WRPR_data

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

Geographical area

	This register covers: Vice-County 38 Warwickshire plus those parts of adjacent vice-counties which lie within modern administrative county of Warwickshire, namely: VC 23 Oxfordshire - Little Compton VC 32 Northamptonshire - Stoneton VC 33 East Gloucestershire - Admington, Quinton, Clifford Chambers, Dorsington, Long Marston, Preston-on-Stour, Welford-on-Avon, Weston-on-Avon VC 37 Worcestershire - Oldberrow, VC 55 Leicestershire - ? strip along A5.
BSBI Guidelines for choosing the Geographic area: It is important that one standard unit is chosen and the vice-county seems the most sensible because: the vice-counties are already defined throughout the British Isles and are unchanging in their boundaries; there are recorders or recording groups for each vice-county; there is an element of consistency in the size and nature of a vice-county. Where a vice-county is a particularly awkward unit from the political point of view, or where a list of rare species is being drawn up for another unit of area - a Natural Area, perhaps - the information should first be organised by vice-county and then re-organised for the chosen area.		RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

Categories of plants included:

The BSBI Guidelines suggest seven categories for inclusion in a County Rare Plants Register. Click on the category to read the appropriate BSBI Guidelines. I have subdivided these sections according to status (native or alien, extinct or extant) and listed the number of Warwickshire species in each. Click on the species number to view the list. I have also added an eighth category - the Threatened Plants Database species.

1 Internationally Rare endemic to Britain or recognised internationally for conservation importance.	1a Native, extant in Warwickshire 1b Native, extinct in Warwickshire 1c Alien, extant in Warwickshire 1d Alien, extinct in Warwickshire		1 species 7 species 7 species 5 species
2 Nationally Rare (RDB) present in 3 or less hectads (10 kilometres squares) in Britain, (including those in the above categories)	2a Native, extant in Warwickshire 2b Native, extinct in Warwickshire 2c Alien, extant in Warwickshire 2d Alien, extinct in Warwickshire		0 species 6 species 9 species 12 species
3 Nationally Scarce (NSS) present in 10 or less hectads (10 kilometres squares) in Britain, (including those in the above categories)	3a Native, extant in Warwickshire 3b Native, extinct in Warwickshire 3c Alien, extant in Warwickshire 3d Alien, extinct in Warwickshire		36 species 24 species 28 species 9 species
4 Locally Rare present in 3 or less square kilometres in Warwickshire, (including those in the above categories)	4a Native, extant in Warwickshire		127 species
5 Locally Scarce and declining present in 10 or less square kilometres in Warwickshire, (including those in the above categories) and thought to be declining	5a Native, extant in Warwickshire		98 species
6 All Extinct Native Species, (including those in the above categories)	6 All Extinct Natives		81 species
7 Alien Species of Particular Importance, (including those in the above categories)	7 Special Aliens		39 species
8 The Threatened Plants Database	Warwickshire species only		53 species
Summary List of all the above plants, with categories and habitats		384 species
PRIORITY FOR CHECKING OUT BY HABITAT		x species
BSBI Guidelines for choosing what to include: The categories for inclusion in a CRPR (County Rare Plants Register) are as set out in Farrell & Perring 1996. No species should be included if it is not native to the vice-county or thought to have expanded its range into the vice-county by anthropogenic processes (except under rule 7 below). In practice this is often a matter of judgement, and some species are likely to be present both as natives and as garden escapes. Where a difficult choice has to be made, the facts as known can be set out in the text, allowing the reader to come to an informed decision. It is important to include under each entry - and preferably in a summary table - which category each species qualifies under.

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

Internationally Rare - BSBI Guidelines

1. INTERNATIONALLY RARE SPECIES

BSBI Guidelines for listing Internationally Rare Species

This is often seen as the most important group of species in each vice-county, although they may not be particularly rare within that county. It is very useful to give a full account of those species which are characteristic of a particular area, or even endemic to it. The current definition of an internationally rare species is any which is either

endemic to Britain (or even to the vice-county in question). This includes endemic hybrids involving alien taxa. It might be argued that such alien endemics are of lower conservation importance than native ones, but they should be included and then the details can be explained in the text. or

is of restricted distribution internationally, and has its status recognised by some international standard such as the IUCN Red Lists, the EU Habitats Directive, or the Bern Convention. Wherever possible, the global distribution of these species should be described in the text of the CRPR and the importance of the local population evaluated.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

Nationally Rare (Red Data Book)

2a NATIONALLY RARE PLANTS NATIVE, AND EXTANT, IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Internationally Rare Species

The third edition of the British Red Data Book is currently awaiting publication by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Once this has been published, it will be easier for authors to give good accounts of these species locally but, in the meantime, interim lists can be found in Scarce Plants in Britain, in the computer program Recorder, or in the Pink Book (Hodgetts, Palmer & Wigginton 1996).

It is probably the Nationally Rare species which are most vulnerable to damage caused by plant hunters and collectors, so it is entirely justified if a CRPR does not give detailed locations. The reasons for this can be explained in the text.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

2b NATIONALLY RARE PLANTS NATIVE, BUT EXTINCT, IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Internationally Rare Species

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

3. Nationally Scarce Species

3a NATIONALLY SCARCE PLANTS NATIVE, AND EXTANT, IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Nationally Scarce Species

In many cases it is the Nationally Scarce species which are of the greatest interest ecologically, rather than just for their rarity. It is often the case that a few such species are quite widespread within the counties in the middle of their range, and they are sometimes indicators of good quality habitat. It is particularly useful for a CRPR to go into some depth in their analysis of these species, highlighting threats and opportunities for their conservation.

Accounts of the Nationally Scarce species can be found in Scarce Plants in Britain, and the lists are also given on Recorder. It is hoped that updated lists of Nationally Scarce species will be given in the Atlas 2000.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

3b NATIONALLY SCARCE PLANTS NATIVE, BUT EXTINCT, IN WARWICKSHIRE
BSBI Guidelines for Nationally Scarce Species Such species should be included, even if there are no current sites but the entries can be short and should explain the circumstances.			RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

3c NATIONALLY SCARCE PLANTS PRESENT AS ALIENS, IN WARWICKSHIRE
BSBI Guidelines for Nationally Scarce Species Experience shows that there are often Nationally Scarce species present in a county as casuals or as garden escapes.			RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

3d NATIONALLY SCARCE PLANTS ALIEN AND EXTINCT, IN WARWICKSHIRE
BSBI Guidelines for Nationally Scarce Species Such species should be included, even if there are no current sites or if it likely that they are not native to the region, but the entries can be short and should explain the circumstances.			RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

4. Locally Rare Species

4 LOCALLY RARE PLANTS NATIVE, AND EXTANT IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Locally Rare Species

The category "locally rare" is of some interest. It draws the attention of planners and sites managers to species which might be on the edge of their range or for some other reason uncommon within the county. In general it has been used to make up at least half of all the species included in CRPRs.

There has been much controversy about this category. The original proposal by Farrell & Perring is that a species should be defined as "locally rare" if it was known to be present within three or fewer "sites" within a vice-county. In this context a "site" is a discrete area within a moveable kilometre square, which seems at first glance to be slightly vague but in general is fairly easy to apply in practice. It has been argued that this concept "three or fewer" is arbitrary and not proportional to the size of the vice-county, but there do not appear to be any better alternatives. Three is a number which is convenient to deal with in any size of vice-county, whereas a category that is based on a proportion of the size of a vice-county will produce either very long lists for the larger vice-counties or very short lists for the smaller ones. There is nothing unscientific about this principle - the people in Luxembourg, for example, are just as entitled to draw up lists of nationally rare plants as we are, even though Luxembourg is much smaller than Britain. It is a consequence of geography that political and social organisation corresponds to other features than surface area, and it is largely to those units of organisation that a CRPR is addressed.

Using this system, Locally Rare species tend to fall into a number of categories:

• Native species which occur in restricted habitats such as ancient woodlands, for instance.

• Casuals, often found on the edge of their range within the county.

• Species which are difficult to identify.

Of these three groups it is of course the first which is of most interest to conservationists, but the second group are well worth including, as information on species on the edge of their range can reveal changes in their distribution. It is a matter of judgement what to do with the third group, which includes many hybrids and critical taxa. There is little point in making a long list of plants that are simply under-recorded, although the inclusion of some of these species can be useful in eliciting new records.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

5. Locally Scarce and Declining Species

5 LOCALLY SCARCE PLANTS NATIVE AND EXTANT IN WARWICKSHIRE BUT DECLINING

BSBI Guidelines for Locally Scarce and Declining Species

Species which are native, present in 10 sites or fewer, and thought to be in decline.

This category is inevitably somewhat subjective, and must be based on the v.c. recorder's judgement, but there is sometimes good reason to include species which are evidently in decline and which may qualify as rare under one of the categories above in the near future. This can be done for a limited number of species, but it is not practical to include too many under this heading. Perhaps a simple list can be given if desired.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

6. Extinct Species

6 PLANTS NATIVE AND EXTINCT IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Native And Extinct Species

Any species which was formerly native to the vice-county but which is now thought to be extinct there.

It can be difficult to decide which species are extinct and which have simply not been recorded for a while. The IUCN suggests that an absence of 50 years is appropriate, but recording effort must also be taken into account. The vice-county recorder is probably the best placed person to make such a decision, so the most helpful thing is for them to do so. However, any uncertainties can be explained in the text. It is particularly valuable to research the old records to find species which became extinct a long time ago, as they are often very interesting from an ecological point of view. However, this aspect of a CRPR can take a long time to research. Additional information can always be incorporated into later editions or addenda.

At present no CRPR has attempted to make use of archaeological or palaeontological sources. Pollen sample in peat, for instance, could provide species lists dating back thousands of years. There may be a case for incorporating a certain amount of information of this sort, but in general it is only the species that were recorded in the last 300 years or so that might have any significance for conservation, so it seems sensible to restrict a CRPR to historical records.

EXTINCT IN WARWICKSHIRE = NOT FOUND SINCE CMF 1970

PROBABLY EXTINCT = NOT FOUND IN ATLAS 2000 SURVEY

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

7. Alien species of particular interest

7 ALIEN SPECIES OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IN WARWICKSHIRE

BSBI Guidelines for Interesting Alien Species

Any non-native taxon that is present in three or fewer sites in the vice-county which has been established for a long time and which is of particular cultural, historical or ecological interest.

This clause recognises that there are species which are not native to Britain but which are worth including. Among these are the arable weeds which may have been present for centuries and which are often the focus for conservation initiatives, but which may not be truly native. It is also reasonable to include some plants that may have been deliberately introduced - for example the old Whitty Pear (Sorbus domestica) of the Wyre Forest would have been included under this category in a CRPR for Worcestershire even before it was discovered to be a native species. It is best not to have too many species included under this category, and it must remain up to the author what to include. One possible guideline would be to include everything relevant that is listed in the 18th century Flora of the county, if there is one.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

RETURN TO INDEX OF RARE PLANT REGISTER

Warwickshire Rare Plants Register

How to help with the monitoring

CORN COCKLE Agrostemma githago photo by John R Roberts

In Warwickshire we are at the very beginning of this project. Anyone with an interest in the wild plants of this county will be welcome to help. Please send me an email telling be a bit about your expertise and I will send you more information. INSTRUCTIONS

PAM COPSON vc38 Warwickshire Wild Flower Recorder for the BSBI

copson@btinternet.com

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

Back to Flora HOMEPAGE

Trichophorum cespitosum DEER SEDGE

According to Stace the British plant is subspecies germanicum. However recent work by Professor G A Swan (Watsonia 22 Part 3 Feb 1999 ) suggests that there appear to be two subspecies - germanicum and cespitosum and a hybrid between them (nothosubsp. foersteri).

We will get our herbarium specimens checked out, but are asked to collect fresh material this summer. In Warwickshire the only site is Sutton Park. If anyone is prepared to make a gathering IN MID-LATE JUNE three stems should be gathered from each plant WITH THE UPPER LEAF SHEATH INTACT and preferably selecting stems with small sheath openings 2mm or less.

This is not a job for the faint-hearted - it is a pretty insignificant plant and needs very careful handling. Please let me know if you are willing to go and search for this plant, BEFORE YOU GO> copson@btinternet.com

Back to Flora HOMEPAGE