Survey of the Aquatic Invertebrates of Cannock Chase’s Forest Stream 2023-24
The National Landscape commissioned Staffordshire Wildlife Trust to carry out a survey of the forest streams that drain off the Cannock Chase plateau to assess the invertebrate species that call them home. The presence, or absence, of particular invertebrate species can reveal a great deal about water and habitat quality and any adverse pressures they have been enduring. A method known as ‘biometric fingerprinting’ was employed which uses aquatic invertebrates to measure the overall water quality of rivers and streams.
Using this method, it is possible to identify any negative pressures (for example: nutrient loading, silt burdens, low flows, or pesticides) affecting the overall health of the watercourse reach and its inhabitants. Out of 11 watercourses surveyed 6 are rated good-moderate for their invertebrate quality (Oldacre, Sher, Old, Stafford, Fallow, Stony), 4 are rated moderate-poor (Rising, Shropshire, Brereton and Ben), and 1 is rated poor (Redmoor). Several nationally scarce invertebrate species were also recorded.
Results confirm Cannock Chase as nationally important for the globally-endangered White-clawed Crayfish. The survey has given us a new understanding of the water quality of the watercourses on the Chase and an overall assessment of the condition of the habitats along the stream corridors.
The full report can be found here.
Peatland Potential
Peatlands are significant carbon stores, helping in the fight against climate change. They are also home to rare and characteristic wildlife species and are an important archive of past human activities. Penny Anderson Associates consultants have been helping us collate and analyse studies and data to identify existing peat deposits, and areas of interest which have the potential to contain peat. The final output details the presence and likely extent of confirmed peat deposits, and maps the areas of potential deposits, running on a sliding scale from areas of higher potential to areas with some evidence of the likelihood of potential deposits. The National Landscape includes 20.1 Ha of confirmed peat deposits with an additional 87.6 Ha identified for further investigation with high priority being given to potential peat deposits on the River Sow floodplain. Using this information, we can identify how best to protect and restore this important resource. Site-based investigations will be carried out in Phase 2 of the project in 2025/26.
The full report can be found here.
State of Bats Within Cannock Chase AONB and Surrounds (15 MB)
New research has shown that Cannock Chase provides a home for 9 out of Staffordshire’s 12 species of bat. Go out at dusk on the Chase and you stand a chance of seeing common and soprano pipistrelles, Natterer’s bat, whiskered bat, Brandt’s bat, Daubenton’s bat, Leisler’s bat, noctule and brown long-eared bat. Broadleaved woodland, parkland and wood-pasture, agriculturally unimproved grasslands and river corridors are the best places to look.
An Invertebrate Species Audit For Cannock Chase AONB Dated June 2021 (17 MB)
Annex 2 Cannock Chase Invertebrate Audit Post 1995 Species List
Annex 4 Cannock Chase Invertebrate Audit ‘Lost Species’
Thanks to the efforts of many dedicated invertebrate recorders over the decades, the heaths, forests, river valleys and historic parklands of Cannock Chase are known to be home to a variety of invertebrates including specialities like the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, bog bush cricket, Welsh clearwing and green tiger beetle. New research carried out by ‘Buglife’, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust’ has pulled together and assessed all of these records collected over the last 25 years. For the first time we now have a picture of the value of the Chase for this fascinating group of creatures, including their distribution, conservation status and ‘hotspots’ for invertebrate fauna.