-type and is well-developed, with a high cover of woolly fringe-moss Racomitrium lanuginosum. The accompanying U7 Nardus stricta – Carex bigelowii grass-heath is one of the best representations south of the Highlands in terms of vegetation structure and floristics, although small in area. This occurrence of the habitat type is comparable with southern outliers on the hills of England and Wales.

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

  Merrick Kells is the most southerly of the characteristic oceanic Blanket bogs in the west of Scotland. It has an exceptionally wet climate, reflected in the range of pool patterns, from watershed mire to valleyside flow, and in the vegetation. There is a relatively high cover of bog-mosses Sphagnum spp., particularly S. papillosum, but S. magellanicum is also abundant and the site is noted for its frequent sward of S. pulchrum. Bog-rosemary Andromeda polifolia occurs infrequently.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not 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
• 3160 Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds
• 4030 European dry heaths
• 7150 Depressions on peat substrates of the Rhynchosporion
• 8110 Siliceous scree of the montane to snow levels (Androsacetalia alpinae and Galeopsietalia ladani)
• 8220 Siliceous 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

• 1355 Otter Lutra lutra