WIREDGOV

Two rare wetland species have found a new home following Natural England funded work to create new wetland features.

• Great crested newts and lesser silver diving beetles discovered
• Species first for the nature reserve
• Natural England funded work to create scrapes for wetland habitat

Two rare wetland species have found a new home on the Shapwick Moor Nature Reserve following work to create new wetland features. This is part of action in hand across the country to recover nature and grow a national Nature Recovery Network.

Great crested newts and lesser silver diving beetles have been found at the nature reserve after Natural England funded work to create four scrapes. These are scraped out areas of earth that fill with water, creating new habitats.  

The work is part of the Somerset Coast, Levels and Moors Nature Recovery Project. Neither species had been recorded on the site before, making this is an exciting discovery for the Hawk and Owl Trust owned reserve. The reserve forms part of the Somerset Wetlands National Nature Reserve.

Distribution of the species

The lesser silver diving beetle has a limited, though expanding distribution in the UK and is on the UK Red Data Book of endangered species. It is currently only found in other parts of Somerset, Cheshire and in Denbigh, north Wales.

The great crested newt is found across the UK, but as an endangered species it is of European importance.  It has legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Both are indicators of good wetland habitat, so their presence on the nature reserve shows the works being done there are working for wildlife.

The scrapes were created to increase the wetland habitat on the reserve.  Both the newts and the beetles were found to be breeding in the scrapes in 2023 and 2024.

A changing climate

Natural England’s project lead, Simon Phelps said:

“Finding two rare and endangered species living on the site so soon after creating the scrapes was brilliant.  It shows the value of creating wetland features in this landscape. 

“We hope to do more of this type of work as it helps our wetland wildlife.  It also enables us to contribute to the government targets for saving our threatened species, while enhancing climate resilience.”

Alex Learmont, Hawk and Owl Trust Reserve Warden and Outreach Officer, said:

“We’re thrilled the new scrapes are providing habitat for a range of species never previously recorded on the reserve and ones that are nationally rare. It seems having a wide range of aquatic habitats is key as different species require different conditions throughout the year. 

“They can now move between scrapes, ditches and rhylls as needed. It is likely this will also be increasingly important in a changing climate.”