- Width (the bigger, the better)
- 0
- 1-2m
- 3-5m
- 5+m
- Hedge present (important buffer from usage further back)
- Narrow (<1m), tightly trimmed
- Narrow (<1m), gappy
- Broad (>1m), tightly trimmed
- Broad (>1m), Bushy
- Hedge composition (potentially important as both nectar source and food source for birds)
- Monoculture
- Narrow range of species (2-3)
- Broad spectrum of shrubs and woody climbers
- Trees in hedge (may have a positive or negative influence on ground vegetation and overall ecology)
- Recent planting
- Mature with potential/actual saproxyic features
- Ditch present? (Important and potentially valuable structural variation)
- With water
- With wetland plants such as Typha and Mentha aquatica
- Manicured
- Dry
- Bramble and/or thorny species in the sward? (Negative impact - risk of swamping of open grassland features)
- Recently planted woody species? (Potentially negative impact on grassland features)
- Vegetation composition (important from both a strictly floristic perspective as well as for invertebrates)
- Rank, MG1 or similar
- Composed of 'finer' grasses with range of specialist phorbs
- Presence of local or 'rare' plant species
- Supports good nectar sources:
- Hogweed
- Angelica
- Upright Stone Parsley
- Cow Parsley
- Ground elder
- Hemp Agrimony
- Meadowsweet
- Field Scabious
- Devil's-bit Scabious
- Knapweed
- Creeping Thistle
- Rough Hawkbit
- Ragwort
- Fleabane
- Sow thistles
- Creeping/bulbous buttercup
- Dandelion
- Mentha sp.
- Vetches
This is just a quick bit of thinking to
try to come up with a way of scoring verge attributes, both positive
and negative. It has largely been constructed from a Dipterist's
perspective and I am aware that I have probably overlooked important
nectar sources for Hymenoptera.
Anyway, it is something for discussion
by others. Meanwhile, I think I might perhaps give it a try! Turning it into an assessment tool is a bit more of a challenge but it seems to be a potentially worthwhile exercise.
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