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| Humberhead Levels |
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| Habitat: Lowland raised bogs (of national significance) |
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These form gently sloping raised mounds of peat which, as the surface of the bog is raised above the local water table, has rainfall as its only source of water and nutrients. The raised bog surface may support a patterned mosaic of pools, hummocks and lawns. Lowland raised bogs have a characteristic vegetation of Sphagnum bog mosses, as well as vascular plants adapted to waterlogged conditions such as cotton-grasses.
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The peatlands of Thorne, Crowle and Goole Moors and of Hatfield Moors form over 3,000 hectares of wilderness - land which is not tamed for agriculture and provide us with an insight into how the Humberhead Levels Natural Area once looked.
The peat which forms bogs and fens is composed of partially decomposed plants. It accumulates where the site is permanently waterlogged. Many of the bacteria and larger creatures, such as worms, that decompose organic matter cannot survive here and so animal and plant remains are partly preserved. The difference between bog and fen lies in the chemistry of the water supply. When this is almost entirely from rainfall, solutes are minimal, and acidic, nutrient-poor conditions develop in association with a flora composed of cotton grasses, Sphagnum mosses, and ericaceous plants. On the other hand, where solutes are relatively plentiful, due to the mineralogy of the local rocks or soils, fen plants such as reed and tall herbs predominate. Over the course of time, the accumulation of fen peat elevates the surface above the solute-enriched water, making it more dependent on rainfall. At some point in this sequence the growing conditions change enough for raised bog plants to take over from those of fen.
Thorne and Hatfield Moors are classed as lowland raised bogs. Thorne Moors is the largest expanse of lowland raised peat remaining in this country. There are only a very few similar areas left in lowland England and of them Thorne and Hatfield Moors are collectively as large as all the rest put together. The Humberhead Levels Peatlands National Nature Reserve, which encompasses parts of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, is the largest area of land in lowland England that is not crossed by telegraph poles or public rights of way.
More than 4,000 species of plants and animals, including 25 of Britains rarest, live on Thorne Moors. It is the only place in Britain where the mire pill beetle occurs and the only location in northern England for the giant raft spider. 200 species of birds feed or breed here; it is a place where species of northern and southern ranges mix. The numbers of nesting nightjar is acknowledged as being a significant proportion of the western European population.
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