COUNTRYSIDE COUNCIL FOR WALES
SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST: CITATION
ANGLESEY RHOSCOLYN REEDBED
National Grid Reference: SH275753
Site Area: 15.4 ha
Description:
Rhoscolyn Reedbed has been selected for its biological interest as an example of tall fen dominated by common reed Phragmites australis.
This mire developed on marine alluvium which overlays the Precambrian rocks of the South Stack series. The single outflow stream passes through a culvert beneath the sand dues to a tidal sluice on Rhoscolyn beach.
Common reed Phragmites australis occurs throughout this site. Indeed the central area is dominted almost exclusively by this species with few associates, common marsh-bedstraw Galium palustre and bittersweet Solanum dulcamara being the most frequent. Lesser pond-sedge Carex acutiformis occurs in the northwest of the reedbed and great fen-sedge Cladium mariscus is codominant with common reed along the eastern edge of the mire. This latter community includes such species as wild angelica Angelica syvestris, ragged-robin Lychnis flos-cuculi and purple-loosestrife Lythrum salicaria. Small stands of greater pond sedge Carex riparia and blunt flowered rush Juncus subnodulosus are also present. Sharp flowered rush Juncus acutiflorus fen meadow occurs on the periphery of the reedswamp.
Rhoscolyn Reedbed is of ornithological interest supporting a range of breeding birds which include reed warbler, sedge warbler and grasshopper warbler.