Wetland
Water has sculpted the landscape for millions of years, creating a multitude of habitats which, in time have created a wide range of plant communities. Wetland habitats can begin with water-logged or seasonally inundated soils, to land seasonally submerged, to permanent bodies of water. Plant adaptations have evolved to deal with all of these, including rootless plants that live suspended in the water column. At the coast, plant communities develop that are salt tolerant, although few vascular plants are able to cope with full saltwater inundation and none occur in the open sea around our coasts.
Although East Anglia has little in the way of major rivers, it has some of Britain's most important wetland habitats in the shape of the Fens and the Broads, both of which hold nationally rare plant species. In addition, there are some major tidal water systems around the coast, from the Blackwater north to the Yare and around the Wash. Finally, the Norfolk/Suffolk border runs through a series of nationally important, species-rich, fen habitats.
1. Lowland Fens
'Fen' is a word that is used to define wetland habitats that develop in areas with a neutral to alkaline pH. Typically they are dominated by grasses and sedges and can vary in the diversity of associated plants from species-poor to species-rich. Fens may develop where there are springs or other reasonably reliable sources of standing ground water, as well as along the margins of rivers where the valley bottoms are broad. The huge expanse of land known as 'The Fens' in the west of our region have mostly been drained and converted to lowland grazing marsh, but some important areas remain and in recent years have been extensively improved with a view to recovering some of the lost ground. Fen habitat in Broadland is still quite extensive, especially along the Waveney/Little Ouse and River Ant wetlands and are especially species-rich with important populations of rare and uncommon plants, as well as other wildlife.
Fens are prone to drying out over time, mostly due to the accumulation of dead plant material caused as the vegetation dies down for the winter each year. Over time, this accumulation raises the soil profile above that of the natural water table and succession begins as alder and willow seedlings start to establish themselves. Drying fens can also become overwhelmed by strongly rhizomatous species such as Common Nettle. In fens that are protected and managed for their wildlife importance, mowing is an important management tool which helps to prevent the build up of dead plant material and the development of scrub.
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| The full suite of heathland communities ranges from a Birch-Oak woodland, through Gorse Scrub and Heather-Wavy Hair-grass communities to communities of small annual species on open tracksides. | Apart from Common Heather, the triumvirate of open heath communities tends to include Bracken, Wavy Hair-grass and Bell Heather. |
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| Regenerating Bell Heather with seedling Silver Birch after cutting to regenerate the vegetation. Birch encroachment into managed sites can be so intensive that even grazing won't control it. |
Mature Common Heather covering large areas of open heath. |
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| Large areas of heathland can be covered in pink-tinged stands of Wavy Hair-grass. | Remnant pockets of heathland survive on the wider tracks and rides through conifer plantations. |
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| Communities of small, annual species can develop on disturbed, bare sand, here including Mossy Stonecrop, Little Mouse-ear and Bird's-foot. |
In extreme conditions on mobile dunes in Breckland and along the coast, flowering plants are few and discrete tussocks of weather-shaped Common Heather and Grey Hair-grass survive amongst a species-rich lichen community. |
2. Wet Heaths
Wetter areas of ground can develop on acidic soils where there are springs or seepages or where there might be an underlying area of less pervious soil. Small areas can appear in lower-lying sections of sand dune comlexes and are known as dune slacks, while larger areas of wet heath develop along valley bottoms and give way at the wettest sections to valley mire and bog communities. Typically there is a seemless gradient from dry heath, through wet heath to valley mire and bogs and defining precise lines is not always possible.
As with dry heath, plant communities can be rather species-poor, becoming more species-rich in even wetter, valley mire or bog communities and members of the heather family tend to dominate. Both Common and Bell Heather can tolerate wetter ground, but the key indicator of damper conditions is the presence of Cross-leaved Heath, while Purple Moor-grass tends to replace Wavy Hair-grass. Other species such as Heath Rush, Tormentil and Heath Spotted Orchid appear, while rarities include Petty Whin, Marsh Gentian, White Beak-sedge and Common Deergrass. Scrubby patches are generally thin and low and may include Downy Birch and Eared and Creeping Willows.
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| Naturally sloping ground at Dersingham Bog creates a full set of heathland communities, from coniferous woodland, through dry heath and wet heath to valley mire and bog. | Wet heath gives way to valley mire, with stands of Cross-leaved Heath and sphagnum appearing on the tussock bases of Purple Moor-grass. In wetter areas the land transitions to valley mire and Sharp-leaved Rush becomes more frequent. patchy scrub includes Eared and Creeping Willows, while Marsh Helleborne and Heath Spotted Orchid can form good colonies. |
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| Pale pink flowers of Cross-leaved Heath and the bright green stems of White Beak-sedge, the latter a very rare plant in East Anglia. | A gradient of heath habitats in coastal dunes, from dry lichen heath through tussocky heather to wet heath dominated by Purple Moor-grass and tussocks of European Royal Fern. |
| Some Typical Species
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Species to Look Out For
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Places to Visit
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