Yarley Meadows facts for kids
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Example - meadow brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina) on knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
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| Area of Search | Gloucestershire |
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| Coordinates | 51°35′53″N 2°21′05″W / 51.597967°N 2.351496°W |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 12.2 hectare |
| Notification | 1987 |
Yarley Meadows is a special nature spot in Gloucestershire, England. It's about 12.2 hectares big, which is like 30 football fields! This area was officially recognized as a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI) in 1987. It's protected because it has amazing plants and animals that are important to science.
Contents
What is Yarley Meadows Like?
Yarley Meadows is made up of three fields located in southern Gloucestershire. Right next to it is another special nature area called Lower Woods. These meadows are 'unimproved neutral grassland.' This means they haven't been changed by farming chemicals. They are managed in old-fashioned ways, helping many different plants and animals live there. This type of grassland is super rare in the United Kingdom now!
The soil here is made of clay from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods – that's super old! Because of this clay, the fields can get very wet in winter. Old hedges grow around and between the meadows, and there are even ponds in two of the fields.
Cool Plants You Can Find
These meadows are home to many different types of grasses and other plants.
Grasses and Rushes
You might see grasses like crested dog's-tail, sweet vernal-grass, Yorkshire fog, red fescue, and quaking-grass. In the wetter parts of the fields, you'll find lots of sedges and rushes. These include glaucous sedge, hairy sedge, soft rush, and hard rush.
Wildflowers and Herbs
The meadows are also full of beautiful wildflowers and herbs. Some of these are dyer's greenweed, saw-wort, adder's-tongue, common knapweed, betony, and pepper saxifrage. Other special plants recorded here include Yellow-rattle, common spotted-orchid, sneezewort, cowslip, and hoary plantain.
Amazing Insects and Butterflies
Yarley Meadows is a great place for insects, especially butterflies! You can often see large numbers of butterflies flying around. Two common types found here are the meadow brown and the gatekeeper. These insects play an important role in the meadow's ecosystem.
