Machair

Short-turf grasslands formed on dry and seasonally waterlogged, relatively flat and low-lying sand plains, where windblown calcareous sand overlies peat or impermeable bedrock. Machair grasslands are machair in the strict sense, and form part of the machair complex (X27), characteristic of the Outer Hebrides and western Ireland, with dunes (B1.3, B1.4), shallow lochs (C1) and land cultivated on a strip rotation (I1). They support a flower-rich, and correspondingly insect-rich, dune grassland studded with shallow lochs and cultivated on a strip rotation. The grassland is dominated by [Poa pratensis] and [Festuca rubra], accompanied by [Thalictrum minus ssp. arenarium], [Thymus praecox ssp. arcticus] ([Thymus drucei]), [Bellis perennis], [Prunella vulgaris], [Erodium cicutarium], [Trifolium] spp., [Euphrasia] spp. and many orchids, among which [Dactylorhiza fuchsii ssp. hebridensis], [Dactylorhiza purpurella], [Gymnadenia conopsea], [Coeloglossum viride], [Platanthera chlorantha] and [Orchis mascula] are the most prominent. This grassland harbours a plant community of very restricted distribution comprising vulnerable species; [Cochlearia scotica], [Euphrasia marshallii] and [Dactylorhiza fuchsii ssp. hebridensis] are endemic. As a whole, machair is an essential habitat for breeding waders such as [Haematopus ostralegus], [Vanellus vanellus], [Charadrius hiaticula], [Calidris alpina], [Tringa totanus] and [Gallinago gallinago]; it supports the healthiest western European population of the threatened corncrake [Crex crex].