SPA description
(information as published 2001)
Ben Wyvis
Ben Wyvis is located about 25 km north-west of Inverness in the
Highlands of Scotland. It is the highest hill in this area (1,046
m) and consists of Moine peltic gneiss in a long south-west to
north-east ridge. There are spurs branching off the south-east face
that enclose two deep, massive corries, while the extensive, broad
summit comprises a substantial area above 760 m. This is dominated
by a distinctive upland Racomitrium lanuginosum-Carex
bigelowii heath, which is particularly characteristic of this
mountain. Where snow lies for longer, there are patches of
bryophyte-rich snow bed communities, while on the upper slopes
springs and flushes intersect dwarf-shrub heath with mire
communities developed on the wettest areas. On the lower slopes,
blanket bog with Dwarf Birch Betula nana and Alpine
Bearberry Arctostaphylos alpinus are found, and on the
south side of Loch Glass there is a substantial upland Birch
Betula pendula,woodland. The vegetation overall has a
character midway between the continental Cairngorm massif to the
south-east and the oceanic mountains of the western Highlands.
Breeding montane birds are associated particularly with the high
plateaux and upper slopes of the massif, but also feed in nearby
flushed and damp ground.
Qualifying species
For individual species accounts visit the Species
Accounts section
This site qualifies under Article 4.1 of the
Directive (79/409/EEC) by supporting populations of European
importance of the following species listed on Annex I of the
Directive:
During the breeding season;
Dotterel Charadrius morinellus, 20 pairs representing
at least 2.4% of the breeding population in Great Britain (7 year
mean, 1987-1993)
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