This weeks image is of a special resident of some special London parks. This September, Bushy and Home Parks in Richmond upon Thames were officially approved by Natural England’s Executive Board as a new Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
SSSIs are one of a suite of statutory designations for sites with wildlife or geological importance and are managed by Natural England.
Bushy Park and Home Park will be England’s newest SSSI. The majority of the 540 hectare site notified as SSSI is held in trust by the Crown Estate. Bushy Park is managed by The Royal Parks and Home Park by Historic Royal Palaces. The site is of special interest for its “exceptionally large population of ancient and veteran trees, extensive areas of semi-natural lowland dry acid grassland, and its internationally significant populations of rare invertebrates” – read more here.
The invertebrate photographed is the rusty click beetle (Elater ferrugineus). This is one of many invertebrates that relies on decaying wood habitat – an important feature of both Home and Bushy Parks. As explained in the Richmond Biodiversity Partnership’s Decaying Wood leaflet (2005), a survey of Bushy Park in 2004 recorded more than 115 nationally scarce and notable invertebrates, including 68 species of beetle, and represents one of the top sites nationally for decaying wood invertebrates. This includes the rusty click beetle, at that time known from only 3 other places in Britain.
The Royal Parks, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Natural England are GiGL partners.
September 2014