Wicken Fen - biodiversity hotspot

[JeffH]

It's official! - in a recent survey the National Trust's nature reserve at Wicken Fen here in Cambridgeshire has been found to be the top biodiversity hotspot in England and Wales with some 8,100 species in evidence, including -1,893 species of flies; 1,527 beetles; 1,082 moths; more than 200 species of birds; 400 different kinds of fungi and 30 species of mammals.

See here for more information -
Latest news from Cambridge & Cambridgeshire. Cambridge sports, Cambridge jobs & Cambridge business - County is top for teeming wildlife

Incidentally, the printed version of the article which appeared in yesterday's Cambridge News also featured one of my photos of an Avocet with a chick, these birds having successfully bred at Wicken for the first time this year and with the National Trust asking me to undertake some nest photography there - hence the additional Schedule 1 licence

Although I gave my consent to use this photo in the newspaper article it was conditional on my retention of copyright and I'm pleased to note that the Cambridge News have acknowledged this by not reproducing my photo in the web article.

Now that the secret's out I'll perhaps include a few photos in a separate thread in the Birds section.

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls & Avocets)

[DavyG]

Great to hear Jeff.

I like Wicken Fen, I just wish I had time to visit it more often.

Dave

[poschiavanus]

I'm sure Wicken Fen is pretty good for biodiversity, but I imagine it has these nice totals because it has a much high proportion of visiting specialists than anywhere else in Britain. It's also has a pretty long history of recording too.

It's worth noting that this is probably nothing near the likely actual total. For instance some other sites in Britain have over 2500 fungi recorded. See here. These are noteworthy in that they have been regularly scoured by experts over a long period.

[ChrisJB]

I wonder how Strumpshaw Fen compares with Wicken Fen? Strumpshaw positively oozes with 'stuff'.

Regards, Chris

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by ChrisJB

I wonder how Strumpshaw Fen compares with Wicken Fen? Strumpshaw positively oozes with 'stuff'.

Regards, Chris

I wondered that. I saw more inverts at strumpshaw, but more birds at Wicken this year.

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

I wondered that. I saw more inverts at strumpshaw, but more birds at Wicken this year.

I've never been to Wicken Fen and as a member of the National Trust I should go really. I love Strumpshaw and if Wicken is anything like it, it should be great.

Regards, Chris