Changing status of Calystegia soldanella (Sea Bindweed; Convolvulaceae) on the Sefton Coast, North Merseyside, UK
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33928/bib.2026.08.037Keywords:
conservation , patch area, sand-dunes, threats, vegetation changeAbstract
The results of a survey of the Red-listed Calystegia soldanella in summer 2024 on the Sefton Coast, north Merseyside, UK, were compared with those from a similar study in 2010. Fourteen years on, the six patches recorded in 2010 were still extant, all but one having increased in area. Two new patches were discovered and the total area occupied by the plant increased by 90%. With the exception of one patch on a concrete seawall, all were on calcareous sand-dunes, with a mean distance of 70 m from the shore. The number of associated vascular taxa increased from 33 in 2010 to 66 in 2024. Main plant communities changed from fixed-dune to dune grassland, the latter characterised by the appearance of much Arrhenatherum elatius, not found in 2010. Although C. soldanella appears to show resilience to habitat change, apparent threats to Sefton Coast populations include coastal erosion, a trend towards taller, coarser vegetation, together with scrub formation and loss of bare sand. Possible conservation measures are discussed.
References
Delgado-Fernandez, I., O’Keefe, N. & Davidson, R.G.D. 2019. Natural and human controls on dune vegetation cover and disturbance. Science of the Total Environment 672:643-656.
Garrard, I. & Streeter, D. 1983.The Wild Flowers of the British Isles. London: Macmillan.
Halliday, G. 1997. A flora of Cumbria. University of Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies.
Hepburn, I. 1952. Flowers of the Coast. London: The New Naturalist, Collins.
Hill, M.O., Preston, C.D. & Roy, D.B. 2004. PLANTATT. Attributes of British and Irish plants: status, size, life history, geography and habitats. Cambridge: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Monks Wood.
Jones, M.L.M., Wallace, H.L., Norris, D., Brittain, S.A., Haria, S., Jones, R.E., Rhind, P.M., Reynolds, B.R. & Emmett, B.A. 2004. Changes in vegetation and soil characteristics in coastal sand dunes along a gradient of atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Plant Biology 6: 598-605.
Kammer, P.M., Rinch, B. & Schöb, C. 2022. Decreasing nitrogen deposition rates: good news for oligotrophic grassland species? Basic and Applied Ecology 63:125-138.
Kay, G.M. & Mountford, J.O. 2023. Calystegia soldanella Sea Bindweed (L.) R. Br. In Stroh, P.A., Walker, K.J., Humphrey, T.A., Pescott, O.L. & Burkmar, R.J. Plant Atlas 2020 vol. 2, 793. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Pakeman, R.J., Alexander, J., Brooker, R., Cummins, R., Fielding, D., Gore, S., Hewison, R., Mitchell, R., Moore, E., Orford, K., Pemberton, C., Trinder, C. & Lewis, R. 2016. Long-term impacts of nitrogen deposition on coastal plant communities. Environmental Pollution 212:337-347.
Regional Biodiversity Steering Group 1999. A biodiversity audit of north west England. 2 vols. Huyton: Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service.
Rodwell, J.S., ed. 2000. British plant communities volume 5. Maritime communities and vegetation of open habitats. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Salisbury, E.J. 1952. Downs and dunes: their plant life and its environment. London: Bell & Sons.
Savidge, J.P., Heywood, V.H. & Gordon, V. 1963.Travis’s flora of South Lancashire. Liverpool: Liverpool Botanical Society.
Smith, P.H. 2015. A revision of the inventory of vascular plants for the Sefton Coast, north Merseyside (v.c.59, South Lancashire), with particular reference to the 2014 Red List for England. BSBI News 129:36-40.
Smith, P.H. 2020. Increasing status of non-native vascular plants in the Sefton Coast sand-dune system, north Merseyside, UK. British & Irish Botany 2:102-126.
Smith, P.H. 2021.Wildflowers of the Sefton Coast. Rishton: Lancashire & Cheshire Fauna Society.
Smith, P.H. & Lockwood, P.A. 2010. Monitoring Sea Bindweed (Calystegia soldanella) on the Sefton Coast, Merseyside, in 2010. BSBI News 115:25-29.
Stroh, P.A., Leach, S.J., August, T.A., Walker, K.J., Pearman, D.A., Rumsey, F.J., Harrower, C.A., Fay, M.F., Martin, J.P., Pankhurst, T., Preston, C.D. & Taylor, I. 2014. A vascular plant red list for England. Bristol: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland.
Stroh, P.A., Pescott, O.L., Bateman, R.M., Cooke, L.A., Cousins, M., Fay, M.F., Finger, A., Harrower, C.A., Jones, A., Lansdown, R.V., Leach, S.J., Macdonald, I., Mills, A., Pearman, D.A., Prendergast, A., Rich, T.C.G., Rumsey, F.J., Woodman, J. & Walker, K.J. 2025. A new vascular plant List for Great Britain. British & Irish Botany 7(3):148-216.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Philip H. Smith, Joyce Jarvis, David Jarvis, Steven Cross, Daniel Argent
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright and licence: Authors (or their employers) retain their copyright in articles and images published in British & Irish Botany and are not required to assign this to the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI). All that BSBI requires from authors is a license to publish the article in British & Irish Botany and make it freely available to all in pdf format under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License, which also enables BSBI to reproduce components of the article in other BSBI outputs (eg. BSBI News, the BSBI website and/or the BSBI News & Views blog) for publicity purposes. The licence code can be accessed here:
