Marloes Mere

Marloes Mere is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (or SSSI) in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since November 1985 in an attempt to protect its fragile biological elements.[1] The site has an area of 17.17 hectares and is managed by Natural Resources Wales.

Marloes Mere
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Wales
Area of SearchPembrokeshire
Grid referenceSM7751308213
Coordinates51.72837°N 5.2231024°W / 51.72837; -5.2231024
InterestBiological
Area17.17 ha
Notification1985

Type

This site is notable for its wet acidic vegetation. It lies in a hollow on the Marloes peninsula lined with glacial silt and clay and each winter the pasture floods. Such pasture is rare in West Wales. Scarce plants occur and the shallow winter waters and ponds are frequented by waterfowl. The mere was common land until 1811; at that time Richard Fenton mentioned that it abounded in medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis), from which the villagers derived a considerable trade.

Rare species

Rare plants include:

  • three-lobed crowfoot (Ranunculus tripartitus)
  • tubular water-dropwort (Oenanthe fistulosa) growing on the margins of the ditches, reservoirs and pools
  • wintering wildfowl include wigeon, shoveler, pintail, teal and mallard
  • the great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima), and the marsh fritillary butterfly (Euphydryas aurinia)
  • six dragonflies including the emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator).
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See also

References
  1. Countryside Council for Wales website (Natural Resources Wales since 2013); Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: 30 December 2013
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