Ecology
Wildlife and Ecology at Risk
The species below are present or reasonably expected in this landscape. Legal protection applies to them regardless of any dispute about cause, and regardless of who owns the land.
Species and habitat
What lives here and what it depends on
Bats
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- European protected species (Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017) and Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- Habitat used here
- Old mine workings, adits and shafts are nationally important bat hibernation and swarming sites. Mature trees with cavities provide summer roosts, and woodland edges and watercourses provide foraging corridors.
- Known sensitivities
- Sensitive to disturbance, vibration, light, changes in airflow or humidity within underground roosts, and to loss of mature trees and flight-line vegetation.
Hazel dormouse
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- European protected species; Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- Habitat used here
- Species-rich hedgerows, coppice and woodland understorey with connectivity between habitat blocks.
- Known sensitivities
- Extremely sensitive to habitat fragmentation. Loss of connecting hedgerow or scrub can isolate a population even where the woodland itself remains.
Badgers
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- Protection of Badgers Act 1992
- Habitat used here
- Setts in banks, woodland and field margins, with foraging across pasture.
- Known sensitivities
- Setts are protected in their own right. Disturbance, ground movement and changes in drainage can all affect sett viability.
Otters
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- European protected species; Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- Habitat used here
- Watercourses with cover, holts in bankside root systems and undisturbed lying-up sites.
- Known sensitivities
- Dependent on water quality and on the fish and amphibian populations that water quality supports.
Breeding birds
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (all nests protected while in use); Schedule 1 for some species
- Habitat used here
- Woodland canopy, understorey, mature and veteran trees, hedgerows and scrub.
- Known sensitivities
- Loss of mature trees removes nest and feeding resources that take decades to replace.
Amphibians
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- Great crested newt is a European protected species; other species protected against sale and, in part, against killing
- Habitat used here
- Ponds and slow water for breeding, with damp terrestrial habitat and refugia nearby.
- Known sensitivities
- Highly sensitive to water chemistry, particularly metals, pH and ammonia, at life stages spent in water.
Aquatic invertebrates
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- Not individually protected, but the basis of freshwater ecological status under the Water Framework Directive as retained in UK law
- Habitat used here
- Stream beds, gravels and marginal vegetation.
- Known sensitivities
- Among the most sensitive and most useful indicators available. Community composition responds measurably to metals, sediment and organic pollution, and provides an integrated record of conditions over time rather than a single snapshot.
Woodland flora and fungi
Confirmed fact- Legal protection
- Ancient woodland indicator species are a material planning consideration; some species individually protected
- Habitat used here
- Undisturbed woodland soils, deadwood and mycorrhizal associations with mature trees.
- Known sensitivities
- Soil chemistry and hydrology changes affect mycorrhizal networks, which in turn affect tree health — a direct link to the tree-failure question.
Why mine workings matter to wildlife
Underground habitat is habitat
Disused mine workings in Cornwall are of national significance for bats. Stable temperature, high humidity and freedom from disturbance make adits and shafts excellent hibernation sites, and several sites in the county are designated for that reason.
This matters to the present investigation in two ways. First, any underground feature in this area may be occupied and legally protected, which constrains what may lawfully be done to it. Second, bats are sensitive to changes in the underground environment — airflow, humidity, water level and vibration — so the same subsurface questions that bear on water and ground stability also bear on ecology.
Evidence status
Ecology: where this stands
Legal protections apply
The statutory protections listed above are established law and apply to this landscape as to any other.
Local wildlife observations
Residents report sightings and, in places, perceived changes in the abundance of particular species. These are logged as observations and are not, on their own, evidence of population change.
Any ecological impact
No survey data held by this project establishes harm to any protected species, or any cause of such harm. Baseline and repeat surveys are needed.