Abstract
Introduction Marsupella profunda Lindb. is known from Britain, Portugal and Macaronesia. Its population status and ecology in Britain were investigated.Methods An inventory of records of Marsupella profunda was prepared, and surveys were conducted at a subset of sites. Population size was measured by counts of ‘individual-equivalents’, defined as occupied 1 m grid cells. Habitat and community composition were recorded by relevés.Key results and conclusions Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite. It is one of the earliest colonists of this substrate. The longevity of habitat patches is limited mainly by competitive exclusion by other bryophytes and excessive shade from scrub development. It has been recorded from six sites in West Cornwall but presently survives at only one of these, where it will likely become extinct within the next 20 years due to vegetation succession. In East Cornwall, an enormous complex of active and disused quarries within the St Austell China Clay Region supports a large population (10,000–20,000 individual-equivalents), but this is declining because china clay production has decreased greatly over the past 30 years. Attempts to conserve the species by the special protection of areas of land have failed because the quarrying process that originally supplied fresh suitable substrate no longer operates in these areas, habitat management measures have been insufficient, and scrub development has progressed. The future of the species in Britain depends on the uncertain future of commercial quarrying in areas of kaolinised granite in Cornwall.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profunda
Marsupella profundae0 - Outcome
- habitate0
- Qualifier
- mostly occurs on kaolinised granitee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
Claim · model-written summary
Longevity of habitat patches of Marsupella profunda is limited mainly by competitive exclusion by other bryophytes and excessive shade from scrub development.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profundaMarsupella profundae0
- Interactor
- other bryophytese1other
- Outcome
- longevity of habitat patchese1
- Qualifier
- limited mainly by competitive exclusion by other bryophytes and excessive shade from scrub developmente1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
e1“The longevity of habitat patches is limited mainly by competitive exclusion by other bryophytes and excessive shade from scrub development”
Claim · model-written summary
Marsupella profunda presently survives at only one of the six recorded sites in West Cornwall.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profundaMarsupella profundae0
- Outcome
- presently survivese2
- Value
- only one of thesee2
- Setting
- West Cornwalle2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
e2“It has been recorded from six sites in West Cornwall but presently survives at only one of these”
Claim · model-written summary
East Cornwall supports a large population of Marsupella profunda of 10,000–20,000 individual-equivalents.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profundaMarsupella profundae0
- Outcome
- populatione3
- Value
- 10,000–20,000 individual-equivalentse3
- Setting
- East Cornwalle3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
e3“In East Cornwall, an enormous complex of active and disused quarries within the St Austell China Clay Region supports a large population (10,000–20,000 individual-equivalents), but this is declining because china clay production has decreased greatly over the past 30 years”
Claim · model-written summary
The Marsupella profunda population in East Cornwall is declining because china clay production has decreased.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profundaMarsupella profundae0
- Outcome
- populatione3
- Direction
- declininge3
- Setting
- East Cornwalle3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
e3“In East Cornwall, an enormous complex of active and disused quarries within the St Austell China Clay Region supports a large population (10,000–20,000 individual-equivalents), but this is declining because china clay production has decreased greatly over the past 30 years”
Claim · model-written summary
Attempts to conserve Marsupella profunda by special protection of areas of land have failed.
- Taxon
- Marsupella profundaMarsupella profundae0
- Outcome
- Attempts to conserve the speciese4
- Direction
- failede4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Marsupella profunda is confined to habitat created by china clay quarrying, and mostly occurs on kaolinised granite”
e4“Attempts to conserve the species by the special protection of areas of land have failed”