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State 3 Drying reedbed
Visually mature reedbed and over mature 'drying' reedbed are similar. However
as colonisation takes place and dead reed accumulates areas of open water are
at a premium. This is important for those rare breeding birds which rely on
the earlier stages of succession
and access to open water for their survival. Thus this state is characterised
by mature reed which has risen above the normal level of flooding as litter
accumulation has taken place. At some sites the reed may not be flooded at all
and scrub may be present. In this state many of the values
including the species and features important to the vigorous reedbed are missing.
Caption:
Mature transition from reedbed to scrub at Walberswick NNR, Suffolk
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Guidance: It is important to recognise that although reedbeds
are important in their own right transitional/successional stages to scrub
also have value for a different suite of species.
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