Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance - Lower River Fal by Westcountry Rivers Trust

Lower River Fal Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance

This document was produced by the Westcountry Rivers Trust for the Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance (DCSA) project, funded through the Environment Agency Water Environment Grant.

Contents This pack contains maps of the Lower River Fal catchment. This catchment is one of the 7 waterbody catchments being targeted in the feasibility study stage of the Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance (DCSA) project. There are also 2 Special Area of Conservation catchments being focused on in another part of the project. Each page focuses on a different theme, and uses maps, tables and graphs to provided spatial information about the catchment. Rivers, roads, and settlements are also included in the maps. A full list of data sources can be found on page 23.

Overview

Land Cover

Soils Soil Type

Soil Composition

Soil Hydrology

Soil pH

Geology

Crops

Habitats

CEH Natural Capital Maps Topsoil Carbon

Topsoil Nitrogen

Topsoil Phosphorus

Topsoil Invertebrates

Topsoil Bacteria

Land Ownership

River Condition

Flood Risk

Hydrological Connectivity

Slope

Data Sources

Overview The 9 DCSA catchments are spread across Devon and Cornwall. The Lower River Fal catchment (highlighted in red) is located towards the south coast of Cornwall, east of the city of Truro.

The area mapped in this report is the Lower River Fal Waterbody Catchment, as delineated by the Environment Agency for the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It is part of the River Fal Operational Catchment, and has two WFD waterbodies which feed into it, the Upper River Fal and Gwindra Stream. The waterbody comprises two main branches of river which are assessed together under WFD. The rivers run north to south, fed by numerous smaller tributaries. The villages of Tregony and Grampound are the two significant settlements in the catchment.

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Land Cover Land Cover Map 2015 (LCM2015) is derived from satellite images and digital cartography and provides land cover information for the entire UK. Land cover is based on UK Biodiversity Action Plan broad habitats classes.

Broadleaved Woodland, 12%

Suburban, 3%

Arable and Horticulture, 49%

Improved Grassland, 36%

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Soil Area Type NATMAP Vector is the principle set of soil data held at Cranfield University. It is a 1:250,000 scale map of England and Wales, showing the locations of 297 distinct soil associations. Within each of the soil associations are multiple soil series.

MANOD - loam over shale, 7%

YEOLLANDPARK - seasonally wet loam over shale, 1%

DENBIGH 1 - loam over shale, 24%

DENBIGH 2 - loam over shale, 68%

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Soil Area Composition The map below shows the percentage of sand, silt, and clay in each soil area. Sand is subdivided into fine, medium, and coarse percentages. The table gives additional descriptive information on each soil area.

Soil Series

Series Definition

DENBIGH 2 loam over shale

Medium loamy material over Typical brown lithoskeletal earths mudstone and sandstone or slate

DENBIGH 1 loam over shale

As above

MANOD - loam over shale

As above

YEOLLANDPARK - seasonally wet As above loam over shale

Soil Subgroups Soil Layer

Dominant Soils

Associated Soils

Mineral topsoil

Well drained fine loamy and fine silty soils over rock.

Some similar soils with slowly permeable subsoils and slight seasonal waterlogging. Shallow soils and some bare rock locally.

Typical brown earths

Mineral topsoil

Well drained fine loamy soils over slate or slate rubble.

Some fine loamy soils variably affected by groundwater.

Typical brown podzolic soils

Mineral topsoil

Well drained fine loamy or fine silty soils Shallow soils in places. over rock.

Typical cambic gley soils

Mineral topsoil

Fine loamy permeable soils variably affected by groundwater.

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Some slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged clayey soils.

Soil Area Hydrology The map and table below give information on the hydrology of the soil areas.

Soil type Hydrology 4

Free draining permeable soils on hard but fissured rocks with high permeability but low to moderate storage capacity.

Free draining permeable soils in unconsolidated loams or clays with low permeability and storage capacity.

Free draining permeable soils in unconsolidated loams or clays with groundwater at less than 2m from the surface.

Soils seasonally waterlogged by fluctuating groundwater and with relatively slow lateral saturated conductivity.

Relatively free draining soils with a large storage capacity over hard impermeable rocks with no storage capacity.

Slowly permeable soils with slight seasonal waterlogging and moderate storage capacity over slowly permeable substrates with negligible storage.

Relatively free draining soils with low storage capacity over hard impermeable rocks with no storage capacity.

Slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged soils over slowly permeable substrates with negligible storage capacity.

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Soil Area pH The map below shows NATMAP Vector information on the average pH level of each soil area.

5.4, 1%

6, 99%

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Geology The map below shows British Geological Society 1:50 000 scale bedrock geology.

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Crops The Crop Map of England (CROME) contains approximately 32 million hexagonal cells classifying England into over 20 main crop types, grassland, and non-agricultural land covers, such as woodland, waterbodies, fallow land and other non-agricultural land covers. The classification was created automatically using satellite images in late January 2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; September 2018.

Winter Barley, 3% Maize, 3%

Woodland, 34%

Winter Wheat, 7%

Non-vegetated or sparsely-vegetated Land, 11%

Grassland, 31%

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Habitats Important habitats for wildlife are mapped below using Natural Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Priority Habitat Inventory (PHI). Designated sites are also shown, with their condition status where relevant.

450 400

Area (ha)

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

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CEH Natural Capital Maps Natural England and UKCEH collaborated on a project to map aspects of natural capital. A suite of ten maps have been produced showing different aspects of natural capital, using a range of datasets, including UKCEH sample data from the Countryside Survey (2007). The maps are derived from predictive modelling. Data from sample locations is extrapolated up to an England level using statistical modelling and is mapped at 1km resolution. For more information: https://eip.ceh.ac.uk/naturalengland-ncmaps

Topsoil Carbon The map below shows mean estimates of topsoil (0-15cm depth) carbon density in tonnes per hectare. The map was produced using measurements of carbon from soil collected in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Countryside Survey (2007) at 2614 sample locations across Great Britain, within 591 1km squares. Measurements were extrapolated up to a national level using statistical analysis. This extrapolation was based on carbon density values associated with a combination of habitat type and soil parent material: the geological material, bedrock, superficial and drift, from which soil develops.

4% 19%

77%

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Topsoil Nitrogen The map below shows mean estimates of total nitrogen concentration in topsoil (0-15cm depth) in percent dry weight of soil. The map was produced by using measurements of nitrogen concentration from soil collected in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Countryside Survey (2007), at 1024 sample locations across GB within 256 1km squares. Measurements were extrapolated up to a national level using statistical analysis. This extrapolation was based on total nitrogen concentration values associated with a combination of habitat type and soil parent material: the geological material, bedrock, superficial and drift, from which soil develops. 4% 19%

77%

Topsoil Phosphorous The map below shows mean estimates of Olsen-phosphorus concentration in topsoil (0-15cm depth) in milligrams per kg dry soil. This was calculated using the Olsen-phosphorus method, which is a measure of the amount of soil phosphorus available to plants. The map was produced by using measurements of Olsen-phosphorus from soil collected in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Countryside Survey (2007), at 1054 sample locations across GB, within 256 1km squares. Measurements were extrapolated up to a national level using statistical analysis. This extrapolation was based on phosphorus concentration values associated with a combination of habitat type and soil parent material: the geological material, bedrock, superficial and drift, from which soil develops. 4% 19%

77%

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Topsoil Invertebrates The map below shows mean estimates of total abundance of invertebrates in topsoil (0-8cm depth). This map was produced by using measurements of total number of invertebrates extracted from soil cores in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Countryside Survey (2007) at 927 sample locations across GB within 238 1km squares. Measurements were extrapolated up to a national level using statistical analysis. This extrapolation was based on the total number of invertebrates extracted associated with a combination of habitat type and soil parent material: the geological material, bedrock, superficial and drift, from which soil develops.

4% 19%

77%

Topsoil Bacteria The map below shows mean estimates of bacterial diversity in topsoil (0-15cm depth) measured using the Shannon diversity index, a mathematical measure of species diversity in a given community. The map was produced by using measurements of bacterial diversity from soil in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Countryside Survey (2007), at 1280 sample locations across GB within 256 1km squares. Measurements were extrapolated up to a national level using statistical analysis. This extrapolation was based on soil bacterial diversity values associated with a combination of habitat type and soil parent material: the geological material, bedrock, superficial and drift, from which soil develops.

10% 51% 26%

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Land Ownership The map below shows anonymised land ownership data from the RPA CLAD dataset. Nonanonymised data will be available upon commencement of the work.

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River Condition The map below show Environment Agency Water Framework Directive overall status, category 1 and 2 water pollution incidents and consented discharges. The following pages give more information from the Catchment Data Explorer on WFD status, Reasons for Not Achieving Good status and upstream catchments. Note: Under the Water Framework Directive, waterbodies are given an overall status of High, Good, Moderate, Poor or Bad. Anything below Good is a failing waterbody.

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River Condition cont. This information has been sourced from the Catchment Data Explorer. The page for this waterbody is: https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB108048001270

Lower River Fal Overview Id

GB108048001270

Type

River

Hydromorphological designation

not designated artificial or heavily modified

Catchment area

4160.446 ha

Length

17.9 km

Classification Cycle 2 Classification Item

2013

2014

2015

2016

Overall Water Body

Moderate

Ecological

Moderate

Chemical

Fail

Good

Reasons for Not Achieving Good and Reasons for Deterioration SWMI

Activity