Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve
Encyclopedia
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
(631,000 m²) area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
It includes the peaks of Craig Flamdaman (629 m: ) and Fan Frynych
Fan Frynych
Fan Frynych is a subsidiary summit of Fan Fawr in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. It makes up half of the Craig Cerrig-gleisiad and Fan Frynych National Nature Reserve with its sister peak Craig Cerrig-gleisiad....
(629 m: ). Craig Cerrig-gleisiad means 'Bluestone rock' and is a cirque
Cirque
Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
formed by a glacier which deposited moraine and created a sheltered environment where the steep crags prevent sheep from accessing the rare arctic-alpine
Arctic-alpine
An arctic-alpine taxon is one whose natural distribution includes the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps. The presence of identical or similar taxa in both the tundra of the far north, and high mountain ranges much further south is testament to the similar...
plants such as purple saxifrage and roseroot
Rhodiola rosea
Rhodiola rosea is a plant in the Crassulaceae family that grows in cold regions of the world. These include much of the Arctic, the mountains of Central Asia, the Rocky Mountains, and mountainous parts of Europe, such as the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathian Mountains, Scandinavia, Iceland, Great...
and mixed woodland where orchids and anemone
Anemone
Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...
s flourish.
The National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
, which is administered by the Countryside Council for Wales
Countryside Council for Wales
The Countryside Council for Wales is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. It is the Welsh Assembly Government's wildlife conservation authority for Wales...
, was once part of an ancient hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and farming forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, known as Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr
Fforest Fawr is the name given to an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the 'Great Forest of Brecknock' in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation...
, the remnants of which can be seen in the scrub woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
and scattered hawthorn
Common Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world where it is an invasive weed...
on the lower slopes.
In addition to the flora, there are relatively rare bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s such as peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s, ring ouzel
Ring Ouzel
The Ring Ouzel is a European member of the thrush family Turdidae.It is the mountain equivalent of the closely related Common Blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes....
s and raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
s. Sixteen species of butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
have been recorded in the area.