Glen Barisdale

Also within

Inverness CountyRoss and Cromarty County Knoydart Scenic Area 18. Kinlochhourn - Knoydart - Morar Wild Land Area

Condition (NatureScot)

Description

GLEN BARISDALE Glen Barisdale Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) lies at the eastern end of the Knoydart peninsula, in remote ground between Loch Hourn and Loch Quoich. It encompasses the Glen Barisdale pinewood, an example of a Western oceanic native pinewood which supports an epiphytic lichen flora of national importance, and adjacent birchwood Betula spp. Glen Barisdale pinewood is the most extensive remnant of a large wood which in the past spread over both Barisdale and the slopes above Loch Hourn. Most of the site comprises a fairly open Scots pine wood with birch over a sparse understorey of old, tall juniper Juniperus communis with scattered holly and rowan. Much of the pine is 150 -200 years old and heavy grazing has prevented regeneration over many decades, except on protected rock faces. Upslope of the pine lies a zone of acid birch woodland. The pinewood supports the best known example of a pinewood epiphytic lichen flora assemblage of the Western oceanic type. The climate allows the existence of species for which the northern limits had previously been thought to be in South West Ireland. Notable components of the assemblage include the following species: Cavernularia hultenii, Graphina ruiziana and Pyrenula dertmatoides.

Species mentioned