Lowland Neutral Meadow & Pasture
Lowland Neutral Meadow & Pasture
It has been estimated that over 97% of Britain’s flower rich meadows have been lost since the 1930s. Meadow plants are declining and pollinators are still on the decline due to the loss of flower rich meadow and grassland. Nearly 80% of all flowering plants in temperate regions, such as northern Europe, are pollinated by insect pollinators and the majority of pollination is carried out by wild pollinators. Flower rich habitats are essential in providing a nectar and pollen resource to maintain diverse and stable pollinator communities.
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In Hastings there are some outstanding examples of lowland neutral flower rich grassland and meadow typical of the High Weald. Some of the finest examples occur within Marline Valley, St Helen’s Park and Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve. Flower rich dry acid grassland also occurs in Hastings but this grassland type is featured in the heathland section.
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Most of the flower rich grassland and meadow in Hastings occurs within protected Local Nature Reserves and is actively managed to maintain botanical diversity. Outside of Local Nature Reserves there is considerable potential for increasing the amount of flower rich grassland and meadow within the borough. The conversion of large areas of amenity and improved grassland to flower rich meadow could stem the loss of this scarce habitat in the town.
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Some of the meadows in Hastings are very orchid rich with populations of green-winged orchid Anacamptis morio, common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii, bee orchid Ophrys apifera and common twayblade Neottia ovata. Botanically rich meadows provide the rich diversity of foodplants required by many species of butterfly, moth, saw-fly, beetle and true bug. Many species of butterfly breed within these meadows including scarce and declining species such as small heath Coenonympha pamphilus and grizzled skipper. The grizzled skipper Pyrgus malvae is elusive and occurs on sparsely vegetated ground around the edge of meadows. The foodplants of this species include agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, creeping cinquefoil Potentilla reptans and wild strawberry Fragaria vesca.
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Yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor is a semi-parasitic meadow plant which gains some of its nutrients from neighboring plant species such as grasses and legumes. The plant is effective in preventing course grasses from dominating meadow swards and allowing a greater diversity of forbs to grow. This species is also the foodplant of the grass rivulet Perizoma albulata which occurs commonly in Hastings. The larvae of this moth feed on the ripening seeds of yellow rattle in early to late summer.
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Hastings supports a very rich pollinator assemblage due to the dense mosaic of high quality habitats present within and on the fringe of the borough. Many species of ground nesting bee and wasp which breed on the coastal undercliff and bare ground, or nest within dead wood on woodland edge, require the nectar, pollen and prey resource provided by the towns meadows and gardens.
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Some species of bee are highly specialised in the pollen they collect such as the red bartsia bee Melitta tricincta. This species is monolectic (specialises in the pollen of one plant species) on red bartsia Odontites vernus pollen and can only be found where red bartsia grows such as Marline Valley and St Helen’s Park. The tormentil mining bee Andrena tarsata has been recorded at two sites in Hastings and is reliant on tormentil Potentilla erecta pollen. Both these bees are nationally scarce and Andrena tarsata is listed as a species of principal importance in England under the NERC Act 2006, Section 41 due to its recent decline.
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Legume rich meadows are also a very important habitat for long-horned bees Eucera longicornis. The large population at Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve has been known for a long time but recently the species was also recorded at Marline Valley and could occur at other meadow sites in Hastings.
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Also at Marline Valley a shield bug new to Britain, Coptosoma scutellatum, was found by Graeme Lyons in 2019. This species feeds on legumes and appears to be associated with dyer’s greenweed Genista tinctoria at Marline Valley. Dyer’s greenweed is a foodplant for many species of insect, many of which are rare and declining. The plant is doing especially well within the meadows of Marline Valley and is also a valuable nectar and pollen resource for bumblebees.