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| Breckland |
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| Habitat: Coniferous woodland (of local significance) |
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All coniferous woodlands where broadleaved trees make up less than 20% of the cover (excepting yew woodlands).
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By contrast to ancient woods the pine and broadleaf woodlands of Thetford Forest covernearly 20% of the Natural Area. The main forest blocks stretch from West Stow in the southto Swaffham in the north and from Mildenhall in the west to Harling in the East. They wereestablished from 1922 onwards on land formerly heathland, old warrens and poor agriculturalground to become the major lowland pine forest in Britain. Afforestation clothed in trees theearlier man-made landscapes and their wildlife habitats, but also undoubtedly protected fromagricultural intensification fragments of that past. The greatest wildlife value of ThetfordForest lies in the open spaces is protects or creates.
The breeding bird specialities of Thetford Forest are undoubtedly the woodlark and thenightjar. Both make use of the open ground created by extensive clear felling of tree crops. Both species favour the more acid sandy soils. Woodlarks however require bare ground orvery short grass inter-mingled with areas of longer grass, bracken or heather and nest in areasof up to five year old re-stocks. Nightjars by contrast tolerate taller re-growth and nest in bareareas within pine crops up to 10 or more years old. Woodlarks feed within their clearfellterritories whilst nightjars may also forage for moths extensively over any adjacent heathland.
Some species have directly benefited from the creation of the pine woodland habitat. Mostnotable is the red squirrel, a species better suited to conifers than the alien grey. Thetfordforest provides one of few lowland refuges. The red squirrel population is very low and itspresent reduction directly linked to the appearance of grey squirrels, which colonised theForest as recently as 1968. A recovery programme is underway to secure the Brecklandpopulation, through maintaining suitable pine habitat, removing large seeded broadleavedtrees which favour greys, controlling the local grey squirrel population and providing the redswith supplementary food.
Bird species which make use of the pines include goshawk which breed in the forest, as doesthe secretive hobby, also the pine kernal-eating crossbill and a large population of siskins.Speckled wood butterflies have spread within the forest and beyond since they became wellestablished in the 1960s. Other beneficiaries include white-letter hairstreak butterfly on elmunderstorey and white admiral reliant on honeysuckle.
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