• 31/08/2016
  • 00:00
  • Airds Moss

Detecting & Monitoring Plant Quadrats on Shield Farm, Airds Moss SAC.

Meet opposite Common Farm (NS58142296) at 10am

You will need wellies, waterproofs, packed lunch, water and warm clothing.

Back in 2011 peatland re-wetting works had taken place on Shiel Farm as part of the mitigation for coal mining operations at the nearby Dalfad opencast site. Re-wetting work ceased iwith the collapse of Scottish Coal but very recently the CEI have been working with RSPB Scotland to continue the re-wetting works on this important site as part of the CEI’s peatland enhancement project. The RSPB are also in process of purchasing the site after which it will become an RSPB reserve.

To monitor the progress of re-wetting works, ten 2m by 2m vegetation quadrats were installed in 2011 around the site in different phases of re-wetting/plant communities. Five year later  the existing quadrats will be relocated using a metal detector to monitor the changes that have taken place by recording the percentage abundance of each species found there.