Grazing Marsh

This Broad Habitat type includes coastal and floodplain grazing marsh.

This type of grassland is found on low lying alluvial and, occasionally, peat soils, around estuaries and along the floodplains of rivers. It is characterised by a water table at or above ground level for some part of the year. This seasonal inundation gives the vegetation a distinctive composition, with species such as creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera, marsh foxtail Alopecurus geniculatus, ryegrass Lolium perenne, crested dog’s-tail Cynosurus cristatus, marsh marigold Caltha palustris, strawberry clover Trifolium fragiferum and silverweed Potentilla anserina.

An important component of the grazing marsh ecosystem are the ditches which often form the field boundaries in this flat landscape.

In coastal localities there may be tidal incursion of salt / brackish water resulting in ditches supporting upper saltmarsh species. In these conditions, species such as sea aster Aster tripolium, sea blite Suaeda fruticosa and the nationally scarce long-tailed orache Atriplex longipes may be present.

Current status

Grazing marsh has sustained substantial losses in area nationally in the past century as its flat nature often makes it prime development land or suitable for agricultural intensification. In England as a whole there are estimated to be some 200,000ha of grazing marsh, of which only 5,000ha is semi-natural, supporting a high diversity of native plant species. In NW England large, but much reduced, areas of this habitat are found around several of the estuaries, with smaller areas inland along broad low lying river valleys.

The grazing marshes around the Ribble and Solway are of international importance for the numbers of wintering waterfowl present. Inland areas of grazing marsh in West Lancashire are also of international importance for wintering birds. These sites are also of national importance for breeding waders. Elsewhere in the Region smaller areas of grazing marsh are of regional importance for both breeding, wintering and passage waterfowl. Such areas are present along river valleys on the Cheshire plain, Lancashire coastal plain, west Cumbrian coastal plain and on the Solway plain.

For further information please see the document for download on this page.