Dixton Wood

51°58′50″N 2°01′53″W / 51.980608°N 2.031257°W / 51.980608; -2.031257InterestBiologicalArea13.14 hectareNotification2000Natural England website

Dixton Wood (grid reference SO979313) is a 13.14-hectare (32.5-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 2000.^[1]^[2] Dixton Wood is recognised as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive.^[3]^[4]

Location

The wood lies in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Winchcombe and north of Cheltenham. It is a steep east facing woodland, which is surrounded by permanent grassland. It is in the foothills of the scarp and may be considered as a similar landscape feature as that of the nearby Bredon Hill which is a national nature reserve (NNR).^[1]

Protected Species interest

The site is notified for its population of Violet Click Beetle (Limoniscus violaceus), and for a deadwood (saproxylic) beetle assemblage. The Violet Click Beetle is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 (as amended) and listed on Annex IIa of the EC Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Its presence indicates the great importance of the wood, and indicates habitat of a high quality for this special invertebrate group (deadwood beetle fauna).^[1]

The beetle is currently only known elsewhere in Britain on Bredon Hill NNR and in Windsor Forest. There are also some fifteen sites in central Europe.^[1]

Woodland structure

There is a well-developed high forest structure and the management of the wood has yielded a number of large, low ash pollards and a range of deadwood. The moist clay soils, the eastern aspect and the ground and scrub maintain a humid microclimate. This is likely to enhance the decay process, which has resulted in a continuity of forest conditions.^[1]

Reports in by Natural England in November 2010 are detailed in the ageing of the trees, and planting needs to maintain the favourability of the site.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Natural England SSSI information on the citation
^ "Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan to 2011, adopted March 2006, Appendix 3 'Nature Conservation', Sites of Special Scientific Interest". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
^ Information on Dixton Wood Special Area of Conservation designation
^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee Listing of Special Areas of Conservation
^ Natural England SSSI information on the Dixton Wood unit