It’s #Nationaldandelionday! We love #dandelions. One of the earliest flowers to emerge on floodplain meadows they provide vital food for invertebrates when not much else is around. But with around 250 different species in the UK they can leave botanists scratching their heads!
What’s happening in #FloodplainMeadows in April? We’re getting more colours now with snakes-head fritillaries, cuckooflower and sweet vernal grass.
Find out more about the beautiful snake's-head fritillary here: tinyurl.com/2emysrvs
Places still available on these walks at Mottey Meadows in Staffordshire:
Mottey Meadows Fritillary walk: Saturday 18 April 1:30pm: tinyurl.com/545dwvzk
Mottey Meadows Summer Walk Saturday 27 June: tinyurl.com/3rdumwdh
Mottey Meadows Summer Evening walk Thursday 2 July: tinyurl.com/46cus9xw
On #internationaldayofactionforrivers consider the special habitats that live alongside our rivers. Traditional haymaking is a sustainable land management technique that exports nutrients from river systems, supporting recovery from half a century of eutrophication. More here: tinyurl.com/42d3x486
Catch up with the latest from our friends at Herefordshire Meadows 👇
www.herefordshiremeadows.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Along with Natural England and volunteers, we have been monitoring the UK's largest population of snake’s-head fritillary at North Meadow NNR in Wiltshire since the 1970s.
Sign up to join us for this year's count on Thursday 23rd April here: floodplainmeadows.org.uk/keep-updated...
Happy #internationalwomensday. We're very lucky here at FMP to have a fantastic group of talented women, all working together to protect our precious floodplain meadows. Find out more about the team here: floodplainmeadows.org.uk/index.php/ab... #IWD2026 #womeninstem
Last night's winter workshop on snake’s-head fritillaries at North Meadow NNR at the Cricklade Club was a resounding sucess 😄. Data shared and crafts enjoyed.
If you'd like to join us, sign up for this year's fritillary count on 23rd April here: tinyurl.com/4j5r6s4y
What’s happening in #FloodplainMeadows in March? Underground activity becomes evident as early flowers like dandelions burst into life, bringing a splash of early colour and welcome nectar for hungry pollinators.
Find out more here:https://tinyurl.com/44ujx98k
It is freshwater Friday, so a good time to flag our recent open access article with @floodplainmead.bsky.social on using a historic landscape approach to identify former meadow habitats with origins in the early medieval period: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Join us for a free winter workshop to hear about the latest findings from the annual snake’s-head fritillary count at North Meadow NNR and craft your own fritillary.
🍰Refreshments and cake will be provided 🫖
Sign up here: tinyurl.com/6xjyhftc
Very much in agreement with the concerns raised by The Wildlife Trusts here. Maize is incredibly damaging to floodplains.
tinyurl.com/2tvz8xfw
The sun came out briefly yesterday. We are longing to be back in the meadows rummaging around in quadrats. Not long to wait...
Yesterday we delivered the last of four training webinars for 231 stautory agency staff from @naturalengland.bsky.social, DEFRA, and EA on the new Floodplain Meadow CSHT
Option.
Anyone giving advice on or hoping to apply for the option can register for the next series here 👇
tinyurl.com/84chmc7p
New blog from our director, Professor David Gowing, @openuniversity.bsky.social on the long-term monitoring at Somerford Mead.
tinyurl.com/5cswcf7p
How Can Art Save Meadows? Find out in this lovely article by @openuniversity.bsky.social team @artandecology.bsky.social, @vickybowskill.bsky.social and our own Emma Rothero 👇
(Image: ‘Long Mead in Late June’, by Julia Loken)
tinyurl.com/mssv8usy
🥳🌱New Paper!🌱🥳
Check out how we have been working with our friends at Fjordr to detect historical locations of floodplain meadows using physical and documented traces in the landscape, suppporting the case for restoration. 👇
tinyurl.com/y8frpr2h
Check out our new paper on the newly defined oceanic wet grasslands of Scotland in the latest issue of British and Irish Botany 👀👀 @bsbibotany.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social
britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
'Art and visual culture has a huge role to play in communicating information about the environmental crisis' youtu.be/TXdoHdZRXnU?...
Our Biological Flora on Wood Crane's-bill is out in @journalofecology.bsky.social. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... A team effort w/ @ruthsk.bsky.social @sandravarga.bsky.social @spp-rich.bsky.social @duncanwestbury.bsky.social, irina Tatarenko & artist Lucy Hulmes on pen and ink.
Check out this new @journalofecology.bsky.social paper on Geranium sylvaticum. Produced by @openuniversity.bsky.social, @ukceh.bsky.social, @naturalengland.bsky.social, North Pennines AONB Partnership, University of Lincoln and Royal Agricultural University
Read for free here: tinyurl.com/4vrn979j
This #WorldWetlandsDay, let’s celebrate floodplain meadows, pieces of living history woven into our culture.
Managed communally for centuries, they supported shared livelihoods, local traditions and rich biodiversity.
Find out more about these fascinating landscapes here: tinyurl.com/2s4byw74
Check out this fantastic online art exhibtion by @artandecology.bsky.social showing how art can help us understand and conserve our wonderful floodplain medows.
artuk.org/discover/cur...
Some lovely events coming up at the wonderful Mottey Meadows, do go along if you can. Info and booking links below.
Saturday 18 April: Fritillary walk: tinyurl.com/uxvc4tfu
Saturday 27 June: Summer Walk tinyurl.com/3rdumwdh
Thursday 2 July: Summer Evening walk tinyurl.com/46cus9xw
Merry Christmas to all our followers, see you on the other side 🎄☃️
New grassland toolkit!
Realising Grassland Potential: An Ecosystem Service Toolkit for Farmers' is a free toolkit designed to help increase understanding of nature markets and their potential to support grassland restoration.
Access it here: url.td/7F7E1 and read more here: tinyurl.com/2s3v3w2e
It's #worldsoilday 🥳Floodplain meadow soils are ecosystem service superheros.
Watch Professor David Gowing's video on floodplain meadow soils here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIki...
Learn more about floodplain meadow soils in the OU's FREE course here: www.open.edu/openlearn/na...
As part of tiny.cc/azov001 we spent a day at
@bbowt.bsky.social
reserve Meadow Farm assesing soils to determine suitability for floodplain meadow restoration. Some of the techniques demonstrate just how much water these very well-structured soils can hold, reducing overland flooding.
A pleasure to meet @alasdairallanmsp.bsky.social in the Scottish Parliament today to discuss our research work on the Outer Hebrides on the threatened Oceanic Wet Grasslands bit.ly/43FpLML. Hopefully we have made him as keen as we are to protect and conserve these uniquely Scottish habitats!
