Conservation Society volunteer on campus
In the final week of summer term, volunteers from the student Conservation Society joined forces with the grounds team for some valuable habitat management work at University Park.
Guided by advice from the County Recorder for the Royal Botanical Society, students cleared ground by hand to allow a large colony of the locally rare Crocus vernus ‘Nottingham Crocus to colonise adjacent land, cutting back years of unbridled encroachment to help the colony develop.
Nottingham Crocus are of great historical importance, used in the 12th Century by the cluniac monks of Lenton Abbey to treat malaria. The Crocus do not set seed and spread very slowly by the production of corms, therefore it is essential that their habitat is carefully managed.
It was impossible to use excavation equipment to clear the ground, and clearance by hand using a variety of tools was the most sustainable method of undertaking the job with minimum damage to the now dormant Crocus corms in the soil. Care was taken to avoid disturbing habitats such as nesting birds, mammals and insects. Regular monitoring of the Crocus habitat will take place each year.