The purpose of this project was to survey sites thought to support the EC Habitats Directive Annex 1 habitats ‘Alkaline Fen’ and to a lesser extent ‘Transition Mire / Quaking Bog’, predominantly in the North York Moors National Park area (but including one outlying site, Bishop Monkton Ings, in the Vale of York near Boroughbridge), where current site information was lacking, where existing survey data were over 20 years old, or where significant change is thought have occurred.
The information collected during the site surveys has been used to assess the number, area, and geographic spread of mires that support Alkaline Fen and Transition Mire / Quaking Bog vegetation in the North York Moors National Park, beyond previously well-documented sites. Discussion is also made of the ‘goodness of fit’ of the surveyed plant communities with the NVC dataset and the Annex 1 habitat descriptions, possible limitations or constraints of the dataset, information gaps, and possibilities for further work.