Factsheet for Beinn Bheigier IPA

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Site Code

Country: United Kingdom

Central coordinates: 55.73383406o [55o 44' 1" North], -6.08633383o [6o 5' 10" West]

Administrative region: Scotland Argyll & Stirling (South Ebudes)

Area: 240 ha

Altitude: 200 - 491

Site Description
Beinn Bheigier is the highest of a range of hills on the east side of the island of Islay off the Scotish west coast and which has an extremely oceanic climate. The site for Adelanthus lindenbergianus on Beinn Bheigier is a steep slope with large patches of scree in a complex pattern with areas of heath. The slope is the NE aspect of a ridge that runs south-east from the highest point (491m), the highest point on the ridge being 466m with the whole ridge above 430m. The underlying rock is quartzite giving a usually thin and very acidic peaty soil and a vegatation where heather is often dominant and under which Herbertus hutchinsiae can be remarkably abundant.

Botanical Significance
Adelanthus lindenbergianus is a liverwort of montane areas with high rainfall and is predominantly a southern hemisphere species recorded from East and South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. In Europe it is restricted to Great Britain and Ireland with its main populations in western Ireland where there are some seven sites in Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal (Paton, 1999; Hill et al 1991). Beinn Bheigier is the only UK site for this species. It is rated as Vulnerable in Europe (ECCB) and Endangered in the UK (Hodgetts 2011); it is listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act; and is a UKBAP species. The site also has populations of the endemic Sphagnum skyense and the near endemic Campylopus setifolius.

Management guidance notes
The IPA includes the summit ridge of Beinn Bheigier and the north-east slopes which have extensive dwarf-shrub heath over scree. Within this wind-clipped wet heath are stands of Adelanthus lindenbergianus sometimes with the endemic Sphagnum skyense and near endemic Campylopus setifolius.

Notes
The site is in good condition at the moment with moderate grazing by sheep and deer. The big threat is fire, either accidental or management by muirburn.