Welcome to Life on the Verge
Life on the Verge ....
- is the largest wild flower survey of Britain's roadside verges: 2034km surveyed so far!
- Over 200km of recently discovered verge will be considered for designation as Local Wildlife Sites (LWSs)
- aims to identify the most important roadside verges for limestone grassland wildlife in South-West Lincolnshire, North-East Rutland and East Leicestershire continues to rely on local volunteers of all skill levels - please help in the survey if you can!
- has run 20 wild flower identification field classes over the last two years for 212 trainees.
- has spread the message about Lincolnshire's threatened limestone grassland to a total audience of over 850 people through talks and guided walks.
- surveys will continue this summer from the middle of May.
A massive effort in 2010 from volunteers surpasses best hopes!
Following the second year of intensive summer surveys, information for 1728km more road verge has been analysed. The number of survey volunteers who helped the project grew from 73 in 2009 to over 135 in 2010. This has meant that over 1500 hrs of voluntary survey time has been generously given to the project over the last two years.
Adding to the 306km of verge volunteers surveyed in 2009, 2010 saw a huge surge in surveying effort. 316km of verge surveyed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Staff was dwarfed by the 672km surveyed by volunteers. A further 740km have been surveyed virtually to date using Google Maps Street View to identify 'vergeless' and/or 'suburbanised' stretches. This brings the running total to 2034km surveyed so far accounting for nearly half of all roads in an area one-fifth the size of Lincolnshire.
Why is limestone grassland important?
With the right management, grassland growing on limestone soils can be one of the most diverse habitats in the country and a riot of wild flower colour in spring and summer. Forty species of plant can be found in a square metre of turf.
Both the variety of wild plants and animals it supports and its relative scarcity in Britain and Europe make this a habitat of high conservation value. By conserving limestone grassland, we benefit a whole suite of plants and animals which include nationally threatened species such as dingy skipper, grizzled skipper and Duke of Burgundy butterflies, four-spotted moth, early gentian, pasque flower and commoner species such as glow worms and skylark.
Sadly, there has been a sharp decline in the extent of lowland limestone grassland across the country, particularly in the last 60 years. This has mainly been a result of changes in farming practices.
Click here to find out what Life on the Verge is doing
in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
