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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
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 Tilia cordata, traditionally called pry, is considered an indicator of ancient woodland, and is becoming increasingly rare. [9] Owing to its rarity, a number of woods have been given SSSI status. Cocklode Wood, part of the Bardney Limewoods in Lincolnshire, is the best surviving spread of medieval small leaved limes in England. [10]
Presence of the wild service tree is commonly taken as an indicator of ancient woodland. 71 different species of bird have been recorded, alongside foxes, grey squirrels, bat species including pipistrelle, Natterer's bat, common noctule and the rare Leisler's bat, 180 species of moth, 12 species of butterfly and 80 species of spider.
Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Eurasia, where it grows in moist woodland. [2]
Examples of plant formation include forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Because it may not be possible to determine whether a particular plant was an oak, eucalyptus, or other species, plant formations in paleosols make it possible to identify an ancient woodland ecosystem from an ancient grassland ecosystem. [2]
Gillies Hill hosts a large array of plants native to Central Scotland. The hill is home to at least 38 Ancient Woodland indicator species from the AWVP – Europe/National/Scotland list and 21 from the AWVP - Scotland list, a record Scots Pine, a record Rowan, and an abundance of wildflower, lichen, fungi, moss, and grass species.
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