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Wet scrub
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Lowland wet scrub is generally dominated by grey willow, along with other native or introduced willow varieties (eg goat willow, crack willow, osier).
Depending on soil and climatic conditions, downy birch, alder, bay willow, alder buckthorn, elder, hawthorn, bramble and ash also make up the other woody elements of wet scrub communities.
Wet scrub occurs across a range of damp soils. It is an important component of mires and fens, the edges of ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, damp hollows and dune slacks, as well as disused mineral workings.
If unmanaged, however, scrub encroachment into these habitats will damage their wildlife interest.
These pages describe managing wet scrub as a part of those habitat mosaics without compromising the important wildlife value of the scrub and the habitat in which it occurs.