Grass Survey 2015

Ann Parkinson and Anne Harvey, two experienced botanists and grass experts, surveyed the Millennium Green grasses in five areas, as seen on the image above: Improved Grassland, the Wet Area, the Scrub Area, the Re-seeded Wild Flower Area and the Peninsula. They identified and listed species of grass in order of frequency in each of the areas 

Their report is included here and will be made available along with illustrated grass identification folders at the entrance to the Millennium Green for the benefit of visitors and students.

Grass identification as well as the identification of other flora and fauna in the Millennium Green is expected to be an on-going project.


Anne Harvey (in blue) & Ann Parkinson (in red)

  

Thorverton Millennium Green Grass Survey 13th May 2015-­-Summary

On 13th May 2015 two surveyors walked the Millennium Green and recorded the plant and grass species. The area was divided up into the main grassland area, wet area, scrub area, the peninsula and the re-seeded wild flower area. The hedges and boundaries have yet to be completed.

The DAFOR scale was used, as it is a quick way of measuring the frequency of the
plants seen within a given area.

The DAFOR scale comprises the following categories:

Value
D -­ Dominant 75% Rarely used in practice
A – Abundant 51-75% Very common over most of site
F – Frequent 26-50%
O -­ Occasional 11-25%
R – Rare 1-10%

It is generally recognised that recording plant cover using the DAFOR scale is extremely subjective.

Notes

  1. If a species appears to be intermediate between two categories, it is generally assigned to the lower category, being affected by a number of factors and in particular recorder bias.
  2. There are additional categories of LD, LA and LF, where L=locally

Grass species found and listed in order of abundance (see image above for key to area names):-

Improved grassland
Holcus lanatus – Yorkshire Fog (a-ld)
Arrhenatherum elatius – False Oat-grass (f-la)
Dactylis glomerata – Cocksfoot (f)
Alopercurus pratensis – Meadow Foxtail (f)
Dactylis glomerata – Cocksfoot (f)
Poa trivialis – Rough-stalked Meadow-­grass (f)
Lolium perenne – Perennial Ryegrass (o-lf)
Agrostis capillaris – Common Bent (o)
Agrostis stolonifera – Creeping Bent (o)
Bromus hordeaceus – Soft Brome (o)
Fetuca rubra – Red Fescue (o)
Poa annua – Annual Meadow-grass (o)
Anthroxanthum odoratum – Sweet Vernal-­grass (r)
Peninsula Area
Holcus lanatus – Yorkshire Fog (a-ld)
Poa trivialis – Rough Stalked Meadow-grass (f-la)
Anthroxanthum odoratum – Sweet Vernal-grass (f)
Poa annua – Annual Meadow-grass (f)
Agrostis stolonifera – Creeping Bent (o)
Bromus hordeaceus – Soft Brome (o)
Dactylis glomerata – Cocksfoot (o)
Fetuca rubra – Red Fescue (o)
Lolium perenne – Perennial Ryegrass (o)
Carex hirta – Hairy Sedge (r)
Luzula campestris – Field Woodrush (r)
Juncus inflexus – Hard Rush (r)
Re-­seeded/Wild flower Area
Holcus lanatus – Yorkshire Fog (a)
Dactylis glomerata – Cocksfoot (a)
Agrostis stolonifera – Creeping Bent (f)
Agrostis capillaris – Common Bent (o)
Lolium perenne – Perennial Ryegrass (o)
Poa annua – Annual Meadow-grass (o)
Poa trivialis – Rough-stalked Meadow-grass (o)
Anthroxanthum odoratum – Sweet Vernal-­grass (r)

Scrub Area
Dactylis glomerata – Cocksfoot (o)
Holcus lanatus – Yorkshire Fog (o)
Alopercurus pratensis – Meadow Foxtail (r)
Bromus sterilis – Sterile Brome (r)

Wet Area
Agrostis stolonifera – Creeping Bent (o)
Holcus lanatus – Yorkshire Fog (o)
Glyceria fluitans – Floating Sweet-grass (r)