A survey of the invertebrate life on some of our coastal cliffs took place over the summer of 2007. The national invertebrate charity Buglife were contracted by Durham Biodiversity Partnership to look at selected areas of our coast from South Tyneside to Crimdon, including Sunderland 's Ryhope Denemouth. The survey took place over July and August with the assistance of countryside rangers who left water traps in strategic locations for the surveys to collect at a later date.

Soft, eroding cliffs often have just the right amount of bare ground and a diversity of flowering plants to support important assemblages of insects, but the cliffs from the Tyne estuary to the Durham coast have never been systematically surveyed before.

Bare ground offers nesting sites for burrowing bees and wasps, hunting grounds for visual predators such as ground beetles, warm basking areas allowing warmth-loving creatures to remain active in cooler conditions and germination sites for wildlflowers. Where cliffs are colonised by wildflowers, nectar and pollen sources are provided for bees and other insects.

Of particular interest to invertebrate ecologists are the areas of cliffs where there are freshwater seepages, as these areas often seem to turn up rare invertebrates. Seepages and pools provide wet muds which are needed by many species of bees and wasps for nest construction, and pools also accommodate the animals with aquatic stages to their life-cycle such as water beetles, craneflies and soldierflies.

Funding for the survey is came from a number of partners, all of whom recognise the importance of the work. Durham County Council, Durham Heritage Coast , South Tyneside Council, and Sunderland Council all supported the project.

Information from the project has helped to inform the Durham BAP, and locate the best examples of the new priority habitat - Coastal Soft Cliffs.

For further details of the survey and results, see the final report: Invertebrate survey of the soft-rock cliffs in Co. Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside which can be downloaded from the Documents page.

More information from info@durhambiodiversity.org.uk

Coastal Habitats Action Plan

Buglife