The common contains rare limestone pavement, which despite its barren appearance is home to a unique range of plants and creates a stunning landscape.

Exposed limestone is naturally faulted and cracked. The cracks are known as grykes and the upstanding ‘paving' blocks are known as clints, giving the appearance of a pavement.

Limestone pavement would have been wooded until about 4000 years ago when trees were felled for agriculture. Woodland plants were unable to grow on the surface of the pavement where the soils were thin or non-existent, and retreated into the grykes where there was deeper soil, shade, humidity and protection from grazing. This is why woodland species are found on limestone pavement and what makes this habitat so unusual.

The limestone pavement at Little Asby Common has less trees and shrubby species than is ideal and there are not many seed or berry bearing trees in the near vicinity. Normally birds would spread the seeds from nearby sources.

So volunteers mimicked the actions of birds by collecting seeds and berries locally, from trees such as hawthorn, ash, sloe and oak and spread them by hand by dropping them down the grykes (the gaps) in the limestone pavement.

Property Manager Jan Darrall said: ‘Sometimes nature needs a helping hand. The volunteers enjoyed this unusual task and we hope that some of the berries and seeds will germinate to give us more diverse habitats in the future.'

Limestone pavements are a scarce and non-renewable resource. They were exposed by the scouring action of ice sheets during the ice age which ended some 10,000 years ago.

The total area in the UK of this habitat is less than 3,000 ha with the largest areas occurring in North Yorkshire and Cumbria, and smaller areas in Lancashire, Wales and Scotland. The UK holds a significant proportion of the resource of this habitat within the European Union.

Limestone pavements are of both geological and biological importance. The vegetation is rich in vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens and varies according to geographical location, altitude, rock type and the presence or absence of grazing animals. Limestone pavement vegetation may also contain unusual combinations of plants, with woodland and wood-edge species well-represented in the sheltered grikes. The clints support plants of rocky habitats or are often unvegetated. In the absence of grazing scrub may develop. In oceanic areas scrub over limestone pavement is important for epiphytes. (Source: UK Biodiversity Action Plan website - http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=26)

For more information see Little Asby Common.