Otter – Reed-beds provide cover and easy access to prey. (Photography : Andy Karran)


Emperor Dragonfly – Quarters the open water. (Photograph: Andy Karran)


GWENT WI LDL IFE TRUST REED BETWEEN THE LINES


This edition Gwent Wildlife Trust’s Senior Conservation Ecologist Andy Karran tells us more about a transitional habitat which is an important place for all kinds of wildlife – reed-beds.


SO WHAT IS A REED-BED?


I’m not going to try and explain them in a sentence, as there is slightly more to them than that. Reed-beds are transitional habitats at the interface between water and dry land. As their name would imply, they are dominated by the Common Reed (Phragmites australis), which is in fact a very tall grass. In many cases they form a virtual monoculture. Whilst monocultures of grass are generally not great for wildlife, reed-beds are a notable exception. This may be because they are a natural monoculture, where our native wildlife has adapted over many years to thrive, and in fact a good number of species are now rarely found anywhere else. They also have a certain beauty, an impenetrable mass of gently swaying green with silky purple heads in summer and a gently rustling golden sea in winter, making them a relaxing place to be.


Reed-beds form in shallow water and can either take the form of extensive reed-beds on flat, low-lying, poorly draining land or narrower bands of reeds flanking the edge of ponds and lakes or along the edge of slower-moving watercourses or ditches. Reeds are specially adapted to be able to grow with their roots permanently waterlogged, in fact their roots are actually rhizomes that spread horizontally underground with new stems then able to sprout upwards off these. This results in tightly packed 2m high stems that exclude most other vegetation except perhaps at the edge. Whilst other vegetation is excluded, this dense growth forms a


fantastic area of shelter for much wildlife to hide in and the fact they are growing in water gives the reed-bed residents even greater protection from land-based predators. The reeds’ success can also ultimately be its downfall however, as reed-beds are naturally successional habitats, (meaning they are merely a stage developing in to another habitat). The tightly packed stems drop much leaf litter in to the water and this gradually builds up, drying out the land and willow scrub takes over and excludes the reeds.


Andy Karran 75


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GWENT WI LDL I F E TRUST SO WHAT I S A RE ED-BED?


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