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Species which are particularly characteristic of ancient woodland sites are called ancient woodland indicator species, such as bluebells, ramsons, wood anemone, yellow archangel and primrose for example, representing a type of ecological indicator. [8] Anemonoides nemorosa, the wood anemone
It grows in deciduous woodlands with moist soils, preferring slightly acidic conditions. In the British Isles, colonies are frequently associated with bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), especially in ancient woodland. It is considered to be an ancient woodland indicator species. [13]
It is dark and shiny, and is similar in appearance to the common species Philoscia muscorum, and also the rarer Oritoniscus flavus. [2] In Great Britain, it was first discovered at Copthorne Common, Surrey, in 1873, and most later records are also from South East England. [2] It is considered a good indicator species for ancient woodland. [3]
The woodlands of Bedfordshire cover 6.2% of the county. [2] Some two thirds of this (4,990 ha or 12,300 acres) is broad-leaved woodland, principally oak and ash. [3] A Woodland Trust estimate of all ancient woodland in Bedfordshire (dating back to at least the year 1600), including woods of 0.1 ha (0.25 acres) and upward suggests an area of 1,468 ha (3,630 acres). [4]
The plant is an ancient woodland indicator, as the ants rarely carry the seeds more than a few yards, seldom crossing a field to go to a new woodland. The Latin specific epithet pratense means "of meadows". [2] Melampyrum pratense is a food plant of the caterpillars of the heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia), a butterfly. [3]
Very rare species are not considered axiophytes; for a species to be a useful indicator of quality habitat it must be relatively frequent in those habitats, but scarce elsewhere. A typical example would be dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis), a plant slow to colonise new sites, but common in ancient woodland and old hedgerows.
In Britain, it is considered an ancient woodland indicator in southern England, East Anglia, and Carmarthen. [3] [7] However, three-nerved sandwort may also be found in secondary woodland and can recolonize relatively rapidly after habitat disturbance. [8]
Some epiphytic lichen species may be used as "ancient woodland indicators"; they can used to quantitatively assess the degree to which a forest has had a long history of canopy continuity. [11] The presence of these species is a reliable indicator that the forest has existed back to early medieval times, without being clear-cut and regrown