Slapton Ley
{{Short description|Lake on the south coast of Devon, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Image:Torcross and Slapton Ley, Stokenham - geograph.org.uk - 84730.jpg ]]
Slapton Ley is a lake on the south coast of Devon, England, separated from Start Bay by a shingle beach, known as Slapton Sands.
Slapton Ley is the largest natural freshwater lake in south-west England being {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} long and has two sections; the Lower Ley and the Higher Ley.{{cite web|title=Slapton Ley|url=http://www.field-studies-council.org/centres/slapton/slaptonley.aspx|publisher=Field Studies Council|accessdate=14 August 2016}}{{cite web|title=Slapton Ley|url=http://www.devonbirds.org/birdwatching/places_to_go/slapton_ley|publisher=Devon Birds|accessdate=14 August 2016}} The ley is fed by streams and a small river, The Gara, that flows into the Higher Ley. The site is a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Geological Conservation Review site.{{cite book|last1=May|first1=V J|last2=Hansom|first2=J D|title=Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain - Slapton Sands|date=2003|publisher=JNCC|location=Peterborough|url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4174&gcr=1840|accessdate=27 March 2015}} The nature reserve covers over {{convert|200|ha}}.
The A379 between the Ley and the sea runs along the shingle ridge and was rebuilt after damage by coastal erosion in the early 2000s.{{cite web|title=Slapton Ley - a wildlife wonder|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/outdoors/nature/2004/slapton_ley_2004.shtml|publisher=BBC|accessdate=14 August 2016}}
Ecology and wildlife
The Slapton Ley nature reserve is owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust and managed by the Field Studies Council.{{cite web|title=Devon's National Nature Reserves|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devons-national-nature-reserves/devons-national-nature-reserves#slapton-ley|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=14 August 2016}} Slapton Ley’s beaches are affected by erosion but the beaches are formed from sediment; this makes them special because they are non-replaceable: once the sediment is moved it is gone. The beach can only become smaller. This threatens the security of the mainland because when the beaches are gone, mass amounts of water damage would occur on the land. The nature reserve would be destroyed and the site of special scientific interest would be lost.{{cite journal|last1=Morey|first1=C.R.|title=The Natuiral History of Slapton Ley Nature Reserve. IX: The Morphology and History of the Lake Basins|journal=Field Studies Journal|date=1976|volume=4|pages=353–368|url=http://fsj.field-studies-council.org/media/348798/vol4.3_108.pdf}}
There is a field centre near to the Ley also run by Field Studies Council{{Cite web |title=Slapton Ley Field Centre |url=https://www.bythedart.co.uk/locations/slapton-ley-field-centre/ |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=By The Dart }}
There is a large population of Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti) at the site, and Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) are resident. The British endemic millipede, Anthogona britannica, known only from sites in South Devon, was first discovered at Slapton Ley.{{cite web |title=Anthogona britannica |url=https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0000356226 |publisher=NBN Atlas |access-date=16 December 2023}}{{Cite Q|Q104115994}}
Slapton Ley is the only UK site for strapwort (Corrigiola litoralis), a plant identified by Natural England as being at high risk of going extinct by 2020.{{cite web|title=Strapwort|url=http://www.wwct.org.uk/conservation-research/south-west-uk/slapton/strapwort|publisher=Whiteley Wildlife Conservation Trust|accessdate=14 August 2016}} Seed taken from the site, and grown at Paignton Zoo were successfully replanted at Loe Pool, Cornwall in May 2015; where it had previously been recorded since 1915.{{cite news|last1=Graeme|title=Bid to save extremely rare plant strapwort at Loe Pool Helston by National Trust|url=http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Bid-save-extremely-rare-plant-Loe-Pool-Helston/story-26242211-detail/story.html|access-date=27 March 2015|work=West Briton|date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110744/http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Bid-save-extremely-rare-plant-Loe-Pool-Helston/story-26242211-detail/story.html|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last1=Bennallick|first1=Ian J|last2=French|first2=Colin N|last3=Parslow|first3=Rosemary E|title=Vascular Plants. In CISFBR Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly|date=2009|publisher=Croceago Press|location=Praze-an-Beeble|isbn=9781901685015|pages=105–157|edition=2nd}}{{cite web|title=Strapwort|url=http://www.slnnr.org.uk/research/strapwort.aspx|website=Slapton Ley|publisher=Field Studies Council}}
Slapton Ley is remarkable for the very large number of fungi recorded there, with around 3000 species,{{Cite journal |last=Dobson |last2=Hawksworth |date=1996 |title=The Slapton fungal (including lichen) survey: inventorying and documenting changes in the Mycobiota |url=https://www.field-studies-council.org/resources/field-studies-journal/the-slapton-fungal-including-lichen-survey-inventorying-and-documenting-changes-in-the-mycobiota/ |journal=Field Studies Council |volume=8 |issue=4}} including 21 new to science, observed there up to 1996 as a result of study over many years by multiple specialists. As a result, for fungi, it is one of the most intensively explored places on the planet.{{Cite journal |last=Hawksworth |first=David L. |last2=Lücking |first2=Robert |date=2017-07-28 |title=Fungal Diversity Revisited: 2.2 to 3.8 Million Species |url=https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0052-2016 |journal=Microbiology Spectrum |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=10.1128/microbiolspec.funk–0052–2016 |doi=10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0052-2016|pmc=11687528 }} By comparison, the site contains only about 490 species of vascular plants, making the fungi about six times more [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/17774/speciose speciose]. This proportion, initially derived from Slapton Ley data, has been part of the evidence used to estimate the overall number of fungal species globally.
References
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Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Devon
Category:Nature Conservation Review sites
Category:National nature reserves in England