Meet Alex Smith, Peat Project Intern at Yorkshire Peat Partnership!

Alex joined Yorkshire peat partnership as a Peat Project Intern in April 2023. During her traineeship, she has spent her time learning about peatlands and their restoration. She has particularly enjoyed identifying and survey peatland species, getting to know the intricacies of the habitat and how different factors affect its biodiversity. Prior to her trainee position, Alex volunteered with local conservation groups and Yorkshire Wildlife trust and has always had a keen interest in nature and spends most of her time outdoors, enjoying hobby identification of local wildlife. Her search for a vocation in conservation lead her to look for trainee opportunities, eventually finding a great position at Yorkshire peat Partnership.

To find out more about her role and the work Yorkshire Peat Partnership do, visit the website: https://www.yppartnership.org.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yorkshirepeatpartnership_/
Twitter: @ypp_peat
Email: info@yppartnership.org.uk

Alex’s chosen species are Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia and the sphagnum moss Sphagnum medium, two iconic species of Yorkshire’s peatlands.

D. rotundifolia is a carnivorous plant native to the UK, found in bog habitats normally surrounded by sphagnum moss. Its red and green round leaves are covered with red hairs and a sticky dew that attracts and traps insects. Once the insect is stuck, the leaves fold in and the plant releases enzymes that dissolve and digest the insect. The sundew has a pink or white flower that sits on top of a red hairless stem. These small but beautiful plants, which usually grow to no more than 20cm including their flower, can be seen in wet acidic habitats from July to August. It is a plant that looks quite alien in the Yorkshire landscape! D. rotundifolia is found mainly in Scotland, southwest and northwest England. Sphagnum medium, meanwhile, is a species of Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum mosses are a genus of peat forming bryophytes that grow in acidic wetland habitats. S. medium is a chunky species (meaning the branches are larger than other species of sphagnum and are made up of branch leaves that look like scales) that is most commonly red and green and can be easily confused with S. divinum. Until recently, in fact, both were thought to be a singles species, S. magellanicum. The distinctions between the two species are in the branch leaves, differences that to the naked eye are incredibly hard to see, needing a hand lens if not a microscope. Another method to distinguish between similar species are their habitat preferences - S. divinum is more widespread and can survive in more nutrient rich environments whereas S. medium is more particular and only appears in completely ombrotrophic conditions and likely more common in the uplands. Due to its recent separation from S. magellanicum and its challenging ID, S. medium is almost certainly under-recorded, and its UK population is unknown.

For thousands of years Yorkshire has been home to peatlands. They are a staple of Yorkshire’s landscape; the most common peatland habitat in northern Yorkshire is a blanket bog, which sits at the top of Yorkshire’s hills. 27% of England’s blanket bog is found here in Yorkshire.

D. rotundifolia is a sign of a healthy bog habitat, making it significant blanket bog species. It’s usually found growing through a bed of sphagnum moss at the edge of a bog pool. Living in a nutrient-poor environment means it must find other ways to supplement its diet. It does this through carnivorous activities, trapping and devouring unsuspecting insects to support itself on the bog. Round-leaved Sundew is an interesting character of a blanket bog due to this unusual way of overcoming the limitations of its environment, one of the reasons Alex chose to feature it for this blog: ‘I believe the public, for the most part, don’t know there’s a carnivorous plant that calls Yorkshire its home. It’s a plant that is likely to pique people’s curiosity and encourage interest in the species living on Yorkshire’s peatlands. It is a symbol of the diversity peatlands support and the need to restore and preserve them.’ After starting her role, Alex saw her first D. rotundifolia on a peatland called Fleet Moss, an upland area separating Wharfedale from Wensleydale in North Yorkshire.

S. medium is special for its properties as a peat forming species, and its presence in Yorkshire’s peatlands is another sign of a healthy peat-forming bog. This is significant as peat stores carbon, making peatlands a great contributor towards mitigating climate change.

In the past, D. rotundifolia would have been found on peatlands across Yorkshire, having evolved to survive in such a nutrient poor environment. S. medium will have been living in those same healthy peat forming bogs in Yorkshire’s uplands and will have helped to continue to form the peatlands we have today. Following WW2, however, our blanket bogs were drained for agriculture and sundews and sphagnum have seen a decline due to the drastic change in habitat conditions. Where they would once have been widespread, both species are now only found on peatlands that still have the conditions able to support their growth.

Yorkshire Peat Partnership has worked over the last 14 years to restore and monitor northern Yorkshire’s peatlands. With restoration and bog habitats reforming, D. rotundifolia will hopefully re-establish itself across the recovering blanket bogs, and by slowing the flow of water through these habitats, conditions can be created for S. medium to revegetate.

As part of Alex’s role, she assists the team in working to restore and monitor peatland habitats. By rewetting and revegetating Yorkshires peatlands they are working towards creating the ideal environment for D. rotundifolia, S. medium and other associated species, reversing the impacts of drainage and inappropriate management on the distribution of these peatland specialists. Sphagnum mosses are also the habitat architect for blanket bog, so part of Yorkshire Peat Partnership’s work is to re-establish their populations through planting – they have planted 1.7 million Sphagnum plugs since 2009.

Both plants have interesting social history and alternative uses. Historically, the sundew’s glistening dew was used to make an anti-aging potion. It was believed the ‘dew’ would revitalise the skin and that the plant was a source of youth and virility because of its ability to glisten even under the beating sun in exposed habitats. It was also once used as a love charm because of its ability to lure and trap helpless insects! Sphagnum, meanwhile, has in the past been used for wound dressing for its antibacterial properties and its water absorption abilities.

Recording and monitoring

Yorkshire Peat Partnership has received funding through the Nature for Climate Peatland Capital Grant Scheme so that monitoring and more in-depth surveys can be completed by the team on Yorkshire’s peatlands. The ability to carry out more monitoring means a better picture of the distribution and repopulation of D. rotundifolia throughout northern Yorkshire. Whilst this species is distinctive, S. medium is extremely under recorded probably in large part due to its recent segregation and difficulty to distinguish its features. Hopefully with the distinctions between the two similar species being better understood and the ability to carry out more monitoring increased, Yorkshire Peat Partnership and other recorders will be able to build a better picture of its distribution throughout Yorkshire.

Further information and acknowledgements

NEYEDC would like to thank Alex for her time and expertise in helping to create this blog.

The Natural History of Yorkshire in 100 Species

#60 Round-leaved Sundew & Sphagnum medium by Alex Smith

Recording and monitoring

Further information and acknowledgements