Site Code
Country: United Kingdom
Central coordinates: 52.73333333o [52o 43' 59" North], 1.50000000o [1o 30' 0" East]
Administrative region: East of England (East Norfolk)
Area: 5868 ha
Altitude: 0 - 25
Site Description
The Broads are a man-made landscape of flooded peat diggings that date from between AD 900 to 1350. The IPA consists of a vast network of wetland areas, wet woodland, wet grassland, broads, rivers, fens and marshes that extend over East Norfolk and part of North-East Suffolk. Both fresh and brackish waters support a diverse range of plants.
Botanical Significance
Area noted for Habitats, Lichens, Stoneworts interest. This area is of particular importance as it is thought to be the last location in England for Fen orchid Liparis loeselii and Crested buckler-fern Dryopteris cristata. The Broads are also recognised as an important area for stoneworts, especially within the Thurne system. Liparis loeselii is perhaps the most significant vascular plant species of the Broads which now support the last English populations of this species. The plant is reliant on the continued maintenance of species-rich fens which have a groundwater supply buffered against run-off from agricultural land and the associated field applications. These fens support other species of note such as Pyrola rotundifolia and Dryopteris cristata and mosses such as Cinclidium stygium and Camptothecium nitens. Good water quality in some of the Broads, associated with unusual estuarine chemistry, allows species such as Najas marina and Potamogeton compressus to grow as well as a suite of rare and threatened stoneworts including C. baltica, C. connivens, C. curta, C. globularis, C. intermedia, C. rudis, Nitella mucronata, Nitellopsis obtusa, T. intricata and T. prolifera. The IPAincludes 5 Important Stonewort Areas,themost significant being the upper part of the Thurne system. Fen pools and ditches, and also parts of the very extensive grazing marsh ditch network, support species-rich stands of aquatic vegetation including Potamogeton coloratus, Utricularia minor, Potamogeton acutifolius, Luronium natans, Myriophyllum verticillatum, Sium latifolium, Potamogeton trichoides, Stratiotes aloides and more common stonewort species. The extensive saltmarshes and estuarine vegetation around the tidal area of Breydon Water is notable for the presence of Alopecurus bulbosus The IPA includes Winterton-Horsey Dunes which support specialist dune vegetation normally associated with the Baltic shores and species of note such as Corynephorus canescens, Festuca juncifolia, Pyrola rotundifolia and Ammocalamagrostis baltica.
Management guidance notes
None
Notes
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